Entries about boudhanat

Today we were waiting for Teo to go to the dentist as he felt a cavity ... it is funny as it seems we are trying dentists in all the countries we have been to!!!

We were lucky enough to find a dentist to take us within a week but I presume that was because of how much we got charged.... a mere $200 for a filling ... not bad going I think I might just become a dentist in the USA!!!!

No at least we got Teo's tooth fixed and we have insurance so no worries at all... plus they give you a voucher for Taco Bell (a mexican fast food place ).. so we went to get soft tacos for the kids and some cinnamon rolls ....

Teo looked funny as half his face was paralysed by the anaesthetic and I thought we could keep that photos as a record...

We then decided to go for a walk and went to the local waterfalls in the Bella Vista area ... they were lovely and the walk was very good with information on trees and nature as we went along... the kids did not enjoy the walking under the rain so much but we managed to see some nice bird (I forgot the name!!!).... and the waterfalls were nice too...

The trees are starting to bloom and they are lovely and makes you feel like it is spring and it is lovely!

This week end I decided to go to Boudhanath to see the biggest stupa in Nepal. I did not book any accommodation as we were so busy at school so we just got there on Saturday night at about 4.... Hummm we walked for a while and visited a lot of guest houses which were full!!!! so we decided to see if we could find a hotel.. and guess what as I am always so lucky we found one 1 minute from the stupa in a quiet street and it had a kitchen so the kids were very very excited about cooking our own meal... As it was getting late we just went round the stupa once and tried to find some food for diner ... we chose pasta with tuna, some spinach and then we bought tea, sugar and biscuits.... We came home and cooked only to discover that we did not have any means to open the tuna tin so we had rather plain pasta ... but kids were excited to cook and we then washed up and watched How to train your dragon on DVD.
The city has fantastic architecture and a lot of crafts:

The next day we got up early to a beautiful sunshine and went for breakfast in a great little eco caffe that served the most delicious cakes in the whole universe!!!!

We then went for a nice long walk around the stupa first... People were throwing safran colored water to the dome to make it look nice and others were painting the white walls with white paint. If you want you can donate some money to get that done, or on some special days this is done as a maintenance...

Then took a picture of the gate:

We needed to buy some trainers for Hayden, socks for Teo, breakfast, a tin opener (of course) some eggs and some more vegetables for diner... We dropped our shopping back at the flat and went to see some of the monasteries in the city.... there are over 60 so we just selected a route and visited a few of them.... The kids took lots of pictures and some are amazingly decorated, with magnificent designs inside and outside, some vibrant colors and it is very pleasing to the eye... We saw how they make the candles with ghee and butter... and saw the most huge bell and wishing well ever...

We entered a couple of monasteries and saw some kids playing some games, others burning their cardboards and other praying and playing their long horns... fascinating...

The kids kept chasing the pigeons around!!!
We stopped for lunch in another amazing little place and carried on for another walk for a while.... then the kids got tired and we went for a cake in a little place and played games...
There were a lot of beggars in the streets but we saw some amazing characters and here are some of them...


That night we had a giant carrot, peas, tuna and spinach pasta ... most delicious and we watched another movie...
The next day we took a taxi home and went to school....