After our marriage in Bhutan, my husband and I headed to Nepal, a primarily Hindu population with a lot of Buddhist influence. Similar to to my initial feelings in India, I was in complete culture shock. It was noisy, the traffic was crazy and felt disorganized with motorcycles zipping around me. We began our trip I the Kathmandu Valley and had a driver guide show us around (and keep us safe from the crazy traffic)! The buildings in the valley are the great achievement of the Malla dynasty and resulted in the rivalry of the three palaces of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan. The palaces were divided among the Malla children and they began an artistic war to try to outdo each other in splendid constructions. Unfortunately, the earthquake in 2015 did an extreme amount of damage to the area.
The Jagannath Temple in Kathmandu, survived the earthquake in 2015. It is the oldest structure in the square and is noted for the erotic carvings on its roof struts. In fact, there are erotic carvings and Kama Sutra images abound in the area. There are also Holy Men around, some real (but commercialized) and some flat out fake. We visited during their new year, so there were many people making offerings of goats and chickens resulting in blood on the ground and on shrines.
The Shiva-Parbati Temple remained standing after the earthquake, but has some serious cracks reinforced by scaffolding and a modern fence surrounds the site to protect people from any falling masonry.
Maju Dega, aka Hippie Temple, is below right. It gained the nickname in the 1970s when hippies would come smoke hash on the steps. Unfortunately, it was completely destroyed in the 2015 earthquake, with only the base stairs remaining. It is slowly being rebuilt.
After visiting Kathmandu, we went to Swoyambhunath, aka Monkey Temple. It is a buddhist site with the main feature being the Maha Stupa, reputed to be more than 2,000 years old. Its white dome represents the spotless pure jewel of Nirvana and is topped by a 13-tier golden spiral tower. Between the dome and the tower are the all-seeing eyes, painted on all four sides of the stupa, and gazing out over miles of the city. There is also a (dry due to drought) peace fountain and Rhesus Macac monkeys everywhere.
Buddha Park is another cool place to see near Monkey Temple. The center is Amitabha, on the left is his compassionate form, known as Avalokiteshvara and the right is Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche (the one who legend says he flew on a tiger’s back into Bhutan)
We continued on to Bhaktapur, which means the city of devotees. There is a traditional Thanka Painting School there that is very interesting. It takes twelve years to become a master painter. The paintings are incredibly intricate and in order to stay focused, the painters must meditate quite a bit before they begin each day. They incorporate liquid gold in most Thanka paintings, so it is important that they not make mistakes.
The Nayatapola Temple there was destroyed in the earthquake but is being rebuilt.
Nepal was in a severe drought while we were there. Seeing people waiting for water that may or may not come out of the public faucets is really sad and makes me grateful for my home and country. People were visiting The Royal Bath to pray to the snakes. They are considered nature spirits and the protector of springs, wells and rivers. They can bring rain and fertility, but they also bring disasters such as floods and drought.
Our last visit in the Kathmandu valley was Patan Durbar Square. The Krishna Mandir in Patan had severe structural damage after the earthquake but has been repaired and is reopened.
I’ve always wanted to see a tiger in the wild, so we headed off to Chitwan National Park. We were traveling on a budget and stayed at the Island Jungle Resort, referred to as an eco-resort, but in this case meant very basic accommodations. However, we would be able to go on an elephant safari and bathe with elephants. We were told at the time these were rescued elephants and they did appear to be treated very well. Bathing with them was incredibly fun and they only stayed in the water for about 10 minutes at a time. I really hope they were treated properly and feel horrible when I hear stories of abuse.
On our safari we saw rhinos, deer, monkeys and tons of butterflies, but no tigers. We also saw beautiful sunsets over the river.
The last stop on our Nepal adventure was in Pokhara. Pokhara is much more calm than the Kathmandu Valley and the air is far cleaner. There are tons of outdoor activities and serves as the base for any trek to the Annapurna range (which you can see in the picture on the right). We stayed at the Fish Tail Lodge where your arrival is by row boat and you are pulled across the lake with a rope. We visited Devi’s Fall and the Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave, but both seemed anticlimactic after everything else we had seen and done.
This country is so rich in culture and history and worth the visit!
