Pashupatinath and Bodhath, Nepal

After finishing our breakfast and savoring the last drop of Chai on a cool morning in Thamel, we caught a taxi through the typical smoggy, dusty, and overpopulated Kathmandu streets to the center known as Pashupatinath.
Located about 2 km outside of town (a 30 min. taxi ride), Pathnupatinath is the equivalent to Varanasi in India. It's the "powerhouse of Hindu spiritual power" where families gather and cremate loved ones. The cremation vats are located along the Bagmati river, which at first glance is very dirty looking with garbage littered everywhere, but is considered very sacred by the Nepali peoples. As you will see later with pictures I'll post, people clean themselves in this river; an act unimaginable to the Western traveler.
Spending the afternoon here at Pashnupatinath proved to be one of the most moving days during our trip. I had never seen burning bodies before, or the smell that emanates from these vats, or witnessed so many people celebrate the death of a loved one. It was an awe inspiring day to say the least. I remember at one point as we walked on a hill above the burning vats our tour guide was explaining the architecture of one of the temples to Briana when I looked over at another temple in the distance and had one of those moments that Eckart Tolle so often describes; the feeling of being in the Now. For just a couple seconds nothing existed in the smoke filled world that I was standing in except the temple in the distance. No sounds, no smells, no sensations, nothing at all. I looked at Briana and felt disoriented for a moment, but every immediately returned back to 'normal.' I enjoyed being 'here.'

After watching 2-3 ceremonies and hanging out with the holy men on the stairs above the vats, we ventured 2 km to a Buddhist temple NE of Pashupatinath called Bodhnath. Here we walked around this enormous stupa (clockwise of course) as we watched the prayer flags fly effortlessly through the air, and were under continuous watch of the Buddha (see attached photos). We had some more Chai on a 3 story rooftop and gazed below as pilgrims made their way around the stupa.