Awakening

Back on the road Friday morning, finally reached Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. Lots of countries have built their own Buddhist temples on this sacred ground.

Before calling it a day, we drove to the Nepal-India border to check out the Sonauli Bazaar.

    

Going outside of Kathmandu never ceases to humble me. Even though the Lumbini compound is beautiful (with the help of foreign aid), the areas around it are very poor.

Saturday morning, we woke up at 5am to head home in the densest fog I've ever seen. It was like traveling into nothingness. Shadows of men walking and riding bicycles were all that could be seen. The rickshaws weren't out yet but we saw a few ox carts.

 

This was rural farmlands, but the roads were thousands of times better than city roads - "Nepal's highway." This is the same route that is used to ship goods from India to Kathmandu. 

The sun finally rose. I chuckled to myself as I saw a chicken rush to cross the road before we passed.

  

This is my 6th time traveling this mountain road. It's still beautiful but now staring at the rapids, all I think about is Bernoulli's law, playing out physics and bio problems in my head. Science is beautiful. I have had an incredible time on this international co-op and while I will miss Nepal, I think I am ready to get back to school and finish up my last semester. I could not be more excited to start medical school and the next chapter of my life.