Today Ram from Nepal Social Treks took Carmen, Cora and myself to the villages
of Bungmati and Khokana.

 

You have honestly the feeling of entering a war-zone!
Somehow, I felt like walking through a very realistic film-set…
Weird and unreal; until you spot people living in the middle of this destruction;
getting on with their lives, and YES smiling at us!
As we said before, no one is complaining!
They just deal with what they have left and try to make the most of it!
Something to admire, for sure!
Those two villages had been tourist-magnets, known for the beauty of their temples and for their desire to stick to traditions; and YES the oil-mills are working again!

This was followed by a photo-stop at Chobar gorge and visiting the impressive Pharping monastery – the biggest Buddhist monastery in the Kathmandu area.
Overlooking the beautiful landscape of the Champadebi “hills” (over 3000m high).

We even had the time and chance to meditate there at the Goraknath cave. A wonderful place, filled with peace and positive energies! And the perfect way to wind down after all the emotions that rolled through us before!

This trip was yet another eye-opener! Whilst one can see quite a bit of destruction in Kathmandu itself, Bungmati and Khokana (and all other little villages that have been badly hit by the quakes) show the real extent of this catastrophy!