Mum's last day

And a very lovely and interesting one it was too, though very sad to say good bye to my amazing Mum.

First thing we were up to visit a Lama who was going to make my Buddha statue that I got for Xmas "alive" (for want of a better term, I am not 100% sure what he believed he was doing to it). What he did do was to insert a load of things inside the statue and then seal it up and stick some nice red cloth on the bottom. Things he put inside:

A stick with red, yellow, blue, white and green thread on.
Small packets of herbal pills blessed by a lama.
A thread from a top lama's clothes.
A small piece of asteroid (!) that fell on a holy stup near Kathmandu.
Rolled up mantras written on scrolls.
Powdered incense.
Big lumps of bark (incense).
Large seeds.

He also said is was going to pray for the statue. He was a lovely man, with a very warm energy about him. It was a really fascinating experience. And now I have a proper Tibetan Bhudda which I can see the face of (it was covered in bandage until the lama had done his thing).

We then had breakfast and ran up to a school for monks to visit some friends there. It was great to see where they are living and learn more about their life. They are from the remote region of Mustang, high in the Himalaya. They come down to Kathmandu during the winter then all go back in the Spring when it warms up a bit. We are dreaming about going back with them to see this amazing part of the world...

Then it was lunch overlooking the stupa, some shopping, a siesta, some lovely noodle soup and off to the airport. Mum had some tea without the tea bag (aka hot water).

It is always sad to say goodbye but we had such a wonderful time and I am very proud of my Mum :-D