Kathmandu Valley

We decided to spend our last few days of Nepal in Kathmandu, while waiting for our Thai visa and shredding tears over our failed visit to Tibet. We rented a scooter hoping to have a smoother way around with a small vehicle, which served us right. Driving in Kathmandu in general is as crazy as it gets; a lot of honking, jams, taking over from left and right, but once you acquired the unwritten rules of the game it is not as stressful as it looks. And asking for the direction does not require the hassle to get off the bike; there is always another rider 10 cm away on your left and on your right, in your back and front :)

Our first destination was the famous Kathmandu landmark: Bodhnath, the largest Buddhist stupa. It feels like little Tibet, full of monks in red and orange robes and surprisingly few tourists walking around turning the praying wheels. The stupa is surrounded by a lovely round square (if that makes sense in any other language than English...) with a relaxed but cheerful ambient - kids feeding pigeons, elderly Tibetan ladies chatting and laughing aloud, small shops selling beautiful handicraft and random tinkling of the bells after each donation.

On our way back we stopped by at Pashupatinath, Nepal's most important Hindu temple complex which stands on the banks of the holy Bagmati river. Unfortunately most of the temples are for "Hindu only", but for cashing a handsome 250 NRS fee you can enter the site and enjoy the splendid view of the various temples, cremation ghats (where members of the Royal family were cremated after the massacre in 2001), monkeys and locals dressed as Hindu gods for being photographed. It felt a little bit like being in India again, though the Newari architecture has unmistakeably found its way beautifully melting with the Indian Hindi temple style. On our way out our curiosity led us to an elders home located in an ancient temple building complex, which was such a shocking view that we could not escape for some time. The rectangular building was occupied by very badly fed elders, sleeping all over in little chambers, cooking tea on the stairs or entertaining themselves with singing religious songs. Though it seemed we were the ones most oppressed by the experience, the tenants were cheerfully welcoming us with the usual "Namaste!"- which I find the nicest greeting, meaning "I greet the God in you".

Our third and arguably the most impressive destination in the Valley was Patan, the City of Beauty what its Sanskrit name, Lalitpur means, very well deserved. Legend says the city was established by the great Buddhist emperor, Asoka in 250 BC, but the majority of temples and buildings are the heritage of the 16th century Mallas rule. We think its beauty competes of Kathmandu's with its over a 1200!!! temples and shrines scattered all over the city, with its artistic vein famous of its craftsmanship and trade of handicraft. The Durbar square is a massive concentration of the most impressive temples - unfortunately again mostly for "Hindus only". It captivated us so much that we decided to return to visit the Patan Museum the next day to find our way in the complex, interlinked symbolism of Hinduism and Buddhism, which live so peacefully together in Nepal that you can hardly tell the difference.

Tomorrow, after a month in Nepal we fly to Bangkok. We wish the best for the coming elections which hopefully brings some stability to Nepal. It is a country with tremendous attractions for much more visitors than at the moment dare to take the risk to come here. And the risks are really not so severe if you have enough humor for things like the daily scheduled blackouts - more punctual than you can imagine - Swiss watches cannot keep up with the precision.