Happy Valley How unusual it is in Kathmandu to find a clean spot anywhere. For those of you who have never been there, the streets and sidewalks and everywhere (for that matter) are unclean. Unclean means that you have to watch your step at all times because dog and cow and human droppings are right there. You don’t ever want to walk in the dark anywhere in Kathmandu, that’s for sure. Mounds of garbage accumulate in certain areas and just build (and smell). Smoke and fumes and smells of all kinds are what air is in Nepalese cities. You get used to it, because you have no choice. Everywhere, everything is dirty and damp, dirty beyond our American imagination. Any kind of water product is just thrown in the streets and sidewalks and walking involves constant vigilance. There are animals everywhere. At night, it seems that all of the sleeping dogs you see all day form gangs and run the streets. Dogs fighting and barking fill the night air and this goes on until dawn. There being no streetlights, you don’t go out much at night in Kathmandu. So much for this kind of talk. Let me tell you about clean. I must write something about the Happy Valley Hotel, which is located less than one block from the Bodnath Stupa (Boudha, P.O. Box 1012, Kathmandu, Nepal, PH 977-1-471241, Fax 977-1-471876) . It was such a good experience for us. Perhaps most important to us, it was clean. In a city where they don’t have trash containers (because the whole city is treated like one), Happy Valley is an island of mercy. It is run by the Tibetan family of Sushil Lama (father), Tashi Dolma (mother) and Pasang Dolma (daughter), all devout and practicing Buddhists. The entire place was kept spotless, all the way from the lovely stone courtyard to the high rooftop terrace where we would sometimes watch the Sun set or rise. It is true that the rooms at Happy Valley are more expensive (up to $50 a night), but for that price you get what is essentially a suite of two rooms with a large walk-out balcony. Air-conditioning is there, if you need it too. The bathrooms are tiled and modern. Another plus is that you can sleep in the beds, between the sheets, without worrying about getting lice or something. All this and for less than a room in most American hotels. I came into Kathmandu intrigued by the idea of how cheap rooms and food could be there, but I soon found out that those rooms and that food are not what I want to be having. I was happy to pay a little (or a lot) more for clean rooms and decent food. It was still cheaper than anything back home. For example, I could take my whole family of five and a guest or two out to a fine rooftop-terrace dinner at a place like the Stupa View for less than $25, and that includes desert. And the staff at Happy Valley was always ready to help us. They did tons of stuff for us like: helping us exchange money, find taxis, get to the airport, get us at the airport – anything. And what good people. Each morning, the father could be seen doing some form of Tai Chi and meditation in the outer courtyard. The mother was always at the stupa at dawn doing khora (circumambulation). And the daughter, who must be around 21 or so and very bright, was always willing to help with whatever emergency was taking place, and we always had some desperate situation or another going. I gave up going anywhere else for breakfast, because the ones at Happy Valley were the best, served by people you came to consider your friends. The hotel is right next to Thrangu Monastery and school, filled with very young and VERY active monks. We would often drift off to sleep to the sound of a choir of these little imps singing Guru Rinpoche’s mantra. And the day started with the gong and their early morning chanting and music. The entire Bodnath area is filled with monastery sounds in the early morning and early evening, very lovely. Never mind that the young monks would shine flashlights into our rooms (and faces) at night from across the courtyard or could be seen climbing along the high narrow ledges (on the outside of the building) between rooms at any time of day, plus all manner of other pranks. These kids, many of whom are orphans taken in by the lamas, were a trip and a welcome addition to the Kathmandu scene. ...back to the opening page go on to the next story...