PTPI Blog

The first full day in Nepal started out with breakfast, a briefing about PTPI’s activities in the country, and an information session on the history, heritage and politics of the country. Delegate Robert Hole and PTPI’s Managing Director of Special Programs, Viktor Zikas, began their day a bit earlier, however, and wrote to tell us about it:

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to take a morning jog in Kathmandu? Well, this is exactly what we did. As the city was waking up we braved the unknown streets and the confused looks of the local people. As we ran we could see the local stores opening, and men and women beginning to cram into the buses that would take them to their places of work. Suddenly we realized just how noisy the city had become, and saw how the traffic (including cows and buffalo) were taking over the streets. We decided it was time to turn around, and hoped we would remember how to get back. (We did.)

Kathmandu, Nepal

During the rest of the morning, the delegates took a tour of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and Swayambhunath, home to one of the most ancient Buddhist shrines (the Swayambhunath Stubpa) in the city. After lunch came a tour of Patan City (also known as Lalitpur), which is regarded as the city of fine arts and is said to have been built in the third century A.D. by Emperor Ashoka. In the evening, the delegates heard a briefing on Mt. Everest and had the opportunity to meet the first Nepali woman who successfully climbed the mountain in 1993.

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