Khatmandu in the Andes

I loved this news article from last year from the Kingdom of Nepal - come visit!

Well, you may be disappointed to learn that the photo displayed in the Royal Nepal Airlines advertisement for tourism was of the well known Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. Royal Nepal has apologized to Peru for putting the picture on a poster under the slogan "Have you seen Nepal?"

Apparently, for Royal Nepal Airlines, the answer was NO. Kinda gives you pause when you think about flying with them, doesn't it? Then I won't tell you about the annual ritual of sacrificing goats at the airport...

The names of the two places are surprisingly similar - the Nepali mountain is Machhapuchre. I can easily imagine getting the words mixed up if were dealing with a foreign language with a different alphabet, but Machu Picchu and its ruins don't quite look like Machhapuchre, which is pictured above.

Nepal has emerged from a very difficult time when there was a Maoist revolt underway. Politics have settled down, and things are better in the kingdom. Now they are hoping for the tourists to return.

Our family has had a personal connection with Nepal for about a dozen years now, from the time when our daughter, Amanda, did a homestay with the Karki family in a village some distance from Khatmandu. The family member who was closest to her was Meena, then a young teenager.

Meena, one of the daughters in the family, came to the US, went to high school in Marquette, Michigan, for a year and then on to study nursing at Northern Michigan University, graduating in May 2006. Much credit goes to Sally and Bruce Closser who hosted her in their home for her high school year and guided her through NMU as well. All those who know Meena feel we cannot thank them enough for all they have done for her.

In 2005 Meena went back to see her family for the first time in four years. As with Peace Corps volunteers, she found her native country very strange to her.