So I am writing this blog from the internet cafe of a hotel I am staying in, in Kathmandu Nepal. I am headed to Kailash! Abode of Shiva. I am thoroughly excited and thought I would share a bit about the journey.

First off, I have been to the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu. It is a wonderful place and has a unique feel to it. The linga is supposed to be a four-faced linga, representing Sadjyota, Tatpurusha, Aghora and Vamadeva on each face. These are four aspects of Shiva. The temple is around 300-400 years old, though that is the only the latest structure to be built here. It is known that there was a temple at this site even in 600AD! The early morning sunrise is magnificient in this place, with the Pashupatinath temple, the Bagmati river and the burning ghats making for a stunning and ethereal scene. There are many shops around the temple, and it is a great marketplace to buy all kinds of stuff. I bought a rudraksha mala (rosary bead necklace), though I have my doubts about whether it is fake or real!

I will be leaving Kathmandu tomorrow for the Friendship Bridge which connects Nepal and China. And from there onwards in a four-wheel drive, through Tibet to Kailash. Ironically, Kailash is under 100 km from the Indian border, but it will take me 6 days to get there, in this round-about fashion. Too bad our leaders of newly independent India didn't tweak our border just a tiny bit on the map to include Kailash and Mansarovar.

My whole desire to go to Kailash began last year, when I read about how Mount Kailash is a mystical library, which enshrines the energies of many yogis and sages. Near Kailash is Lake Mansarovar, the subject of many legends and tales in the Hindu scriptures. I wonder what I will experience there.

The organisers of my travel group are recommending that I take some medicine for altitude sickness, called diamox. But they warn me that it could make me queasy, so I wonder if I should. Altitude sickness will anyway make me nauseous and give me headaches, so why do I need a special medicine to do that all over again!

I will back in 10 days in Nepal. I wonder how I would have changed in these 10 days. Let's see!