The journey from Pokhara to Kathmandu was a very bumpy bus ride. 12 hours of bumpy. But at least it was a nicer seat. My bum still hurts! The road had been ripped up to make ready for a new road. But much like most of Central Asia, they tended to do it the Chinese way. Rip up the road from beginning to end and then start the work. Leaving everyone with no real road for years!
Knowing I needed to rest I selected a hostel further out but still near one of the temples. The hostel turned out to be VERY quiet, I was the only person in my room. Whilst this can be a blessing, it is nice to talk to people occasionally.
Kathmandu has a large set of Buddhist and Hindu temples and closest to me was the Swoyambhu Mahachaitya. A set of Buddhist temples, stupas and monasteries on a hill overlooking Kathmandu. It is naturally very touristy and whilst I had a quick look during the day I decided sunset would be the time to visit. Most tourists having left at this point I had a chance to move around freely. It is beautiful, especially with the mountains in the distant background.
There are also a few 100 monkeys about, which can make life difficult but also create some great opportunities for photos. The monkeys have learnt several human abilities, for example, unscrewing bottle caps from bottles people have thrown on the ground.
Thamel
Thamel is a district of Kathmandu and has many small winding streets for you to get lost amongst. I was meeting Ana from the hike but first I had to find a place where we could get ice cream. We were thwarted from getting ice cream on the hike so now had a craving which needed feeding. Google was only throwing up expensive choices and not many.
My wandering brought me to a stupa called Shree Ghah Chaitya. An oddly quiet place from the bustling and horn-filled streets. But its grace was a little ice cream shop in the corner, overlooked by everyone but locals. Perfect. Ana was leaving in a couple of days to move to Switzerland from Slovenia with her boyfriend, so this was the last chance to chat and get as much ice cream as we could stomach!
Wandering the streets of Thamel is rewarding but you also start to notice how quickly tourism has taken over. Little cafes and bakeries spring up everywhere. Mainly German bakeries, but the products sold are very unlike products sold in German bakeries! Apparently, the first bakery was set up by a German couple many decades ago and the name sort of stuck.
Durbar Square
My next stop was the famous Durbar Square. Full of temples and a living goddess, Kumari Devi. The living goddess is selected in a set of rituals and is always female and pre-pubescent. They are considered a living incarnation of the goddess Taleju. However, the chance of you seeing or meeting them is very rare. They rarely leave the palace after being chosen.
They have a very limited life after, their only playmate being the caretaker’s children. Their adjustment back to society can be difficult and in some cases can even struggle to marry. In some areas, it is considered bad luck to marry an ex-Kumari Devi.
Many temples are fully intact, but some are still undergoing reconstruction work. The temples are exquisite in fine details; wandering through them, you will find people praying or sitting quietly enjoying the ambience.
Time to get cycling again
I also had a brief chance to catch up with Nabil who was heading off on another hike with Seb. I didn’t have the time left on my visa. There was also time for a quick catch-up with Moritz who will head into Bangladesh with Nabil. I took an extra couple of days rest after my cold made a resurgent effort to attack me. But eventually left on a route I thought would be easy. It turned out not to be!