Imagine little rural villages in the Caribbean or Central America nestled into rolling hills. Now add in terraced crops and Indian faces. Top it off with giant, snow-capped mountains towering over it all. My picture doesn't do it justice, but you can imagine. Try to blow up the picture, maybe that will give you a better idea.
The climate is incredible here. Down in the low valleys, you have bananas and oranges growing and behind them are these massive snowy mountains. The contrast is incredible. Where we are is really quite warm (especially coming from Tibet) but you can see over 8000m mountains. Ok, I clearly don't have enough variation in words to drive home my description, so I'll try to throw in a bunch of pictures.
When we reached the outskirts of the Kathmandu Valley (actually composed of three cities), things began to get hectic. After coming from rural Tibet, I was a bit terrified at first. There were all shapes and sizes of vehicles driving recklessly in all directions while honking their horns. See video here. As we entered further into the city of Kathmandu, the roads began more narrow and twisty, but we never slowed down. Eventually, we came to an area with was full of appealing shops, with tourists (it was obvious) walking around. That's the area of Thamel where we are spending our nights. I was really put-off at first by the "foreigner facade" that covered everything, but I was soon to realize that it's easy to get out of that area (and it's very useful for internet cafes, laundry by the kilo, and a variety of restaurants).
That evening was spent getting used to Thamel and catching up on Tibet blogs. The following day was much more interesting. We had to change hotels then took several hours to explore the area of Kathmandu between Drubar Square and Thamel, which was loads of fun. While we walked, we were sure to check out all the statuesand temples of religious symbolism which were liberally scattered aroun the area. We spent most of the evening wandering around with grins about the excitement of the market and frequently got lost despite the constant checking of our map.
The local markets are very bustling and exciting, and I quickly became used to cars and motorcycles whipping closely by. Everything is for sale in the markets, just like at any big city. Here, some of the more interesting sights were a line of small shops selling adhesive tikas (forehead dots), several stores entirely full of gleaming copper (pots, religious figures, hardware) and a man with dozens of bamboo recorders (the instrument) stuck into a bamboo pole like a tree. That night we had a great dinner at an Indian restaurant and went to bed tired and happy.
The following day, we had a great breakfast on the 8th floor of a building. We looked out over the entire city as we drank our coffee and basked in the warm sun. After the brekky, we talked to a travel agent and scheduled some events, then hopped into a taxi that carried us to Swayambuhnath or "The Monkey Temple." Apparently, I hadn't given any thought to the name, because I was quite surprised to find the place crawling with monkeys.
It was fun to explore the place because it was up on a hill that offered great views of Kathmandu. Additionally, the monkeys are quite used to people, so they feel free to run around right near you. I'll put pics of monkeys in some later shots.
After the temple, we walked down the hill to find the National Museum. We didn't know where we were going, the vast majority of locals in the area didn't speak any English, and those who did thought we were trying to find a different museum. Eventually, we found our way to the general area of the place and then we were able to ask for directions. After about an hour of searching, we found the National Museum and it was closed for the day. Ahh!!! Luckily, there was a (free) Military Museum across the street and we had fun checking out uniforms, weapons, and inaccurate paintings for 15 minutes (I know the paintings aren't accurate because all the wars looked the same). Then we hopped a cab back to Thamel where we had dinner at The Old Tashi Deleg Restaurant (which will become one of our favorites for its cheap Tibetan food) before the internet and bed. (note: EVERYONE should get Skype with video. Do it!!)
The pictures in this post are: the view from the drive into Nepal (note Himalayas), overhead view of Kathmandu Valley, Nepali boys vying for attention from the camera, the market between Durbar Square and Thamel, and the main stupa at Swayambuhnath.
It was fun to explore the place because it was up on a hill that offered great views of Kathmandu. Additionally, the monkeys are quite used to people, so they feel free to run around right near you. I'll put pics of monkeys in some later shots.
After the temple, we walked down the hill to find the National Museum. We didn't know where we were going, the vast majority of locals in the area didn't speak any English, and those who did thought we were trying to find a different museum. Eventually, we found our way to the general area of the place and then we were able to ask for directions. After about an hour of searching, we found the National Museum and it was closed for the day. Ahh!!! Luckily, there was a (free) Military Museum across the street and we had fun checking out uniforms, weapons, and inaccurate paintings for 15 minutes (I know the paintings aren't accurate because all the wars looked the same). Then we hopped a cab back to Thamel where we had dinner at The Old Tashi Deleg Restaurant (which will become one of our favorites for its cheap Tibetan food) before the internet and bed. (note: EVERYONE should get Skype with video. Do it!!)
The pictures in this post are: the view from the drive into Nepal (note Himalayas), overhead view of Kathmandu Valley, Nepali boys vying for attention from the camera, the market between Durbar Square and Thamel, and the main stupa at Swayambuhnath.
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