Back in Kathmandu

  Kathmandu, Nepal
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Kathmandu

You know I think I'm starting to figure out the rules of the road a bit better here in Kathmandu. If it's bigger than your vehicle then you let it go. So buses and trucks are the kings of the road here. Having said that though I've seen many a motorcycle dodge its way through traffic because if they weren't aggresive then they literally wouldn't be going anywhere. It astonishes me that I have yet to see an accident because I can't help but feel that this traffic environment is ripe for one to occur.

Even with the traffic and pollution it still felt good to be back in some semblance of civilization. And Kathmandu fit the bill. Anyways it's only been two days now since we got back here from the trek and since that time we've been taking things a bit easy.

Nice dinner

Stupa1

Last night we spoiled ourselves with a meal at an expensive place (by Nepalese standards anyways). We had initially walked by it but a few steps later we looked at each other and before even opening our mouths to speak we knew we were thinking the same thing. Suddenly we found ourselves seated on the outdoor patio of this fine establishment enjoying some strong drinks and BBQ meat under the stars. I don't think it even cost me $10 in total. A Nepalese person would have to be earning a good steady income to eat out generally but to eat out at this place one would have to be fairly well of. This was obvious just by observing the few clientele scattered on the patio.

The place was called Royal Saino Restaurant & Bar Rediscovered which was a rather intriguing name but for me this place represented an awesome meal at a time where my tongue was still recovering from an overdose of eggs from the Everest Trek.

Stupa Background

Stupa2

Ok, enough of recovery. Time to check out some of the sights around Kathmandu since I didn't have time to do much of that during the 2 days I had here before the Everest Trek started.

Today Mazen was going to get checked out again by the doctor just to make sure that all now that he was back from the trek. Even otherwise he really just wanted to chill and not do much today. So I was on my own today but that was fine as I had a couple of points of interest that I wanted to check out anyways.

The first thing I did was go on a walking tour. The guide book that I was using described a couple of walking tours that I could follow so it seemed like the perfect way to familiarize myself with the immediate area.

Hindu Gods?

Crowded Market

Navigating through the crowded streets and alleyways in this old section of Kathmandu can be seriously disorienting and challenging at times. It is truly a complete maze. There is not even a shred of evidence that would indicate to me that there had been any forethought given here to urban planning. Of course urban planning was hardly a concern when the foundation of Kathmandu was laid in the 12th century. In any case I was not getting lost today because I had the guide book in hand and I was following the walking tour map closely.

In fact, the book's walking tour was really good. I was guided through some of the busiest streets and market places I had seen here. At one point it was so crowded that there was literally a deadlock of people as everyone could only nudge ahead little by little in order to progress further. What was good about the tour is that I would be in the midst of all these people and goods and noise and activity but then the book would command me to duck into an alleyway and then suddenly all would be peace and serenity. Furthermore, the book described to me some of the fascinating cultural treasures scattered about the area.

Crowded Street

Garbage and a Temple

There would be stupas dating back from the 15th century, statues that were carved as far back as the 5th century, and ancient temples many whose construction dates are unknown. In addition to the fact that I was looking at these ancient artifacts there were two other points that I found incredibly interesting. The first point that is easily noticeable is that these centuries old relics are treated in such a casual manner. I mean, there would be a statue that is over 1000 years old just there sometimes in an alcove (sometimes not) and civilization would just be built up around it, perhaps with vehicles driving by perhaps children playing near it. There are many places in the world where such a treasure would be transplanted into a museum or at least cordoned off. But not here. Art of the ancient past is blended into the developments of today with bizarre subtlety.

Detailed Struts

Swayambhunath Temple

The second point of interest for me was the intermingling of Hindu and Buddhist artifacts. I would find a Buddhist statue or stupa in one location and only a few steps away I would come across a statue of one of the Hindu gods or even a Hindu temple. Sometimes you would find carvings for one religion within the temple grounds of the other! The majority of the Nepal population would consider themselves to be Hindu (in fact Nepal is known as the only Hindu kingdom in the world) and Buddhism is a distant second but if one were to judge here a religion's popularity based on the religious artifacts seen here it would almost be equal.

Apparently Hindus worshipped at Buddhist temples and Buddhists worshipped at Hindu temples so to say that they peacefully co-exist would be an understatement. It is true that there have not been any serious conflicts of a religious nature between these two religions. It does help that these two religions do come from similiar roots. Nevertheless, sadly I think it is rare to see two religions have such respect for each other as seen between Hinduism and Buddhism here in Nepal.

Monkey

Swayambhunath Temple2

I was thoroughly enjoying this walking tour so much that it was over much too abruptly. Fortunately, there was still plenty of day left and the next place I wanted to visit was the Buddhist stupa (temple) of Swayambhunath.

Swayambhunath is set up on a hill with a serious staircase climb to make it to the top. But once there one had a splendid view of the Kathmandu valley and beyond up to the mountains (well, at least as far as the pollution haze would allow). The stupa itself was fascinating and was the largest I had seen up to that point in time. One thing that is hard to miss is that there are monkeys every where here! They were scurrying up the steps, climbing up the buildings, jumping from relgious artifact to another. It was rare but sometimes you would even see one sitting still. Actually this stupa is known colloquilly as the Monkey Temple and once there it isn't difficult to see why.

Grooming

Hang on!

There is an inscription indicating that work was ordered to construct this stupa in 460AD but even though its inception was ancient it has been amazingly well looked after. It's just a beautiful structure in mostly white but adorned with a golden top as Buddha's watchful eyes gaze across the valley. The attached prayer flags billowing in the wind further enhanced the atmosphere of this magical place.

When I was finally ready to leave I noticed the sun was just about to set so I decided to stay up here longer just for that. It was amazing seeing a sunset over Kathmandu valley from the vantage point of this hilltop temple. There something about air pollution that really brings out rich colours in a sunset.

Ancient Buddha

Me and Swayambhunath Temple

I headed back to meet Mazen and hopefully grab some dinner. We still had some packing and re-packing to do as well since tomorrow we would be off on a new adventure.

Sunset over Kathmandu