234: Kathmandu Valley from the 1000 places to see before you die

Some 1m live in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal and the main city in Kathmandu Valley which is a 15 by 12 mile mass of towering mountain ranges and two sister cities- Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. While the flight in was pretty spectacular passing Everest outside the window, I decided to go the following day on the mountain flight which involved a small 20 seater plane doing a lap around the mountain ranges for an hour. Given that Seta airline had just crashed outside of Kathmandu after hitting a bird and 19 people had died I was rather nervous. However, what must be the best pick up place in the world, Kathmandu departure lounge, which is full of fit men in their North Face gear about to take off on mountain range treks, took my mind off the issue …and I got up and down safely.

thats everest- the triangle at the back

 Kathmandu has seven UNESCO world heritage sites- the Durbar Square, Patan, Bhaktapur city, the Buddhist stupas of Swayambhu and Bauddhanath and the Hindu temples of Pashupati and Changu Narayan.

The next day we toured around Pashupati , one of these UNESCO world heritage site which is very sacred to the Hindus who come here to burn their dead.

Cremation grounds...yes the river is that filthy- everything goes into it

Stoking the dying embers

Ready for cremation

Washing the feet of the dead tradition before cremation

holy men

The Hindu temple in the background- no admittance to non Hindus

 Then onto Bauddhanath temple, another UNESCO Site, which was rather relaxing despite all the tourist shops around the stupa, it was pleasant to while away a bit of time watching the Buddhists go round all the prayer wheels.

Followed by a hubby bubble and drinks with new friends at the very cool Buddha Bar in Kathmandu.

Not wanting to leave Kathmandu without hitting as many of the UNESCO sites as possible it was over to Swayambhu

 

view of kathmandu valley

After that a not so quick trip (the traffic here is hellish!) we visited Durbar Square  built between the 12th and the 18th centuries by the ancient Malla kings of Nepal and containing old palaces, temples, shrines and the ubiquitous “holy” men all wanting their photos taken for cash.

fumari devi's house

Sadly, Kumari Devi, the poor child removed from her family at the age of 5 to become the reincarnation of the goddess Taleju didn’t show her face. She obtains this position if she demonstrates 16 internal qualities and 16 external qualities, and then is subjected to a life where her feet can not touch the ground, she is only allowed out (and then on a litter) for 13 times during the year at festivals, and only her immediate family can visit her. And so, in her little 2 storey “palace” she lives until she gets injured or has her period.
The final UNESCO Buddhist stupa visited was Bauddhanath, also known as monkey temple.

A short hour drive away we headed to the town of Bhaktapur with its amazing architecture, cobbled streets and the nightly power failures for a few hours. Here woodwork rules the day and the old houses, walls no longer straight, are framed by highly designed windows and doors. After the noise of Kathmandhu coming here was a blissful respite.

sunrise

heading off to the market

Should Kathmandu Valley be in the 1000 places to see before you die book. A resounding yes