Tantric Temple Carvings           Temples and Shrines out of brick, wood, and stone reflect the culture of ages and countless generations in their beautifully carved gables, doors and windows, mixing Hindi, Buddhist and Tantric figures in deep relief.     The Ancient palaces of the long gone city-kingdoms that make up modern day Kathmandu echoes a splendor that is rapidly fading.  Some of the palaces are slowly being restored but many of the lesser buildings are not. Without   Tantric Temple Carvings      a substantial influx of financial help many of these historic buildings will be reduced to rubble, echoing nothing but dust, the beauty a distant memory. A loss not just to Nepal, but to the rest of the world as well.       Thursday I noticed the largest spider I have ever seen sticking like a bad dream to the wall of my room.  Small spiders can send me running and this one was a doozy.  The spider was hairy and the size of my palm and big enough to wrestle me to the ground.  I decided immediately to declare a truce, and to leave it alone, hoping it would go away.  What a way to start.               s Stone Relief Below Intricately Carved Window     Swimming Hole and Conduit for City Waste           The day after arrival, I began enthusiastically the process of getting the Visa extension, trekking permits, and the exchange of foreign currency      This enthusiasm was short lived.  It is unbelievable how aggressive people can  be standing in line. Granted it was crowded and hot, and there were five lines of people converging into two.  One line processed the documents, but did not collect the fees.  The other line did the collections.  This separation of duties was unknown to any of us until we got to the window.  Of course this meant one had to crowd into the front of the next line and thus         Page 5