These Feet Don't Stop: Out and About in Kathmandu

Finally winding down at the end of the trip, we were back in Kathmandu and ready to put our feet on the ground around more places there. I have to say it felt really good to get back in my shoes and be out of my hiking boots!

We got to our bed and breakfast and spent time talking about the cause of the trip and the trafficking situation in Nepal and Kathmandu. We visited a drop in center for women and girls and learned about some of the basic education that is required to try to keep girls from falling into exploitation in the first place. It was a heavy, emotional day as we learned and experienced some of this first hand.

We also had a lot of discussion about the culture and history of some of the places we were going to visit which is what I am really looking forward to sharing with you here!

One of the first places we went to was Durbar Square. Lots to see here...we grabbed lunch but didn't have a ton of time but I managed to snag a few photos of sites as we walked through...

We had a chance to visit the courtyard at the home of the Kumari, Nepal's Living Goddess, in Durbar Square. This history of this is fascinating and I highly encourage you to read at the link left above. Here's an excerpt from the article:

"The Kumari’s walk in the Durbar Square is the last time her feet will touch the ground until the Goddess Taleju departs from her body. The Prime Minister and President touch the feet of Kumari and seek for a blessing. The Kumari is carried when visiting outside the palace in her golden palanquin.

A Kumari’s glimpse is believed to bring good fortune. Many people visit the courtyard in front of Kumari’s window to get a glance of the living goddess. The more fortunate and better-connected people visit the Kumari in her chambers. She sits upon a gilded iron throne. It is believed that Kumari has special powers over such illness. Bureaucrats and high ranked government officials also visit Kumari Goddess.

During the visit, the actions of the living goddess are closely watched because her actions are interpreted as a prediction of the visitor’s life. Some actions and its meaning of Kumari Goddess are:

Crying or Loud Laughter: Serious illness or death
Rubbing Eyes: Imminent death
Trembling: Imprisonment
Picking at food offerings: Financial Losses"

Here are a few photos from that courtyard. Pictures of the Kumari are not allowed but she didn't appear in her window while we were there.

We also had the opportunity to get out that evening and see some of the pagodas lit up at night.

The next day we had a chance to wander the city a little more to do some souvenir shopping. It was fascinating just to seeing how different things were from the "normal" that I've grown used to. Couple examples...

A hardware store:

Electric and utility pole...yikes!

They even had an Everest 7-Eleven!

This was the day more than half our team left to head home. It was a bittersweet evening...the friendships and connections and everything we had shared together over the two weeks of the trek was incredible...and I had to let go of at least a little bit of it all even though I knew I'd stay in touch with them and some I'd see before too long since they don't live far away from Madison.

Fitting everyone in the van meant some of the luggage had to go up top. Hanok, one of our guides, and Travis were getting it all up there but no, they didn't ride on the top LOL!

The next day, I had a chance to see more of Kathmandu. It was one of the cooler days we'd had and also not the clearest day we had.

We had what was essentially an Uber to take us around for this day, along with one or two of our guides from the trek, Hanok and Sanish. It was great having them there to provide history and context to many of the things we got to see.

Swayambhunath Temple

First up was the Swayambhunath Temple, also known as the Monkey Temple. This is one of the oldest religious sites in Nepal and is respected by both Buddhists and Hindu. It also sits on a pretty darn big hill and when we got here I realized how easy it was to walk up a ton of stairs at under 5,000 ft elevation - LOL!

Swayambhunath Stupa is one of the most ancient and holy shrines in the Kathmandu valley and has been an important Buddhist pilgrimage destination since 5th century. It's also a place of pilgrimage and prayer for followers of both Buddhism and Hinduism. Because of this, it's one of the best places in the world to observe religious harmony. Swayambhunath became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1979.

There are holy monkeys living in the north-west parts of the temple. They are holy because Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom and learning, was raising the hill which the stupa stands on. He was supposed to leave his hair short but he made it grow long and head lice grew. It is said that the head lice transformed into these monkeys.

With that, here are a few photos from the site. Very different from anything I've seen and being on the site it was very clear the respect and importance of the site.

Boudhanath Stupa

The next site we went to was the Boudhanath Stupa. This is another UNESCO Heritage Site. From the linked site:

"Buddhist religious site, or a stupa, located in Kathmandu, Nepal. It's actually the largest and most sacred Tibetan Buddhist site outside of Tibet itself. The stupa is easily identifiable by the massive, semicircular white dome and the towering spire, with unblinking eyes painted on each side that stare into the four directions. The overall shape represents a Buddhist mandala (a cosmological map) and the path towards enlightenment, as well as the mythical center of the cosmos, Mount Meru. According to Buddhist tradition, this site is said to hold the remains of the Kassapa Buddha, the 27th of the named Buddhas."

Pashupatinath Temple and the Holy River Bagmati

The last site we went to this day was the Pashupatinath Temple which is a sacred Hindu temple that dates back to 400BC. Only Hindu are allowed to go in the temple so I was only able to get a pic of the outside.

Also on this site are baba which are holy men who have renounced all worldly possessions live in caves, forests and Hindu temples all over India and Nepal. In all honesty, they kind of creeped me out. One of them gave me a "blessing" but our guide couldn't make out any of the supposed words in his mumblings.

This site also was where cremations occurred and they happen every day and around the clock. There was one that we saw set up and as we walked by later it was burning. While it is a very normal part of the culture here, there is nothing that could come close to equating to it in my experience in the U.S. It left me rather unsettled and the sites and smells of this site will stick in my memory. It's not something I will need to see again and I was ready to head back to our B&B after our time here.

This was our last night in Nepal. We had a last dinner out with the team that night which has some good laughs, good food, and a lot of memories revisited from the trek.

One Last Day Out

Our last day we got up and went to the zoo that was just across the street. It was definitely not anything special...they had white mice in a cage and an elephant chained to a tree. Other than that it was a lot of deer and birds, including a turkey!

But is was this day I got my scooter ride through Kathmandu! This was so much fun.

The scooter ride took us to Asan Bazaar, one of the oldest markets in Kathmandu. It's said you can buy ANYTHING at this market. When we went it was busy, but for the most part we were able to actually walk. There was a stretch where we pretty much got pushed along and I felt like I was in a mosh pit. That is apparently the norm for this market. It didn't look quite so busy from above though.

Love all the colors in this first one!

This one may need to be turned into a puzzle :)

This market was not a place we could have gone to as a larger group but I was really glad we got to get our scooter ride there and see this first-hand! Thanks to Sanish and Hanok for the rides!