Around the Kathmandu Valley

The past week we've spent in the Kathmandu valley.  There are many legends about how this valley, which was covered by a huge lake 10,000 years ago, was created.  One popular myth is that the Bodhisattva Manjushri, a Buddhist spiritual leader and the god of wisdom and knowledge, used his sword to cut the mountains allowing the water to drain, leaving the fertile land of the valley.  He also uses this sword to cut ignorance and he holds a Book of Knowledge in any representations.  We bought a bronze statue of him in Patan, a city known for it's local artists who use the "lost wax" technique of statue making and their delicate and detailed designs.  We think having the god of wisdom and knowledge in our home will be a nice reminder of Nepal as well as welcoming these traits into our home.

Our first stop was the busy city of Kathmandu.  After the tranquility of Bandipur it came as a bit of a shock.  It was back to a land of pollution, incessant honking, and touts.  We chose to stay in the very touristy and backpacker-oriented section called Thamel, mostly for convenience.  It was easy to do souvenir shopping here and there are plenty of restaurants.  However, it is completely devoted to catering to Western tourists.  One day we took a nice walk through the city, ending in their famous Durbar Square (main square).  The city is littered with temples, shrines, and stupas everywhere you look.  Most are hundreds of years old but they're just a part of life here.  People dry their laundry or sell goods from the base of the temples.  At one point we passed a 5th century statue that was in front of a dental office with the sidewalk built around it.  Nothing to protect it.  The temples in Durbar Square were definitely impressive and beautiful.  Most date to the 1700s but some are older.  However, we were disappointed that traffic is allowed through the squares because it makes it hard to enjoy the atmosphere.  The countless offers for a guide, flutes, and handbags don't help either.  We were ready to leave for quieter towns after 2 nights.

We spent the next 4 days in the nearby towns of Patan and Bhaktapur.  Most tourists visit both places as a day trip from Kathmandu so it was wonderful to have it nearly to ourselves in the mornings and late afternoons/evenings.  Patan is known for its particularly impressive Durbar Square.  The absence of traffic made it even more beautiful.  The temples are built from brick but have tons of intricately carved wooden window screens, doorways, and roof struts.  Many of the temples are built in a pagoda style (an architectural contribution from a Nepali who then brought it to China).  Some of the larger ones are 4 stories tall and tower over the rest of the buildings in town.  We also enjoyed exploring the back streets as we continue to walk by countless shrines and temples in courtyards.  It is cool to see them in use today.  The reliefs of the gods are covered in red paint, flowers, rice, and other items of blessing and offering.  The main temple in Patan had a huge line of women waiting to pray and offer something to the gods.  We spent a lot of time just watching the life of the locals.

Bhatkapur had a beautiful Durbar Square, as well, but it was slightly emptier because many of the temples were destroyed in the 1934 earthquake that hit the valley.  There was also the ever-constant presence of shrines, temples, and stupas.  However, we enjoyed this town the most because of the way it's been preserved.  The streets are all paved in brick and almost no traffic is allowed within the city limits.  (Of course, motorcycles don't seem to have to follow these rules.)  The streets are lined with traditional Newari architecture which have balconies and windows with delicate wood carving.  We were also lucky to be there during the big rice harvest.  Most of the people are farmers and live off their nearby land.  At this time every available inch of sunny road/courtyard was full of tarps covered by drying rice.  The women spend hours and days constantly raking through the grain and sifting it.  The process was pretty fascinating to see in addition to providing just one more thing to take in on our walks around town.  One day we did a 2 hour walk on which we didn't run into a single other tourist.  It's nice to see how real people live and what the non-touristy parts of town look like.

Now we're off to Tibet.  We spent a lot of time weighing our options.  We found out that the flights to Bhutan on the days we were available are booked.  We contemplated going straight to China but we both felt like it would be worth it to visit Tibet.  We're not really sure what to expect.  Tourism is very restricted right now, requiring you to be with a small tour group and stick to a pre-defined itinerary.  Hopefully we'll still get to see everything we would if we were on our own.