Happily for me my top skill is sleeping on planes. And I have slept the whole 4.5 hour flight from Dubai to Kathmandu. Woken blearily and trying to fix face and hair with my fingers only to glance out of the window to see the Himalayas rising out of the morning mist. Truly awe inspiring.

I’m not sure I heard this right but I think the announcement said, at the end of the landing instructions, ‘consider intention and cooperation’. I like that.

Welcome to Nepal. Now go home 😂

Ok so now I got picked up at the airport by Bikaram, who used to work at the Himalayan Tandoori restaurant in Reading in 1991. I might have met him. He brought me to the meeting place where I met my first fellow group person (it’s been a long day). Half Lebanese, half Scottish and lovely. She let me use her room for an hour to freshen up and I am deeply grateful.

My first impressions of Nepal are very positive, mainly because everyone I’ve met so far is friendly and helpful. I’ve been to India so I’m used to the noise and crazy traffic. I believe there is no concept whatsoever of stopping distances here.

Loving the Buddhist vibe

As you probably know I’ve come here for the Buddhist focus - sort of an active retreat. I have not been disappointed in day 1. We spent 2 hours this afternoon admiring the temple and sitting in a temple room talking about Buddhism. And as if that wasn’t enough, another half an hour after supper in meditation. Honestly, my arse is killing me already.

Love it though 🙏

Then the views. The temple itself is beautiful and overlooks the valley of Kathmandu, behind which, rising out of the mist, are the Himalayas. \240 Such spectacular sights just don’t seem real. It’s too fantastic to get my head around.

After breakfast we had our first session of Buddhist teachings. I’ll just share this bit. I paraphrase:

- Embrace losing

- Don’t try to win over others because that is mean

- Try not to be mean

It’s a tough ask but I’ll try.

We did a little hike this afternoon through terraced wheat fields to visit a monastery where a very significant early Buddhist lived in a cave many years ago. We sat in the cave for a while and apparently any wishes you make in the cave are granted. Here’s hoping.

The caves where Guru Rinpoche lived and meditated for a long time

Now, I have a little problem. After a hot, sticky walk I really need a shower but it’s freezing cold. What would you do? I don’t want to break ranks and complain a) because it’s not very Buddhist and b) I don’t think there is any hot water anyway. So it’s a very quick blast of cold water and soap rub on the essential bits and pieces. It wasn’t my cave wish but I do hope I don’t smell.

That said, there are a few spiders here. A largish one crawled over my shoe. I surprised myself by how calm I was. I think this Buddha time I’m having is working.

Day 4

Woke early in this idyllic place. It’s sunny, warm, beautiful, lush with trees and birdsong. The food is fabulous. Can I stay here?

I did a little birdwatching and saw a magnificent Himalayan Griffon plus a few other brightly coloured birds in the trees. I remember being bored by people who take pictures of birds. And here I am one.

Himalayan Griffon

Bulbul

Verditer flycatcher

Grey-hooded warbler

We trekked over to Namo Buddha Stupa and monastery and just caught the end of a service. I don’t know what it is I just find these places very moving. It’s the kindness and goodwill that seems to emanate from the building after all the years of housing sincere good intent. Or maybe I’m just being fanciful.

One of the things to do when you are visiting the Stupas is to run your hands over these cylindrical prayer wheels to set them spinning, which sends your prayers out into the world. So I should be ok now. If that doesn’t do it nothing will.

I enjoyed a heart to heart with my fellow travellers today, and as I keep learning, we are all the same under our skin.

Today is day 5 of the trip and we set off at 5am to catch a flight to Bhutan. Before we left one of the group asked me if I’d seen the YouTube videos of flights into Paro 😬

The flight was spectacular with views of the Himalayas along the whole route. Of the 50 or so photos one of them must be Mt Everest. I’m just not sure which one it is.

I think it’s this one ☝️

Now this has surprised me. After crying at the immigration desk I have just not felt ‘it’ in Bhutan so far. Granted I only had 3 hours sleep last night which might affect my judgment, and I do feel like this is harsh, but the things that are bothering me are the uniformity of the buildings and the conformity of people wearing their national dress. It looks quaint but not real and draws me to wonder what is being sacrificed here.

Seeing a shop called Bumchuu Store cheered me up. I think it’s a name for when you sneeze and fart at the same time.

I know it’s childish but in this hotel in Thimphu there is one step that is slightly bigger than all the rest. It comes as a bit of a surprise on the downward step and trips up everyone going upstairs. I’m calling it the naughty step.

All visitors to Bhutan have to have a guide, which is good for employment. It also means that the experience is curated and we see the bits we are supposed to see, and we hear the stories we are meant to hear. I’m not sure that our guide enjoys his job. I get the impression he doesn’t like us very much.

The Big Buddha. No kidding. He’s huge!

The rivers are beautiful. So clean and clear.

We drove up to 3,150 metres which I think is the highest I’ve ever been, and if it had been a clear day we would have had an amazing view of the Himalayas. Instead we saw cloud. One of the group has an app that showed us where the mountains are 😐

One of these flags is planted when someone dies. They are planted in groups on the mountainside and flutter in the breeze

Today we visited the monastery of the ‘mad man’ who drank, hunted and liked making sex apparently. And yet, due to his powers he is revered to this day and honoured with paintings of giant phalluses daubing the walls. The monastery has mysterious powers of fertility. Hope not in my case.

Bhutan has been at the top of my bucket list since lockdown. It is tempting to form an opinion of the tight control on its people. But they seem to love their king and he seems to be proactive and acting in the interests of his people and his country. But if we only see what we are allowed to see, who knows the truth?

We stayed a while as one of our group read some Buddhist writings about clearing the mind, being good and achieving enlightenment. Just before we left a monk came in and I asked if he would bless some bracelets I bought for the guys to keep them protected. He was gracious and blessed them profusely which totally set me off. I recovered and then we spent another two hours walking down again.

I cannot count how many times I have been blessed, I mean literally blessed, on this holiday. I’m fit to burst with blessings. Long may they last 🙏

After we got back down we visited another monastery, then a house of a great, but dead, Buddhist teacher. The guys who know about such things were beyond excited when his famous student (also a great teacher and very much alive) turned up.

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, who is the teacher of famous Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön.

Then we visited another house. And then we went to the ‘hot stone bath’. So this is a wooden tub filled with water which they heat with stones that have been heating in a fire for 3 hours, apparently. You get your own cubicle. Well I couldn’t keep my hand in the water for more than a second. Erm it’s too hot. After 5 minutes of standing around naked saying still too hot while they add cold water through a hose with me muttering under my breath ‘get a fucking thermometer’ I get in. Still boiled alive but I’m British and we put up with things because we don’t like making a fuss. Much like Buddhists.

Back in Kathmandu the contrast is massive. Hustle, dust and noise, crazy traffic, lively people. \240I feel much more at home here. Not exactly relaxing but full of life, messy and real.

Little did I know when I landed that the best was yet to come. After lunch we visited our last monastery. I was quite happy that it was the last one to be honest. I am all templed and monasteried out for quite a while.

We arrived at this monastery as the monks were doing an extraordinary practice involving headdresses, music, chanting of prayers, moving in elaborate circles and spirals out in the courtyard then moving back into the temple.

We sat through the whole ritual where a monk with an unfeasibly deep voice chanted a prayer broken every few minutes with the monks joining in and throwing handfuls of rice and flowers into the air. The first time it happened I shouted ‘Yay’ into the small silence that followed.

What happened next was extraordinary. Our group leader requested a meeting with the revered teacher, or rinpoche. He granted us a meeting which lasted 2 hours where he answered our individual questions with such grace, understanding, kindness and insight that I am truly full of awe and inspiration. His speech was wise and down to earth, funny and it touched our hearts. Here are just a few of the things he said.

• In wars I pray for both sides. The oppressed and the aggressor. Both are trapped.
• The victim who suffers appalling torture over decades, once free is truly free. The torturers are still captives.
• The answer to the grief we carry in our hearts is to forgive those who hurt us so that our hearts can be content.
• True bodhisattva nature is when you witness someone brutally murdering your family in front of your eyes and you would still help them if they needed it.
• A little bit of impatience is not a problem. Impatience with yourself is you hurting yourself.
• It’s no good to be a good, kind and patient person only when people are watching. You have to also be kind when no one is looking.
• Don’t surround yourself with toxicity because it will get in and harm you.
• So much of what is going on in the world is appealing to base instincts of sex and aggression. If we feed on this it does us no good. It does society no good.
• The best healing medicine is a pure heart. If we live with a pure heart we live the best possible life with the time we have.
• The best doctors give human to human contact, not just a professional advice. Buddhists make terrible doctors (joking I think).
• Poison, in the right dose, can become medicine. In the same way use challenges to increase wisdom. If everything was always lovely you would have no opportunity to learn how to be good.
• Be practical first and foremost. You have to live in this world that isn’t perfect for you. Sometimes you need to compromise on your passion.
• There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Otherwise it isn’t a tunnel.
• Find a teacher that speaks to your heart. Not the one who fits with what you want but one who will give you what you need, who will challenge you.
• Create a sanctuary within yourself and you can take it with you everywhere you go.

Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche

Now I need to sum up the journey that I have been on.

As you probably already know I am a traveller. I love moving around this beautiful world of ours and witnessing people, nature and scenery. It is not an intellectual quest to analyse, describe, collect or acquire status. I don’t ‘do’ places, I visit them. I am touched, sometimes deeply, by the places I visit and the people I meet. It is also very much an inner journey to learn how to travel in good humour, in deep appreciation and often, with patience.

This trip has touched me deeply. The people I have travelled with are so beautiful and brave. Their stories are heart-breaking and their spirits, supported by their wisdom, faith and practice, so good, so strong. They have moved and inspired me.

The trip was called ‘The Heart Journey’ and oh my God it truly has been for me. My heart has been so present, so open throughout the trip. I spent a lot of time with tears in my eyes. Sad and happy at the same time.

On this trip I have been met with so much kindness and I have learned that it’s ok for me to be like this.

See you next time. With love xx