Kathmandu Valley

Hi All,

We arrived to Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, by tourist bus from Pokhara. Unlike India, Nepal does not have a rail network as it would be a logistical nightmare in the mountainous landscape! The Kathmandu valley is home to three historical kingdoms: Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan. These three medieval city-states were formed by three brothers who chose to separate the city following disagreements after their father’s death in the 12th century.

Kathmandu isn’t quite the historical valley setting that we had pictured. Like any city, it’s streets are teeming with people and the traffic is crazy. Locals explained how the devastation of the 2015 earthquake is still evident throughout the city; mountains of rubble, dusty streets and temples in ruin. This was evident on a walking tour of the famous Durbar Square. Although the vast array of temples were undoubtedly impressive, those left in ruin and being repaired almost outnumbered those intact. That being said, each individual temple was elaborately carved and surrounded by locals singing chanting. Interestingly the square contains both Hindu and Buddhist temples so is a hub for the whole community.

Our experience of religious festivals so far on our travels has been a positive one filled with singing, dancing and celebrations. However, we were shocked to find several decapitated young buffalo lying in the streets for the Dashain Hindu festival (buffalo are viewed differently to the holy cow which represents a mother). We saw a bull struggling moments before it was sacrificed and others lying in the back of army vehicles. Despite the shock of this, we were relieved to learn that the meat would be eaten in celebration not wasted like we feared.

On a lighter note ... During our time in Kathmandu we went souvenir shopping. We brought colourful prayer flags and visited numerous knife shops so Ross could find the perfect Gurkha Khukuri. A highlight of our city visit was a cooking class (we would like to do one in each county) to make momos - a traditional dumpling dish that can be steamed or fried. We went to buy local produce before making the dough, chopping the filling and hand shaping countless chicken and vegetable momos. Ross effortlessly handled the chef’s cleaver to finely slice the ingredients but Danielle made much easier work of the intricate filling and folding - we now know our strengths when we get round to making them at home!

As we couldn’t find any hostels in Bhaktapur, we decided to take a holiday on a holiday and book a night in a hotel. The comfy bed and mountain of pillows was a luxurious contrast to the brick mattress in our Kathmandu hostel. Bhaktapur itself was the historic and architecturally impressive town we had envisioned for Kathmandu. The whole town is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site. Durbar Square is home to a palace with a gleaming golden archway and detailed wood carving - so impressive that the king cut off the carpenter’s hands so he could never create something so beautiful for someone else! Nepal’s tallest stupa offered views of winding streets and ladies at work drying their rice harvest. Although greatly affected by the earthquake, many of the temples have already been restored and men could be seen working on the ruins; carefully using the original stones and surviving statues to recreate the ancient temples. For our one night holiday we went to a series of tiny local cafes on a food crawl: we started with bara (a Nepali pancake made with black lentils); then had buffalo momos; followed by curried goat served with tandoori chapatis; and finished with handmade sweets (the flavour reminding us of gingerbread men)!

With over a week until our flight back to India and Nepal boasting some of the best white water rafting/ kayaking in the world, we just had to book a trip! (To avoid overshadowing the cultural sites with another adrenaline seeking adventure we will include this in another post!)

Back in Kathmandu we visited the palace in Durbar Square which is currently being used as a museum. It showcased the skills of the Newar artists and craftsmen over several centuries. The photos and artefacts from the 2015 earthquake were very powerful; particularly a wall of people’s individual stories. Outside we could see carpenters intricately carving pillars in an effort to restore the 9 story stupa which was reduced to rubble.

Further out of the city centre, we spent the morning walking up to Swayambhunath Buddhist temple, also know as ‘Monkey Temple’ - no prizes for guessing why! The central stupa is white with the eyes of the Buddha staring out over the entire city. Even the earthquake failed to topple Katmandu’s most loved temple. Prayer flags flutter up to a central point, the breeze believed to send good will and compassion.

This is our last post in Nepal (apart from our white water rafting/ kayaking extra addition) before we fly back to India on Sunday.

Love R and D xxx