First Few Days In Pharping

So sorry I've been slow at updating, but today is the first internet connection I've had (though it is slooooow).  

I've spent the last few days in Pharping living just up the hill from the DakshinKali temple, the Hindu holy site which hosts the greatest number of animal sacrifices annually of any place on earth.  I was up at 6:30 yesterday morning to watch, but the tremendous line of devotees waiting to sacrifice had been moving since well before 4am.  When I left, the line of people, along with their roosters and goats was still growing steadily.

After an hour and half long bus ride this afternoon I'm now in the considerably more urban and tech-friendly Kathmandu but before leaving I did climb to the Monastery built around the cave in which Guru Rinpoche, the man who brought Buddhism to Tibet, achieved enlightenment.  I took shelter inside during one of the brief but fierce rainstorms which seem to pepper the Kathmandu valley this time of year and took this photo from a balcony afterward.  The buildings in the distant sunlight, I believe, are the outskirts of Kathmandu.