Nepal and Tibet

I loved Nepal. I'd go back in a heartbeat and I really would like to do the Annapurna Circuit. Nepal is a beautiful place and I only got to see a very very small part of it. The first day we were there I hit a brick wall in terms of my energy. I just could NOT go on another visit...I needed to sleep. So I went to sleep as soon as we got to the hotel at about noon and basically slept through to the next day. I felt better after that...but man, I needed it.

This is probably my favourite picture of the trip:
We visited Swayambhunath, otherwise known as the Monkey Temple. It was, of course, a beautiful site...but what I found most enticing was the monkeys. I call the above picture "Monkey in full flight". Hee hee. He was sitting on that roof behind him. I zoomed in for a closeup and just as I clicked, boom he jumped! :) Awesome! So then I fed him half a bananas. That same day we visited Bodnath with it's huge stupa. It's an amazing site too. Of all the sites we visited, I think it was the one with the most "presence". It just has...a feeling to it. A feeling of joy and peace. I can't explain it. Here I am at it:
We visited a temple in the square are I filmed a Buddhist monk prayer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzetVEsingI Have I said yet in this post that it was amazing??? :)

Tibet is a simply beautiful place. Look at this:
But...it's just so sad! We went to Potala Palace and 3 or 4 monasteries. All of them were fabulous, incredible, AMAZING! But... empty. I've heard all about the Free Tibet movement, of course. But I never understood it. Now having been there...yea. Tibet left me with an overwhelming sadness. Our guide, native Tibetan, was not allowed to talk to us about certain things. It is illegal for them to possess their own flag or to talk about their spiritual leader. It's just wrong.

I highly recommend India and Nepal as places to visit, but I cannot recommend Tibet. It's beautiful, but what's happening there is just wrong.