We had to take a bit of a detour 😬 when trying to head back to the city we started in. Because of significant rainfall, all flights from Chitwan back to Kathmandu were cancelled. As a collective we opted to hire a van to drive us rather than stay another night in Chitwan as some of us were heading home in the next couple of days and didn’t want to miss the last leg of the planned trip. This drive took about five hours through the most gorgeous mountain terrain. We were on the main highway between Kathmandu and Chitwan – in fact, it is the only road between these two main areas of commerce and tourism. Tall, luscious jungle green covered the huge mountains on either side of us, with a main river running through the valley. Along the way there were a number of incredible suspension bridges, and we all were discussing how the heck they would build these running from the highway side to the other side of the river. Houses, rice fields built in a stepwise fashion dotted these tall mountains – it was quite a sight.

The best way to describe the traffic and the road we were traveling is organized, courteous, bumpy, muddy chaos. It rained the entire time we were on the road and there were strips of this main road that reminded me much of Costa Rica – more potholes than road! The traffic itself kept moving most of the time, a combination of massive tourist buses – many from India – minivans, a few scattered private cars, and a lot of motorcyclists with two or three people on them… thank God they mostly wear helmets.  The saving grace here is that the drivers by and large are incredibly courteous to each other. Honking is the way drivers navigated through this traffic, sometimes passing each other on this two-lane road and it seemed to work. When I would see oncoming headlights, that was my queue to say a silent prayer. I wish I could say that the traffic in Kathmandu itself was better. Not so.

We finally got to the resort we’d be staying at called the Fortune Resort & Wellness Spa located in Bhaktapur district. This was quite luxurious by Nepal standards and a welcome change. Since we arrived much later than expected, the chef waited with his skeleton staff and prepared some soup and salad for us. We all headed to bed exhausted and planned for the next day to be less hectic.

This resort is at the top of the hill, very close to the largest Shiva in the world. Here’s a short lesson on this spectacular and significant deity (Thanks Laura!):

The Kailashnath Mahadev Statue stands at an impressive 143 feet high. This massive copper, zinc, concrete, and steel statue depicts Lord Shiva in a seated meditative posture, holding a trident and adorned with a serpent. Completed in 2010, the statue sits atop a temple complex that includes a meditation park and offers panoramic views of the Kathmandu Valley and, on clear days, the Himalayan ranges. The statue represents Shiva as Kailashnath—the Lord of Mount Kailash, the sacred Himalayan peak believed to be Shiva’s celestial abode. The temple complex below features traditional Hindu shrines. The grounds are beautifully landscaped with gardens, making it a peaceful place for contemplation and appreciation of both religious devotion and artistic achievement.

The couple of days we were at the resort were slow-paced compared to the earlier time in hectic Kathmandu and verdant Chitwan. A special send-off treat was provided by the staff at the resort. It happened to be Halloween, which is not celebrated in Nepal. The chef and his staff researched traditional decorations, costumes, and music for this auspicious holiday and we were greeted that night with an amazing array of spooky and fun decor and dance.

This kind act of hospitality really summed up my experience in Nepal: Gentle, kind, openly loving people willing to both share their traditions as well as be inquisitive and accommodating to other cultures.