The Summer of Living Dangerously (But Safely) - California Land ...

John Wilusz in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Excellence in Journalism
On April 25th the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS)
presented the California Surveyor with the award “Excellence in
Journalism – Best Printed Professional Publication.” The news arrived as
Issue #161 went to press so I didn’t get a chance to mention it in my editorial,
but we ran a photograph of the award on page 43. If you missed it
go back and have a look. Thanks again to our prize-winning team, starting
with Crissy Willson, office manager extraordinaire. Thanks to Tony
Monaco for graphic design that puts us miles ahead of the competition.
And thanks to our contributing writers who continue to submit content
that is educational, interesting, and relevant to professional practice for
California’s Surveyors.
Kathmandu, Nepal
April was an exciting
month all the way
around for me. I spent
the first half of the
month in England and
the second half in
Kathmandu, the capital
city of Nepal.
Nepal is sometimes
called the top of
world because it is
home to Mount
Everest and the
Himalayas. I had orig-
The all-seeing eyes of the Buddha.
inally planned to do
some trekking in the
mountains, but by the time I arrived in country I was already worn out
from trekking the streets of London. On top of that, I was still recovering
from the flu-like side effects of a typhoid vaccination. So I adjusted my
sights and set out to explore the cultural geography of Nepal instead.
According to Wikipedia Kathmandu’s population is about 950,000 and its
elevation is 1,400 meters. It is situated in the Kathmandu Valley and surrounded
by sister cities that, though they date back to antiquity, have in
modern times merged into the greater metropolitan area. One such community
is Swayambhu, also known as the Monkey Temple.
Swayambhu
The dominant religions in Nepal are Hinduism and Buddhism and
they seem to coexist peacefully. In fact they are represented side by side
in the religious iconography at Swayambhu, an extravagant temple com-
6
By: John P. Wilusz, PLS, PE - Editor
John Wilusz, PLS, PE, works in the Delta Levees Program
at the California Department of Water Resources in
Sacramento, CA
From the Editor
Niraj Manandhar at Swayambhu Temple.
plex on the west side of the city. Swayambhu is also called the Monkey
Temple and sure enough there are monkeys roaming freely there. This
took some getting used to. The last time I was that close to a monkey was
at the zoo and there was a fence between us. According to the Lonely
Planet the earliest confirmed activity on the site was in AD 460; it has
been a spiritual center for a very long time. Legend has it that the
Kathmandu Valley was once a lake and the hill now topped by the
Monkey Temple rose spontaneously above the waters. From that event
came the name Swayambhu, which means “self-arisen.” Geologists agree
that the valley was formerly under water. Surveyors, I was about to discover,
confirmed the part about the self-arising.
While strolling through the plaza, enjoying the shrines and statutes
and the incense in the air, I came upon a familiar sight: a yellow tripod
with a GPS antenna on top. Surveyors at work! The funny thing is this: I
was hoping to meet a surveyor on my trip but didn’t expect it would be so
easy. Nor did I expect to find one at a temple. I walked over and introduced
myself to the boss. Niraj Manandhar is a Chief Survey Officer with
the Geodetic Survey Branch of the Government of Nepal, Ministry of
Land Management. He told me that he and his crews were making GPS
observations as part of an on-going crustal dynamics study. It turns out
that Nepal is still growing, and I mean that literally. The self-arising
Swayambhu is still rising at the rate of about 2 cm per year. Even though
he was busy at work, my new friend took the time to chat with me and
answer my questions.
Continued on next page
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