A new blog link from Nepal

The newest friend in our blog circle is Madhav Rosyara, who lives in Nepal. He's happy to be linked and as soon as I get back from a certain errand this morning, I will do so. Meanwhile, from the Naturetrek website:

"Nepal is one of the most spectacular countries on earth, inhabited by the most friendly and endearing people. For a country that lies 800 kilometres from the sea, it has a scenic and altitudinal variety that is quite unrivalled.

It contains the highest mountains in the world, thundering rivers, magical montane forests and dense lowland jungles. The Kathmandu Valley - once the bed of a large and ancient lake - is now a colourful mosaic of rice paddies and quaint farmhouses surrounded by high forested hills supporting a fabulous range of exotic bird and mammal species including monkeys, Muntjac, Jungle Cat, Leopard and even Tiger.

The bustling capital city combines medieval and modern in unique fashion and visitors will be fascinated by the beautiful pagoda-style Hindu temples, Buddhist stupas and elaborate royal palaces.

madhav Rosyara

Way back buried in a pile of comments that I am just getting around to answering tonight, I found a warm and welcoming one from madhav Rosyara, in Nepal.

What a thrill! He is welcome to post here anytime and share details of life in his country with us. And I am waiting his permission to link his blog.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have at least one link from every country in the world?

She's goin' to Kathmandu!

Ah, how this attempt to retain anonymity chafes and confines! But I have no one to blame but myself.

I have a friend, who for the reasons above I cannot mention by name, who has earned a certain, very prestigious scholarship, which I also cannot name for the same reason. How I would love to praise Her publicly, beyond the mention that She has had in our local paper.

I can say that because of this scholarship, She is going to Nepal and will do a world of good there. She is an intelligent Woman (please pardon the redundancy), as well as friendly, compassionate and curious.

Not an American native, She retains a delightful Eastern European accent but navigates English quite well.

I am so happy for Her and I am excited about what I hope to learn from Her in emails when She arrives in that country about which I and most Americans know so very little.

What I do know about Nepal – home of a sometimes violent Maoist insurgency that has only recently reached a peace agreement with the government – makes me realize that my friend, in addition to the above-noted qualities, is also brave.
Much has changed since Bob Seger sang about “going to Kathmandu” to escape problems in the U.S.