Pat

Retired. Have time for the things I love: travel, my cat, reading, good food, travel, genealogy, walking, and of course travel.

Forced Single in Kathmandu

We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate.

– Pico Iyer

TAHACHAL NEPAL, 9pm, 4 Oct: After rooftop breakfast and much talk with my Nepalese server at the Backyard, I took a taxi to meet my group at Crowne Plaza in Tahachal, just south over the bridge from downtown Kathmandu. Cost was 300 rupees but gave him a 30% tip for the adventure and getting me there unharmed. Now I just follow the flow and Niraj my Road Scholar leader.

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By Pat, ago

I am in Nepal

In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.

– Carl Jung

In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside you.

– Deepak Chopra

Chaos is chaos no matter how you experience it. You either adapt or die.

– Pat Bunyard

DSC00503KATMANDU NEPAL, 6pm, 1 Oct: Questions I want answered: is Kathmandu dirty; what of the cows, democracy, the upcoming election “maybe”, food, feelings for the King; how do they view Dipendra who killed his royal family? And what about this time zone and an extra 15 minutes? So many questions and so little time. All depends upon my listening, seeing, and interpreting. Then it is all me – my suppositions and feelings about this chaos where I find myself.

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By Pat, ago

Taipei Is Tops

You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline – it helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.

– Frank Zappa

GUANGZHOU CHINA, 6:30pm, 30 Sept: I am surrounded by violet passport holders all wanting to get to the head of the line. The rush to the gate is chaotic. The height of civility appears to have been left behind the immigration line in Taipei. The plane pulls from the gate and there are still those in the aisle putting bags away. They bounce up before the plane stops upon landing. I am on hold at the airport awaiting my flight to Kathmandu. There I will enter a new time zone and regain 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Taipei proven to be interesting and enjoyable. In summary:

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By Pat, ago

Taipei Zoo and Friends

A single rose can be my garden… a single friend, my world.

~ Leo Buscaglia

Camels enjoying their day at Taipei Zoo.

Camels enjoying their day at Taipei Zoo.

TAIPEI, 1:30pm, 30 Sept: I gave myself a relaxing break Sunday by going to the Taipei Zoo. I like zoos. Not only for the chance to see indigenous animals, but as a point of comparison. Taipei has an excellent zoo. Like most zoos around the world, elephants pose a challenge – big animals in too small enclosures. Otherwise, enclosures were very spacious and well designed. Thousands brought their children for a visit yet there was always room at the rail. And being a senior, I got to see the zoo, and camel fornication, all for free.

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By Pat, ago

In Search of Taiwan History

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

Confucius – Sept 28th – his 2563rd birthday

TAIPEI, 9 am, 29 Sept: I have had a very busy three days in Taipei. Our American education system teaches very little about this part of the world. Practically nothing about Taiwan. Thus, everything is new and I struggle to put this island and it’s people into historical perspective. I have read about China, the Mao/Chiang rivalry, the second Sino-Japanese war and Chiang’s ultimate loss of Mainland China to the Communists. Known as the Republic of China or ROC, Taiwan is not recognized as an independent country by most of the world, having lost its UN seat to People’s Republic of China in 1971. About every president since Eisenhower has visited, but recognition is informal. The PRC is acknowledged as the sole legitimate representative of all China, though ROC would wish the opposite.

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By Pat, ago

Earned a Pin in My Map

Travel is a destroyer of narrow, individual views of self-importance and of your culture.

How much time must I spend in a country to justify putting a pin in my world map: a week, days, hours, overnight? I’m not counting Singapore because I slept on the plane during its stopover. I am counting Japan’s overnight stop. Here’s why.

Sure I didn’t see a museum, monument or garden. But one can learn a lot about a country by spending a few hours in its airport and sleeping over in a hotel.

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By Pat, ago