Kathmanduing IT Numero Dos.
Trip Start
Sep 15, 2008
1
81
122
Trip End
Jan 01, 2009
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Kathmandu,
Nepal
Monday, March 16, 2009
After some reading, eating, and relaxing we caught a cab south to visit Durbar Square of Patan (the old city for the Newari culture). As we walked closer to the square a mean looking guard started walking towards us with a big billy club and his scary Gurkha knife...we would have to pay a 250 rupee entrance to the square or face this guy. We checked the guide book and confirmed the fee is legit and paid it.
The Durbar Square of Patan, said to be the best example of Newari Architecture in Nepal, consists of a set of temples and buildings that exude the classic Nepali image we held in our imaginations. After almost two weeks in the country and seeing very little of this building style, we were now in the middle of this awesome square.
We weren't the only ones here though, lots of locals enjoying the atmosphere, and lots of package tour groups being absolutely mobbed by necklace sellers and beggars (entertaining to watch as the hawkers pushed their wares).
side note: There is a definite gap in experience between package tour groups and independent backpackers. Many backpackers scoff at package tourists as not experiencing the culture or getting close to the people.
Patan's Durbar Square
There is some truth to the fact that a full-time guide gives a buffer between you and the culture. Personally, we are indifferent. Some people have the time, energy, and small bank accounts to live like a backpacker. Some people are short on time or patience, and have more coinage for travel. There is no right or wrong. Even still it is a bit awkward when the two worlds meet each other face-to-face. A strange social interaction takes place where both people look at each other and realizing the gap move along on their separate paths without a word spoken... North of the Square we find another temple, famed for it's 6 roofs (supposedly special). At the temple there was a local wedding ceremony taking place. The families are dressed up and for some reason, we don't know why, many children have their heads shaved. The bride and groom, by family arrangement not love, walk around the temple throwing powder at a dozen different statues. Their faces don't show the usual glee of a love marriage, but that's not to say their future won't be bright. It is probably pretty awkward to have to do all of these rituals with your new husband or wife, who you may barely know.
Next stop was the Golden Temple, sharing the same name as the Sikh shrine in Amristar however this temple is Buddhist with an operating Buddhist monastery inside (the first we've ever seen). Inside the monastery are large prayer wheels, butter wax candles, images of Dali Llamas, and one lone worshiper. After the temple we took once last walk through Durbar square before negotiating a taxi back to our hotel.
Statue in Square
In Argentina it was complete steak gluttony for Arik (at least 1 steak per day. sometimes 4), to balance this Arik became a vegetarian in India (seeing animals eating garbage made it easy) and didn't eat any meat for one month. But, with several good steak houses in Thamel, Arik broke the seal and dug into a nice big medium slab of bovine, pepper sauce, mushrooms, and fries our first night in town.
Arik: What can I say? Steak is where it's at...
The next two days were pretty uneventful. We walked the streets of Thamel, surfed on the interweb, watched some movies, read a lot, did some shopping, and just enjoyed being. We did visit the Monkey Temple, one of the most famous buildings in Nepal, but were only mildly impressed (another sign of our world traveler desensitization). For some reason the touts of Thamel have, wrongfully, pegged Arik as a pot smoker so we can't walk more than 20feet without someone trying to sell us hash or weed. Charis says it's the long-hair... Sometimes a tout would run past 10 other travelers just to proposition us. Yeesh!
We did laundry, not remembering the last time we had clean clothes (gross we know), enjoyed the great food options, and picked up a few souvenirs. The Thamel area is very famous for fake trekking gear and the selection is pretty amazing. North Face fleece for $5, 70L backpack for $15, full 2 piece winter jacket for $20. We dreamed of filling up a box of gear to prepare for the cold Ontario winters we'll see next year...
Kathmandu , what a great city for tourists! Safe, easy to walk, exciting, cheap, full of temples, and with a cool mix of shopping. It is easily one of our favorite cities of the trip. The one thing it has too of much during our stay is smog / smoke. There is never a cloud in the sky but it is still grey. The sun itself is barely seen, and the amazing view points are as spectacular as staring into thick smog. A small downside to an otherwise awesome city.
In hopes of seeing some mountains and leaving the smog behind, we book a bus ticket west to the resort town or Pokhara.
Ta ta Kathmandu!
Comments
Cheap North Face
Bring some home for me!
Just joking, did you try any of it out? Do you think it would be the same warmness as the real North Face?
Louise Brown
TravelPod Community Manager
Re: Cheap North Face
We bought a small day bag, to replace the one we lost when we were mugged in Rio. The quality isn't as high (mainly stitching) but the materials are gortex and quality fleece, so at a 95% discount I think a pretty good trade off.