atop swayambhunath

We sketched for an hour at the foot of the hill which holds Swayambhunath at its peak, competing for space with camera-happy, pushy tourists, mischievous macaques, murderous mosquitoes, and curious Nepalis. Children all but climbing on us, sweat beading down our faces, we reached a point of physical and mental exhaustion, and decided to shut our books to pull our bodies up the 365 steps toward the stupa. Buddha's wide eyes of compassion, watching our rib cages expand and squeeze heavily, watching little brown hands reach out toward the foreign, watching tika-marked brows and fingers clicking buttons on cameras and phones— watching over us all.



On our breathless 366th step, we moved clockwise past the enormous dorje, trying to make sense of the colour, the noise and movement, the scent of people and incense. It was all familiar to me, yet still like some overwhelming wave. I searched Pedro's face in an attempt to understand what he felt as he stood there. We leaned against a wall together, not saying much, watching the monsoon blanket the valley.

summer in sketches, part two

Part two of my summer sketchbook:
Namo Buddha, Kathmandu, Changu Narayan, Bhaktapur, Boudha

swayambhunath

While I recover from a bit of culture shock and get used to sleeping in my own bed, I thought I'd continue sharing with you some more photos and stories of my trip to Nepal.



These funny little boys were impressed by my sketches and decided to perform a series of Michael Jackson inspired dances for me.

yellow and pale, pale blue

around swayambhunath

past fear, into beauty

Swayambhunath is one of the holiest sites for Tibetan Buddhists, second only to Boudhanath stupa, and is charmingly referred to as "Monkey Temple" for its resident population of rhesus macaques. I have a uh, slight irrational fear of monkeys and apes, and so I must admit I was a little nervous upon entering the ancient religious complex, keeping my eyes peeled for any shifty-looking monkeys. At first I didn't see any, but I knew they were there, hiding in the trees or behind Buddhas... watching.



I suddenly realised I was so busy looking out for monkeys, that I was beginning to miss the beauty around me, so I decided this was going to be the last time I'd be afraid of them. Fear is often so unnecessary, it pulls you out of the present into this bizarre place of your own creation. What was the worst that could happen? The monkey bites me and I have to go get rabies shots? Wondering "what if" was such a distraction, that I made up my mind to stop all the iffing and began to pay attention to my surroundings.



And my oh my, were they gorgeous.