We checked into our hotel and soon heard a wedding band playing in the hotel parking lot just outside our window.
Traditional Nepalese Dinner
Our dinner at the Utsav resturant started with a drink of the local distilled wine (very strong)...
appetizers and a large bottle of the local Everest beer.
A cultural/dance experience and traditional Nepalese food served on brass plates and utensils.
Boudhanath
Our first full day in Kathmandu started with a visit to Boudhanath, home to one of the world's largest Buddhist stupas and the holiest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet. It is the center of Tibetan culture in Kathmandu and rich in Buddhist symbolism. In 1979, Boudhanath became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The base of the stupa is over 300 feet in diameter with a walkway surrounding the stupa. The stupa and walkway is then surrounded by monasteries and many small shops. Tibetan monks and locals participate in morning prayers as they walk around the stupa. Visitor should always walk with the crowd and always walk clockwise (its bad luck otherwise-and frowned upon).
Some of the sights around the Boudhanath stupa.
Washing the eyes on the stupa. (Do they use VISINE®?)
Bhaktapur
Bhaktapur has the best preserved palace courtyards and old city center in Nepal, and is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its rich culture, temples, and wood, metal and stone artworks.
Inside the gates to Bhaktapur Durbar Square is a sculpture of the feared god Ugrabhairab wearing a garland of human heads and the Vatsala Durga Temple.
School children pass through a gate with statues of Ugrachandi and Ugrabhairab on each side.
Nyatapola Temple is a five-storeyed pagoda-style temple that stands on five terraces.
Each terrace of Nyatapola temple has a pair of figures: two famous wrestlers, two elephants, two lions, two griffins, and Baghini and Singhini — the tiger and the lion goddesses. Each pair of figures is considered ten times stronger than the ones immediately below, while the lowest pair, the two strong men Jaya Malla and Phatta Malla, were reputedly ten times stronger than any other men. Statue of a wrestler at Nyatapola temple.
The city is famous for special type of yogurt called "Ju Ju(king) dhau(curd). It is experienced by the curd makers that the taste of curd prepared in this location cannot be found elsewhere all over Nepal. Mary has a bowl of "king curd" with another local favorite, Everest beer.
Sights around Bhaktapur Durbar Square.
Puppest for sale.
A wood carving on a temple and wooden ties.
With the narrow street at Bhaktapur Durbar Square this is a popular vehicle.
Some cows and chickens at Bhaktapur.
Nagarkot
From the city of Bhaktapur we head into the countryside and mountains to Nagarkot, which at an elevation of 7,200 feet is considered one of the most scenic spots in Bhaktapur District. We pass terraced farmland in the foothills as we climb the narrow mountain road.
The road to Nagarkot is so narrow that we sometimes had trouble letting other vehicles by our motor coach.
From Nagarkot we have a view of the Himalayan Mountains in the distance. On clear days Mt. Everest is visible, but the clouds block our view of Mt. Everest on this day.
Some figures at the lookout in Nagarkot.
Pashupatinath Temple
From Nagarkot we head back towards Kathmandu and stop at the Pashupatinath Temple, one of the most sacred Hindu temples of Nepal. As with most tourist sites, rows of vendor set up their stands near the entrance to the Temple. This vendor was selling colorful pigments.
The Pashupatinath temple is located on the banks of the Bagmati River. Pashupatinath is Nepal's most renowned Hindu cremation site and we soon see and smell the cremation fires.
The smoke hangs heavy in the air at the crematory sites as multiple cremations were being preformed. A monkey sits on the bridge over the Bagmati River as the fires burn in the background.
In HIndu culture, after the person is dead, the body is wrapped in cloth and placed on bamboo litter and bodies are delivered by barefoot pallbearers accompanied by the male relatives. The eldest son from the family performs the cremation ceremony and the dead body is burnt.
A few hours later the ashes are collected and swept in the river which will join the Holy Ganges eventually.
Swayambhunath
Swayambhunath is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. Although the site is considered Buddhist, the place is revered by both Buddhists and Hindus. There is a large pair of eyes on each of the four sides of the main stupa which represent Wisdom and Compassion. Above each pair of eyes is another eye, the third eye.
It is also known as the Monkey Temple
Patan Durbar Square
The last day of our visit to Nepal (and this tour) and we visit Patan Durbar Square.
Golden temple (Hiranyavarna Mahavihara) is a Buddhist monastery that gets its name from the gilded metal plates that cover most of its frontage.
Street scenes in Patan.
Link to our starting point, Delhi
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