Ponytail at Shanti Stupa

 “Preparing your leg to climb Anadu Hill!“, Said Mr. Tirtha while clenching his right fist forward.

Yes I knew. At the end of that time, I had to conquer hundreds of steps to enjoying the beauty of 47 years old pagoda, one of eighty pagodas of peace which scattered all over earth.

Riding northwest, the tiny taxi engine grunted nearly 20 minutes to complete 3.5km journey. Arriving at parking area, Mr. Tirtha showed me where to started climbing.

It took a long time to conquer all stairs. Gasping….I leaned against a railing for a moment on the way. Slowly drinking my remaining mineral water, I took a break while enjoying the beautiful faces of Nepalese girls who kept passing by. Nepalese girls were slender who love to have long black hair, brown skin and a face which is typical of South Asia. It would be lucky if you find the slanted eyes….beautifully authentic….Ouch.

Like lightning, I stuttered when a Nipon girl passed me and smiled while saying a short “Hi“. Automatically my lips smile at her while watching her closely. I was still stunned as she climbed further and further away. “Who and Why?“, I kept asking myself.

“Oh, my gosh…..That ponytail beauty with the surname Kawaguchi who sat on my left on Thai Airways flight TG 319“, my memory snapped my reverie. She had disappeared around the corner. I was determined to look upstairs later.

Starting to enter a large courtyard and were greeted by a statue of Mr. Meen Bahadur Gurung, Deputy Minister of Defense of Nepal who was instrumental in developing the stupa.Path to stupa.

World Peace Pagoda is known by another name as Shanti Stupa. Shanti is Sanskrit which means peace. So basically this is a peace monument which builts in the form of a stupa. This stupa was built by a Buddhist order from Japan who named as Nipponzan-Myohoji.

The front court was silent, there was only one kind of hum sounded by a monk in a room. Silent and sacred. Meanwhile, on the far side was the southern edge of Phewa Lake and Himalayan indentation, which was extraordinarily attractive.

My heart stopped when a red helicopter suddenly took a sharp dive into the lake. This was the first time I saw a helicopter fall and sharply hit it.

My breath suddenly stopped, but finally able to quickly suck the air back when helicopter was able to align its muzzle with lake surface. Damn…. It was just a paid adrenaline game, of course visitors around me were ignoring it….Oh, Donny.

My eyes searched all directions looking for Kawaguchi’s whereabouts. Pounding hope to find her. 15 minutes already….. I haven’t even seen her.. Maybe she had rushed back, I was lost the opportunity to apologize because I didn’t remember it well….

It was late afternoon, time to go back to hotel.

L See the situation of Shanti Stupa here: https://youtu.be/wSOfTsqJjX8