https://www.dailywire.com/news
If Pocahontas runs and wins, after she introduces socialism and universal health care, she might save money, in order to pay for these extravaganzas, by selling The White House and moving into a Tepee located on the former White House grounds next to the Rose Garden.
Trump might offer to buy The White House and turn it into a B and B.
Meanwhile, Trump is doing everything he can to buck up Republicans and get the voters out to stave off another political Michael brewing over The Potomac.
You would think, with his successes to date in virtually every facet of the presidency, voters would be able to put aside their discomfort over his style but Democrats put the bad mouth on him early on, then reinforced their attacks by accusing him of being Putin's "girlie boy." They did all of this by engineering a Mueller Investigation based on fake documents, wiretapping associates and obtaining FISA Warrants based on a fake dossier prepared by Hillary goons and FBI senior staffers, one of whom was busy buying a $70,000 desk. Others were on payrolls of enemies of Trump and the list of illegal abuses and stench remains bottled up to protect the "innocents" who plead the 5th at every opportunity rather than square with voters.
What has been determined to date swamps anything related to Watergate.
If Democrats recapture The House all investigations will cease and some of the dirt obtained to date will be hauled off and used as mulch for a garden to beautify the grounds of The FBI Headquarters. The remaining dirt held in abeyance and thrown at Republicans going to dinner in public restaurants.
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This comment and link is from a friend and fellow memo reader:
"The circle is closing on the people involved in the Russian Scandal/fraud. That's why Glenn Simpson (Fusion GPS who paid for the dossier and hired by the Democrats) takes the 5th before a Congressional committee and Rob Rosenstien refuses to speak to a Congressional committee because he knows he'll be under oath and he'd have to take the 5th!!
https://www.washingtontimes.
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Ex CIA official states Iran is the major destabilizing force in the region and will ultimately fall. (See 1 below.)
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Kathmandu: Chapter 5 (See 2 below.)
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Dick
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1)
EX-CIA OFFICIAL: IRAN IS THE PRIMARY ENGINE OF REGIONAL DESTABILIZATION
by Yossi Melman for Jpost.com,
In his first interview with an Israeli journalist, a senior CIA official predicts that the Iranian regime will ultimately fall.
It’s difficult to categorize Norman Roule. Sometimes he sounds like a liberal and sometimes a conservative. Yet there is no contradiction between these two seemingly contrasting impressions. They simply reflect his honesty. And a true intelligence man has no more precious assets than his professionalism and honesty. Perhaps the best way to describe his professional outlook is to borrow the Hebrew term, which incorporates both a dove and a hawk. Maybe something like “dovak.”
Roule served for 34 years in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations (formerly known as the Defense Clandestine Service) in a variety of tasks in the field and at headquarters level, covering the Middle East, including managing numerous programs relating to Iran. During these years, he served as the “National Intelligence Manager for Iran” at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Summarizing his detailed explanations about the nuclear deal with Iran – which the US recently abandoned – the best definition would be to say that the perception of the deal is in the eyes of the beholder.
From his vast Middle East experience, he has good knowledge about the Israeli intelligence community and has met many of its past and current senior officials, including Mossad heads Meir Dagan, Tamir Pardo and Yossi Cohen, and military intelligence chiefs such as Amos Yadlin.
This is his first interview with an Israeli journalist. We met last month in a New York hotel. He came to town to moderate a panel at a conference organized by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a bipartisan NGO of former US senators, diplomats and intelligence officials as well as European and Middle Eastern personalities – among them, the late Meir Dagan and former German BND (Federal Intelligence Service) chief August Hanning.
UANI was marking its 10th anniversary and in honor of the occasion, a number of prominent guests addressed the conference. Among them were current Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Yemen’s deputy foreign minister Khaled Alyemany, the ambassadors of Bahrain and UAE to the US, former US Senator Joseph Lieberman and Brian Hook, the State Department’s Special Representative for Iran.
“There is no one perspective to look at the Iran deal,” Roule says. “In the eyes of the supporters of the deal, the deal achieved its goals: the Iranians dismantled the plutonium producing nuclear reactor in Arak, dismantled and stored the vast majority of their centrifuges and exported most of their enriched uranium. Iran’s nuclear program is under the most intrusive international inspection program ever devised and there is no evidence Iran has any covert sites or a weaponization program [the last stage of assembling a nuclear bomb – Y.M.]. By this definition, the deal has been a success. Those who oppose the deal sometimes seem unwilling to acknowledge these real achievements.”
And what is the other perspective?
“Those who argued that the deal would open Iran to the world and encourage it to be a more responsible international player were wrong. They argue that Iran needed more time for this transformation. Perhaps, but how many years do we need to wait for Iran to stop supporting terrorism? If you live in the region and are victims of routine terrorism or missile attacks, it simply isn’t reasonable to endure these threats to your citizens in the hope Iran will change.”
What is the desirable course that has to be taken?
“If Iran wants to help the Houthis, they should send humanitarian aid via the United Nations and not missiles. Iran’s actions have extended the conflicts and exacerbated the tragic suffering of the Yemeni people. Iran supports more than a dozen Shi’ite and Sunni militias and terrorist groups in the region. It has proliferated advanced missile technology. There is no question Iran is the primary engine of destabilization in the region and the international community. This must be stopped and Iran must be compelled to cease its behavior.”
ROULE IS reluctant to talk about himself and feels uneasy about my interest in his family background. In brief, he was a born in a small coal mining town in southeast Pennsylvania to a family, which has always expressed a sense of duty to serve community and country. His family members fought in major American wars during the last century: the two World Wars and the Korean and Vietnam wars. His family upbringing engraved in his mind that he should always fight evil and the bad guys.
He went to a small college to pursue his interests in music but discovered history and the world opened to him. While at college, he was spotted by the CIA and recruited.
He refused to talk about his career in the intelligence community, but from other sources I learned that in his long years of service he worked as an undercover agent, station chief and rose to the senior position of division head in charge of the Middle East (Near East in US jargon). In 2008, he was asked to serve at DNI, which was established in 2005 by President George W. Bush to improve cooperation among the many organs of the US intelligence community. The reorganization was a result of the tragic events of 9/11, which US intelligence agencies failed to detect and stop. In practical terms, he was the senior official responsible for managing US intelligence plans and operations against Iran.
In nearly nine years of service in this capacity, he was witness to how the ties and cooperation between the intelligence communities of Israel and the US were enhanced and upgraded to unprecedented levels. It can be assumed that he was privy at that time to all the most guarded secrets shared by the two countries.
It was reported by international media that the CIA and Mossad carried out joint operations, including the assassination of Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah’s master terrorist, and the intelligence agencies of the two nations developed and unleashed malware that damaged Iran’s computers that were linked to its uranium enrichment program and performed other daring operations around the globe.
When I tried to ask him about such operations, his answer was polite but firm. “I will not discuss my past work in the intelligence community,” he said.
Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, who knows Roule well, told me that “Norman is a brilliant guy. He knows the Middle East very well. He is a superb analyst and I considered him a true friend of Israel. Every meeting with him was extremely interesting.” After his retirement in September 2017, Roule went into private business and joined UANI.
What do you think of the capture of Iran’s nuclear archive by the Mossad?
“I only know what I read in the media. But the material certainly seems like evidence that Iran was at least keeping open the option for a nuclear weaponization program in the future.”
From your vast experience, what are Iran’s patterns and modes of operation?
“Iran employs what is known as hybrid warfare or gray zone tactics. In Iran, it may be that the Supreme leader will say to his subordinates don’t risk a major conflict, but you can operate aggressively below that level. This allows Iran to move rapidly, unlike in the West where each step involves careful review by policy makers or Congress.”
How is such a model put into practice in the field?
“Iran is deeply involved in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Iran’s aggressive actions in the region seem as if it has taken a conventional war and split it into pieces: ground operations and UAV air operations in some countries, naval operations in the Red Sea, and periodic cyber-attacks. Because these actions are divided among so many locations, the West and the United Nations ignore the conflict. But people are dying, nonetheless.”
But hasn’t the international community imposed sanctions on Iran?
“The US and the West have imposed multiple sanctions on Iran for its involvement in terrorism, the bombing of our embassy (in Beirut – Y.M.), and the missile attacks against Saudi Arabia. But these sanctions are not yet at the level that impacts on Iranian decision-making. We may have slowed the operations of Iran and Hezbollah, but we have yet to stop them.”
Maybe it is better to use diplomacy rather than sanctions?
“During the debate on the future of the deal, I believed we should have stayed and worked with our allies to pressure Iran. The US should not be perceived as standing alone against Iran.”
So is Trump wrong in his policy?
“I will not comment on policy. We should remember that President Trump’s objections to the deal are not unique. Many, many congressmen – including Democrats – made these comments during the debate over the nuclear deal. I do believe we need to work with Europe and our other allies, but it isn’t reasonable to allow Europe to continue to delay pressure against Iran. The new sanctions increase pressure against Iran. Iran isn’t a very profitable place for any major business and large corporations cannot justify choosing the difficult, unprofitable and heavily sanctioned Iranian market over the US.”
What is the impact of sanctions on Iran?
“Iran is facing unprecedented simultaneous challenges. These challenges are demographic, economic, ecological, social, and political. Its water shortages are significant, and its infrastructure is very poor. But Iran invited this problem. It chose to send oil to Syria instead of using the funds for its own infrastructure and to assist its civilians. Iran’s generally young population has understandably lost faith in its government and many are leaving. This brain drain is another challenge.”
Is this the reason Iran came to the negotiating table, because it was on the verge of collapse?
“There is no evidence Iran was on the verge of collapse when they came to the table. They were under great pressure and they came to the table to see what deal might be possible.”
It was claimed by Israeli intelligence that Iran was 3-6 months from a bomb?
“According to many press reports, it would be more correct to say that Iran was only a few months from sufficiently highly enriched uranium for a weapon. More work would have been required to build an actual weapon.”
Can you define the purpose of the sanctions?
“Sanctions must aim at provoking a conversation among Iran’s leaders. What do they prefer: intervention in the region or economic and political stability at home. For this reason, I support a stronger sanctions policy.
Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, who knows Roule well, told me that “Norman is a brilliant guy. He knows the Middle East very well. He is a superb analyst and I considered him a true friend of Israel. Every meeting with him was extremely interesting.” After his retirement in September 2017, Roule went into private business and joined UANI.
What do you think of the capture of Iran’s nuclear archive by the Mossad?
“I only know what I read in the media. But the material certainly seems like evidence that Iran was at least keeping open the option for a nuclear weaponization program in the future.”
From your vast experience, what are Iran’s patterns and modes of operation?
“Iran employs what is known as hybrid warfare or gray zone tactics. In Iran, it may be that the Supreme leader will say to his subordinates don’t risk a major conflict, but you can operate aggressively below that level. This allows Iran to move rapidly, unlike in the West where each step involves careful review by policy makers or Congress.”
How is such a model put into practice in the field?
“Iran is deeply involved in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Iran’s aggressive actions in the region seem as if it has taken a conventional war and split it into pieces: ground operations and UAV air operations in some countries, naval operations in the Red Sea, and periodic cyber-attacks. Because these actions are divided among so many locations, the West and the United Nations ignore the conflict. But people are dying, nonetheless.”
But hasn’t the international community imposed sanctions on Iran?
“The US and the West have imposed multiple sanctions on Iran for its involvement in terrorism, the bombing of our embassy (in Beirut – Y.M.), and the missile attacks against Saudi Arabia. But these sanctions are not yet at the level that impacts on Iranian decision-making. We may have slowed the operations of Iran and Hezbollah, but we have yet to stop them.”
Maybe it is better to use diplomacy rather than sanctions?
“During the debate on the future of the deal, I believed we should have stayed and worked with our allies to pressure Iran. The US should not be perceived as standing alone against Iran.”
So is Trump wrong in his policy?
“I will not comment on policy. We should remember that President Trump’s objections to the deal are not unique. Many, many congressmen – including Democrats – made these comments during the debate over the nuclear deal. I do believe we need to work with Europe and our other allies, but it isn’t reasonable to allow Europe to continue to delay pressure against Iran. The new sanctions increase pressure against Iran. Iran isn’t a very profitable place for any major business and large corporations cannot justify choosing the difficult, unprofitable and heavily sanctioned Iranian market over the US.”
What is the impact of sanctions on Iran?
“Iran is facing unprecedented simultaneous challenges. These challenges are demographic, economic, ecological, social, and political. Its water shortages are significant, and its infrastructure is very poor. But Iran invited this problem. It chose to send oil to Syria instead of using the funds for its own infrastructure and to assist its civilians. Iran’s generally young population has understandably lost faith in its government and many are leaving. This brain drain is another challenge.”
Is this the reason Iran came to the negotiating table, because it was on the verge of collapse?
“There is no evidence Iran was on the verge of collapse when they came to the table. They were under great pressure and they came to the table to see what deal might be possible.”
It was claimed by Israeli intelligence that Iran was 3-6 months from a bomb?
“According to many press reports, it would be more correct to say that Iran was only a few months from sufficiently highly enriched uranium for a weapon. More work would have been required to build an actual weapon.”
Can you define the purpose of the sanctions?
“Sanctions must aim at provoking a conversation among Iran’s leaders. What do they prefer: intervention in the region or economic and political stability at home. For this reason, I support a stronger sanctions policy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2)Chapter 5, Kathmandu
2)Chapter 5, Kathmandu
Thursday morning, Oct. 11, Ugyen and Jazzy picked us up at 9:00 to
take us to the airport. After many hugs
and thanks, we were back on DrukAir, headed to Kathmandu.
This was about a one-hour flight.
We left a lovely, beautifully decorated, small airport in Paro and
landed at an airport completely lacking in charm and beauty. And efficiency. You cannot get a visa for Nepal ahead of
time, so you have to get it when you arrive.
They have automated part of the process, so that you can stand in line
for a machine that will read your passport and take your photo, but you still
have to type in a lot of information, which takes some time for each
person. I guess that we stood in line
about 15 minutes for the machine. Then
you move to the line to pay for the visa, which is $25 per person. This line took about 25 minutes. They had a big sign saying they took Visa and
MasterCard, but the machine wasn’t working, so we had to pay cash. (This “machine not working” thing is eating
through the cash we brought along. We
may be sending out emails looking for donations, like those princes in Africa.)
The next line is for a man to stamp your passport and be sure you
have filled out everything properly, which he takes a great deal of time to achieve. That line was about 30 minutes. So, more than one hour after landing, we were
able to retrieve our bags and look for a taxi.
We were smart this time, and went to a desk for a prepaid taxi. The unsmart thing we did (and I’m not saying
who) was to opt for a taxi with no A/C, thinking it would be cool enough with
the windows down. Hah! Cool wasn’t the problem. It was the dust and dirt in the air. Plus, the cars without A/C are older and
cheaper and generally not as nice.
Remember this when you are in Kathmandu – ALWAYS go for a taxi with
A/C. Lesson learned.
It took about an hour to get to the hotel. It shouldn’t have taken that long, but the
traffic was awful. The driver said it
was worse than usual due to a festival, but who knows? Our first impressions of this city on that
cab ride were: big, busy, dusty, chaotic, clogged with cars and motorbikes, the
exact opposite of Bhutan. I wanted to
turn around and go back.
Nobody seems to know how many people live in Kathmandu. We were given numbers from 1 million to 8
million. Some number of people live in
the countryside but come to the city to work, and have some sort of living
accommodations here, so they count as part of the city. There are also a large number of
students.
The earthquake in 2015 did huge amounts of damage to the city and
surrounding area, and they are still trying to recover, so the dirt and dust in
the air come from the many construction and demolition sites. More on this later.
Tired and grumpy after what should have been a pretty short day, we
arrived at the Yak and Yeti Hotel, an oasis in the midst of all the chaos. Jim had booked this place via Trip Advisor,
and he did a good job. This was, we are
told, the first real hotel in Kat. A
famous restaurant, The Chimney, is here, but it is closed for renovation. The original building, a beautiful large pink
edifice, was a palace, then the original hotel, and now houses offices, the
casino, and the Chimney. The new hotel
is modern and elegant, filled with beautiful carvings and brass and
contemporary Nepalese artwork.
For some strange reason, they upgraded us to a suite, which was
delightful news. We were given some
welcoming lemonade while the paperwork was being attended to, and then a very
sweet young lady escorted us to our corner room. It has 2 rooms – a living room with 2 couches,
a granite-topped coffee table, and a beautiful carved wood desk, and a bedroom
with king-sized bed and a big TV. There
is a hallway, lined with closets, to the bathroom, which is surprisingly
average, given the ample dimensions and luxuriousness of the rest of the quarters. The carved wood furniture and brass fixtures
are gorgeous. Our view is out the back
of the hotel at the garden and pool area.
Dee-lightful. Given the chaos
outside the gate, I may never leave the hotel.
A large perk of being on this floor is the VIP lounge. We stopped there for a glass of wine before dinner
and discovered that we could make dinner out of the hors d’ouevres they
provided. Since I couldn’t get my mouth
open wide enough to eat anything much, I focused on the sliced salmon on toast,
skipping the toast and just eating the very thin salmon, and some beet mousse,
also on toast but easily scraped off.
Meanwhile, Jim was feasting on chicken, potatoes, and various canapés. There was some sort of pudding-y dessert that I could eat, and Jim had some lovely looking tortes. Plus some very passable Chilean red wine to ease my pain. All gratis with our room! Ain’t life grand?
Meanwhile, Jim was feasting on chicken, potatoes, and various canapés. There was some sort of pudding-y dessert that I could eat, and Jim had some lovely looking tortes. Plus some very passable Chilean red wine to ease my pain. All gratis with our room! Ain’t life grand?
Friday morning, we were up in time to enjoy an omelette, fruit,
cereal, and various breads in the lounge prior to departing for our city
tour. The van picked us up about
9:45. We were a group of only six: a young couple from Mexico, a man from
Romania, a woman from Switzerland, and us.
Our guide, Subitah, was friendly and spoke moderately good English. The van was comfortable, as vans go. We headed first for Swyambhunath Stupa, AKA
Monkey Temple. This is a large Stupa at
the top of a hill west of Kathmandu. (For reference, our hotel is smack in the
middle of town, and this hill is at the far western edge of the city.)
Nepal is both Hindu (80%) and Buddhist (12%), and, according to
Subitah, everyone gets along just fine and the two religions are very similar. This stupa was originally built back in the early
6th century. Yes, the
500’s.
The Buddhists believe that the entire valley of Kathmandu was once
an enormous lake, out of which grew a lotus. The valley came to be known as Swayambhu, which
means, "Self-Created." A man named Manjusri, considered a
meditational deity and fully enlightened Buddha, had a vision of the Lotus at
Swayambhu and traveled there from Tibet to worship it. Seeing that the valley
could be a good location for a settlement, he cut a gorge at Chovar. The water drained out of the lake,
leaving the valley in which Kathmandu now lies. The Lotus was transformed into
a hill and the flower became the stupa.
Swayambhunath is also known as the Monkey Temple as there
are “holy” monkeys living in the north-west parts of the temple. (Actually, they
are all over the place.) They are holy because when Manjushri
was raising the hill on which the stupa stands, he was supposed to leave his
hair short, but he made it grow long and head lice grew. It is said that the
head lice transformed into these monkeys.
Isn’t that an appealing story?
Anyway, the place is loaded with monkeys, and they are pretty cute. Much better than head lice.
This site is one of the most holy for Nepalese Buddhists, known as
Newars, but Hindus also consider it holy.
The stupa is topped by a dome with eyes and eyebrows of Buddha painted
on each of the four sides, along with a nose that is the Nepalese symbol for
the number one.
There is a staircase to reach the stupa from one direction, with
365 steps. Fortunately, we drove around
to the back and came in at the top.
There is almost an entire town here, with shops, a monastery, a couple
of cafés, and a small temple. There is a
good view of the city and the mountains from up here atop the hill.
After spending about an hour watching the monkeys and people, we
got back on the van and headed to Hanumandhoka Durbar Square. This should have been a short ride back
toward the center of town, but, due to the festival going on, the city is
crowded and the traffic is horrendous, so it took at least ½ hour longer than
it should have. Subitah had finally had had
enough and decided that we would walk the final leg of the trip.
The walk was largely uphill, through the ungodly traffic made up of
cars, trucks, motorbikes, and other pedestrians. The way to cross the street is the Nike way
-- just do it, and make them avoid you.
If you hesitate, you’re done for.
The streets are mostly not paved – they are a combination of dust,
stones, and broken pavement, so the walking isn’t easy. We all made it, though, and emerged unscathed
into Durber Square. “Durber” means
palace, so this is the square in Kathmandu where the royal palace stood.
Now, here comes the very interesting story of the royal family in
Nepal. I knew none of this, so it may be
new to you, too. Nepal became a kingdom
in 1768, when the first king, Prithvi Narayan Shah, unified all the small
kingdoms in Nepal.
The monarchy was
popular through most of its history. An
economic crisis at the end of the 1980’s led to a popular movement which
brought about parliamentary elections and the adoption of a constitutional
monarchy in 1990. The 1990’s saw the beginning of the Nepalese Civil War (1996–2006),
a conflict between government forces and the insurgent forces of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
In 2001, the Nepalese royal family was wiped out by someone – and,
to this day, they aren’t sure who did it.
The family was at a family gathering, and someone shot them all. The original story was that the Crown Prince,
unhappy that his parents wouldn’t give their blessing to his marriage to the
girl of his dreams, decided in a drunken rage to kill them all. The trouble with this story is that he, too,
died of gunshots, although perhaps self-inflicted. Rumors abound that it might have been Maoists
or Tibetans or Indians or Russians – nobody knows. In any event, the new king, who was the dead
king’s brother, was very unpopular.
Under his rule, Maoists and pro-democracy forces were shooting at each
other in the streets, and innocent people were getting gunned down. As a result, the monarchy was abolished by
the Assembly in 2008.
Until the abolition
of the monarchy, Nepal was the world's only country to have Hinduism as its state religion. The country is now formally a secular state.
Since the earthquake
in 2015, the government has failed to provide the rebuilding and recovery
efforts that are needed. Other countries
offered assistance, and were told to just send money to the government and they
would handle everything. Hah! Outside manufacturers would like to build
plants here, but the government would cease to receive the huge taxes that they
currently get on imports, so they do not allow this type of development. For example, a Fiat that costs $9,000 in
India costs $40,000 in Nepal due to the tariffs. Nepal imports nearly everything, and most of
it comes from India. They produce their
own fruits and vegetables, some rice, and lovely handicrafts, but you can’t
build an economy on pashminas, clay pots and carved wood.
In the most recent
elections, the Communist Party took over control of the government. I’m sure everything will be much better now. Maybe when Trump is done being President he
can come over and whip this place into shape.
Nothing is free in
Nepal. Even a primary school education
must be paid for. Health care is not
free. There are long lines at gas
stations, and at some banks. On the
other hand, for us, the prices are very low.
One hundred Nepalese Rupees are worth $0.85, so 1,000 Rupees are
$8.50. I bought a lovely pair of cotton
Nepalese pants today for 700 rupees – about $6.00. We do have to pay special tourist fees to enter
every temple square, so they hit us with charges that natives don’t have to
pay. Somehow, they can tell that we
aren’t locals.
Back to my
story. We visited the old palace, but
couldn’t go inside because it was damaged by the earthquake. The Chinese are helping to rebuild it. In fact, the Chinese are getting their paws
all over building projects in Nepal.
They were just awarded a contract to build a new ring road around Kathmandu. Somebody call the American Ambassador.
We also visited a
home for the Kumari, a young girl who is selected to be a goddess until she
gets too old. They select a 2-3 year-old
girl who is perfect and who the local monks say is the right choice, and they
literally lock her up in a house with some monks to look after her. She is paraded around the city on special
festival days, but spends the rest of her time hidden away. When she is about to reach puberty, they toss
her out and get a new one. She is then
free to go back home, to school, and to have friends, although who knows how
weird she must be after being closeted away for her entire childhood and
treated like a goddess.
Then we drove a long
way to the eastern side of town to see the Great Buddha Stupa. This trip,
again, took forever, so we were having a very late lunch and were all getting
hungry and anxious to get out of the van.
We ate at a roof-top restaurant,
overlooking the large square with the Stupa. This is the largest stupa in Nepal, and, I
think, the 2nd largest in the world.
The largest is in China. This
square was surrounded by nice buildings, either repaired or undamaged, and was
pedestrian territory only, so it was fun to stroll around and look in the
shops.
Then we had to brave
the traffic again to get back in the van and head south for Pashupatinath
Temple. This is very near the airport,
and sits next to the river. Beside the
river is where people are cremated and their ashes deposited in the river. We saw the final small flames of one
cremation. Subitah told us that the
children digging for things in the river were relatives of the dead one and
were digging for the belongings of the dead person as a sign that life goes
on. Another body was waiting for the
flame. It was tied to a litter, and
covered in brightly covered cloths. The
mourners (and only men are allowed to attend) were waiting for someone to
appear, whether it was a family member or monk, we don’t know. We never saw the flames ignited.
This area was also
full of monkeys, climbing everywhere and being cute. There was a garden area at the top of the
hill above the river, and many small stupas lining the river.
It was almost 6 p.m.
by the time we were dropped off at our hotel, and we were happy to just stay in
and dine once again in the VIP lounge.
Kim, the man who tends to the lounge, is very solicitous and wants to
provide whatever anyone wants. We met
two men from the US who actually ordered from the dining room menu and had it
sent up to the lounge. We were happy
with what was available. They did give
us the name of a driver they had used that day to take them outside of the city
to see some sites, so we may do that one day.
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