Sightseeing in Kathmandu... Started the day with a drive by the Monkey Temple... Starting our day of calling out every animal we saw... No really... Every animal we saw all day. Needless to say, the Monkey Temple had lots of... Well... Monkeys. We strolled through the entrance and soon learned several rules.. #1... Walk around all religious objects (especially Buddhas) in a clockwise fashion. #2 spin all prayer wheels in a clockwise fashion. The temple was an amazing mixed community of both Buddist monks and Hindu temples and pilgrims from both religions easily intermingling. We watched patrons sitting with the Hindu holy men going through the rituals to helping their prayers/wishes Huge 14 foot high Buddhas.. and prayer flags draping from every temple top. At this point we became aware that Hinduism has 32 million different deities.. so many different carved figures and representations.

Next we roller coastered through traffic to Boudhanath while yelling out monkey... Cow… water buffalo… dog. The Boudhanathian Stupa is the largest stupa. It is surrounded by several schools for Buddhist monks. Interesting to note, it is expected that the second son in a family enter monkhood. The stupa rises in the middle of the square and is believed to grant purification, wishes and protection. Lunch was followed by several clockwise strolls around this extra large stupa.

Onward then to the Pasupati area which is the most holy temple for Hindus. This temple is one of the four designated pilgrimage sites for the Hindu faithful. Non Hindus are not allowed in the temple itself but we sat and witnessed the shoe removal and check in process. Occasionally groups would run out of the temple with fire offerings. Most interesting to the kids was watching the cremation rites that were occurring behind the temple at the banks of the Ganges. We watched a prepared body come out and then be placed atop a pier and the fire started. Several cremations were going on simultaneously while the river was filled with burned wood and floating flowers from prior pyres. In addition, many great cow pictures were taken at this site.

The Kings palace rounded out our tour. The King... Or ex-King had a beautiful residence next to a large square filled with several Hindu temples. The King stepped down only 4 years ago amidst pressure and Nepal has since become a democratic country. There is an old original water station feeding water through three carved stone spouts. We watched school children and adults come and drink directly from the fountain and fill jugs to carry away. This underground spring still delivers potable, clear water after decades while the city system is unreliable and all water needs to be boiled to be potable. The place and area in front of the palace is now a place where the local community gathers, children ride bikes and they hold concerts in the palace courtyard. Bye-bye monarchy.

Traditional Nepalease dinner with dancing summoned up the day. A spiced and delicious meal ending with the best cup of chai tea we have ever had (forget Starbucks). Cayla and Ty made it through the meal with smiles... Jared and Jesse with snores. Don for the record tossed back the rice wine and smiled...What a man! Goodnight all!