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

233 Gaudi and La Sagrada Familia, Spain from the 1000 places to see before you die bo

La Sagrada Familia

Im a great lover of all things Gaudi...Miro a close second. What was amazing on this roman catholic cathedral is that I first visited it 15 years ago. At that time I can't recall work being done on the unfinished shell...but now, what is probably Gaudi's greatest work, is being finished.

Sadly, probably not for some time. The site has actually been under construction since 1882 until Gaudi died in 1926. That is not a typing error!! Its not expected to be completed any time before 2030...everyone has different views as to actual completion time and this is Spain.

Unfortunately, Gaudi didn't leave clear details as he was constantly changing the building design and plans subsequently got destroyed in the civil war. Consequently we will never know whether the interpretation the architects are now giving to the plans is what Gaudi would have done.

Opened in 2010 to visitors (there is a small museum inside and Gaudi's crypt) the site is still, as you can see from the photos- one big building site. When finished, if it is true to agreed views on how Gaudi planned it, the church will be about 100 by 60m and hold 13,000 people. Four towers in each of the three facades representing the 12 apostles , four others- the evangelists, one tower dedicated to Virgin Mary and the tallest- some 170m- representing Jesus will form the 18 towers in total. 

After that ...a quick visit to the cool and quirky Parc Guell, another Gaudi creation. Ive loved this park ever since i first saw it so many years ago. Its whimsical, crazy, fantastical and reminds me now of that second fabulous but not in the 1000 places to see before you die  book northern Indian garden that sadly has nothing on the web about it...I should sort that out!

entrance to parc guell

the view from parc gull

So, worthwhile inclusion in the 1000 places to see before you die book...a big resounding yes!!

231: The World of Alvar Aalto, Helsinki, Finland

 The Finn Alvar Aalto who died in 1976 is rated as one of the great architects of the 20^th century. Says the 1000 places to see before you die book he did “organic architecture- buildings that suited their environment” and designed the building and at times all its interior furnishings and fittings.

One of Helsinki’s most famous buildings by him is the Finlandia Hall where he designed the interior and the exterior. Apparently it looks striking against a snowy background…on a dark bleak winters day I obviously missed it.

While I like architecture I have to admit preferring a more modern style and hence didn’t quite “get” this. Nonetheless here it is…

Interior of the Savoy

I then went to the Savoy restaurant in the centre of town and on the edge of the fab design district- the latter also rated in the 1000 places to see before you die book.  The waitress told me that nothing had been changed at all since he designed the interior in 1937. That shows! Assuming it is related to the London Savoy group then this was done in a fitting style to suit their tastes. For myself- it was a bit 1970’s…but then I guess if your most famous national architect had designed it all you probably wouldn’t be changing it either!

The view out from the Savoy

Worthwhile inclusion in the 1000 places to see before you die book. Couldn't see it Im afraid so no

227: Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, from the 1000 places to see before you die book

It’s a big resounding success for Patricia Schultz on this one. I have to admit to even having teary eyes just sitting in my chair gazing around. A $680m refurb that took 7 years and has only just opened within the last year was obviously very well done, if the number of Muscovites taking photos of the grand building was the measure!

Theres something about the Russian women though- they all look like very well kept mistresses when young (and there were a number cavorting in front of the 12 foot high gilded mirrors here having their photos taken in full knowledge that their crotch length red dresses and knee high black boots gave passing men a glimpse of both sides of their bodies) and then they turn into babushkas from the ages of 50. Meanwhile the men- all blonde hair, moody things in suits- looked like they’d leapt straight out of a Bond film.

And one big issue when travelling around Russia- no one, and I mean no one, in Moscow talks English. Consequently I faced another interesting 

15 minutes of being pointed in various directions by an assortment of helpful babushkas as they steered me towards a cloak room, a place to rent binoculars, the champagne bar and, finally, my seat.  

Still I accidentally got to see parts of the Bolshoi, which if I could have read Russian, I would have wanted to anyhow, so alls well that ends well!! From the soaring hall with a display of porcelain figurines and a baby grand piano (again draped by Russian booted beauties with sheer stockings to counter the -1 degrees outside), to an ante room, to another sitting room where you couldn’t sit, to function rooms and finally the grand (which is what Bolshoi stands for) theatre itself, I had a bit of a laugh.

The staircase entrance

Credit must be given now to my concierge team Quintessentially- the ticket was pricey but the seat was fantastic! 

Newly opened towards the end of 2011 (the past 7 years has seen its smaller sister stage used while the main stage was undergoing renovations) ,  I was overwhelmed by the beauty of it. Ive never been to the Teatro, Ive been to His Maj in Perth, and Ive never been to the Albert Hall, so I cant actually compare to any of the other great theatre venues around the world. However, I can state that I haven’t seen quite so much baroque, red velvet, gold drapes, painted vaulted ceilings, massive chandeliers….and not to mention the Bolshoi Ballet itself. 

The ceiling dome

Holding over 2000 people it was fully packed for the ballet premier of Ivan The Terrible.  Such is the brand name of The Bolshoi- that I even thought Guerlain had produced a scent for it- simply known as Le Bolshoi, Saison 2012, La Traviata” when I opened my programme...but I think that was just clever labelling on a bottle!

Awaiting the curtain rise

The orchestra

I wasn't in the box!

Im not much into ballet- I have to admit falling asleep at the Nutcracker production I saw in Kazakhstan many years ago- albeit that might have had more to do with the ballerinas than my love of ballet- but I was enthralled for the two hour production. Unfortunately the programme wasn’t equally translated into English but the “one” page overview summed it up pretty succinctly.

“The story of times old and troubled.

Anxious and uncertain; of the

XVI century, when Rus, turn asunder

By feuds and foreign invasions,

Was sounding the alarm over the need

For consolidation. The story of the young

Tsar van IV.

Of his beloved Anastasia, poisoned

By rebellious boyars, of Prince

Kurbsky who betrayed his country

And fled abroad; of the Russian

people who withstood all the trials

and tribulations and emerged

triumphant: the story this ballet tells.

So there you have it! Anyhow it was spectacular. World class. The costumes were fantastic as was the orchestra. Even better- Id seen the real ivory chair of Ivan the Terrible in the Armory Museum at the Kremlin the day before, so it all fitted in quite nicely.

Obviously no photos could be taken throughout the performance, but following the Muscovites I snapped a few of the curtain call.

Afterwards I followed the 1000 places to see before you die  book and visited the Hotel Metropol over the road..."an enclave of early 20th century Russsian opulence." A glass of $30 champagne (did I say just how expensive Russia is) was a fitting end to a great day.