Yudhi, A dog in Nepal.

I was in Nepal for 14 days because my husband was given a “Food Yoga” retreat and I was helping him with 3 workshops (Angel Therapy, Reiki for humans and animals, and aromatherapy for humans and animals).
Before going to Nepal many friends warned me that I would see animals in really bad conditions, so I thought I was psychologically prepared… But we weren’t prepared to witness the pain of so many innocents.

The exact minute that I left the airport in Nepal I saw a stray dog across the most dangerous roads (traffic in Nepal is chaotic), then I pet him and it was obvious that this was his first kind touch from a human. Up to this point this was normal for me, in the city where I live there are over 400,000 stray dogs.
Then I began to see more in the streets of Kathmandu, there were hungry cows literally eating cardboard boxes and cows in the middle of the street with high risk of being destroyed by the cars.
When we began our trek to Annapurnas, since the first day a dog joined us, she was very young, no more than a year, beautiful and sweet, we called her Yudhistira.

Yudhistira followed us all the time. At some point we lost her, but I thought that she would return to the place where we found her, so I walked another day without seeing her. One day when I was ready to go to a place called Poonhil where we had to walk for an hour at 5am to see the sunrise –the most difficult “walk” for me during these 5 days of trekking time– I was rewarded in the most wonderful way. The first thing I saw when I finished climbing all those steps was my Yudhistira playing at the top of this mountain! She came to me and we hugged and kissed each other. That same day  she made friends with a group of Australians. She was a very friendly dog.

At the hotel we stayed at that night, there were a big German shepherd, who was tied up and aggressive and could have attack Yudhi if the owners had released him at night. So I decided to hide Yudhi in our room of the hotel. Yudhi literally broke the door and the floor of the hotel room so I had to open the door at night to let her out… and since that night she didn´t return. That same day I received the notice that my rat Tabata died… it was a very difficult day for me.

I was thinking about figuring out how to bring Yudhi to my sanctuary, but I couldn’t get it to logistically work. Anyway, I was trying to keep her close to me just in case I found a way.

When people talk about Nepal, they talk about the mountains, monuments, temples, Deities, Himalayas, food …

But … how many talk about these beautiful living beings? Few people feel that spiritual connection. A large percentage of visitors to Nepal and the Himalayas go in search of a spiritual awakening. I believe that there is no spiritual enlightenment if our connection with our brothers in the material plane is lost, if our hands and our hearts are not stretched to at least touch these wonderful creatures.

Feel the connection with our animal brothers

They are there! Are alive and need love! They are part of the reality! They are living temples! Living Deities! Walking sculptures! Also part of the culture! And they are victims of our ignorance.

And for me this was the best and worst part of Nepal. The best, because I kissed, hugged, played with, and enjoyed every living creature that I found. The worst, because it was very painful for me to see the terrible situation for these animals. They are hungry, physically abused, and live somehow despite the worst human indifference of visitors who go to Nepal (they certainly have more money and more material facilities than any average Nepali.) These visitors to Nepal in most cases ignore these Nepalese citizens.

I want to invite everyone who has the money to visit Nepal, if you really want to thank this country for the beautiful experience it gives you, help the people and the animals in this country, please, be thankful and pay it forward.

On my visit, I couldn´t do anything useful for these animals beyond sharing my love with each one. In Kathmandu I found a bakery with a box of donations to an Organization for Assistance Stray Animals in Nepal  there I made a small donation, and then wrote a few words to them with love and gratitude. I want to be a millionaire to help more.

During my trip, I was sharing photos of Yudhistira on a hiking website for Nepal. I want to know if she is okay…

I am sorry, my dear Yudhi, you were my friend and even in the moments when I checked around me I was walking alone in those mountains, you were the only one there, and then I realized how lucky I was having your pure friendship. Thank you, you were my guru in those mountains. Thank you, thank you, thank you.