Kathmandu, Nepal

Self-take in Durbur Square, Kathmandu.

All I can say is, I Love Nepal! Our weekend in Nepal was absolutely amazing, and probably one of the best vacations we have been on in a long time. I think I enjoyed it so much because it was so unlike anywhere else I have ever been, and I learned so much about a culture that I knew very little about. I have never been anywhere so 3rd World before, so that was truly a new experience for me. I thought the UAE was a 3rd World country, but now, for the first time in my life, I can say with certainty that I can distinctly picture the vast differences between a 2nd World country (the UAE) and a definitively 3rd World country (Nepal). The roads are all basically very pot-holed dirt, with people walking barefoot and monkeys and cows randomly wandering around everywhere. There are also rolling blackouts throughout the city, as the power grid can't handle the volume of electricity necessitated to keep the city of Kathmandu (the capital of Nepal) running. So in sections of the city, the electricity can be off for up to 16 hours a day. Definitely weird and slightly scary. So, as a result of the 3rd world nature of the country (and cheap cost!) we decided to stay at the 5-Star Hyatt Regency Hotel. If we were going to be 'roughing it' so to speak while touring around, we at least wanted to make sure we had a decent place to go back to at night.

Our room at the Hyatt Regency. Actually really nice, and better than just decent. There was a flashlight on the night stand though, which we actually did need when the power went off twice (fortunately, our hotel had a generator, the perk of staying at a 5-Star).

The view from our hotel room, within the gated Hyatt complex, complete with machine-gun toting gate guards.

One of the most appealing parts of planning our Nepal getaway was the cost. It was so darn cheap! Literally cheaper to fly 4-hours away than it was to drive an hour to Abu Dhabi for a couple nights. When we were researching how to get around Kathmandu we were reading about the various taxi options. If you wanted to catch a taxi at the taxi stand, you would end up paying about $1 USD for your ride into the city center. But, if you wanted to spring for the swankier "pre-pay" taxi, it would cost a whopping $6 USD to get to the city center. Well, being the big-spenders, we decided to spring for the pre-pay, which as it turned out was a 1985 Toyota Corolla low-rider with a rusty screw for a lock handle on my side, and the driver asked if we wanted "air conditioning" when we got in and then pointed to the window cranks. Quite the fancy ride.

Once we got to the hotel, after checking in (and getting convinced to upgrade to Club Level... hey, it was only an extra $40 a night for free breakfast and Happy Hours with booze), we dropped off our stuff and then got a little snack in the club lounge to make our action plan. We decided we would explore Kathmandu for the first day and then talk to the Hotel Concierge and book a car and guide for our second day to get a tour of the Kathmandu Valley (once again, much too cheap to pass up: 8 hours in a private car with guide for $120, we couldn't believe the bargain). So another $5 taxi ride from the hotel (through the tiny streets in a ramshackle car, narrowly avoiding pedestrians and cows on every turn) and we were dropped off in Durbur Square in Kathmandu. "Durbur" means Palace, so apparently there is a Durbur Square in every village, where the ruling family of the village lived.

The Square is beautiful and loaded with pagoda-style Hindu temples. It was fun to just wander around, but you can't stand still for too long without getting accosted by Nepali-men of all shapes and sizes offering to be your tour guide. Some were so aggressive we had to keep moving to ward them off.

Another view of Durbur Square.

Durbur Square

The first of many free-roaming cows, randomly hanging out in Kathmandu and the Valley. It is a crime punishable by 2 years in jail in Nepal to kill a cow (the holy animal in Hinduism). Good thing the traffic is so bad that you can never get going fast enough to possibly hit a rogue street cow hard enough to kill one...) Forget getting a good steak, or any steak, in Nepal.


Kal Bhairav. This stone image of Bhairav represents the deity Shiva in his destructive form. It is the most famous Bhairav and it is used by the government as a place for people to swear the truth.

Street Vendor in Durbur Square. I couldn't identify a single thing he was selling, although the things in the middle looked like mini-candles.

Shiva-Parbati Temple. The wooden figures in the window are Mahadev and Parvati.

The Old Palace, the namesake of Durbur Square.

Around Kathmandu

Kathmandu Street View.

After adequately wandering around Durbur Square (and doing our fair share of shopping with the street vendors -- how could I resist? Amazing and economical Christmas shopping opportunities!) we decided to explore some more of the city and possibly head to a Buddhist Temple affectionately known as the "Monkey Temple."

Jared on the Street. Please notice it is a dirt road. A fairly main road heading away from one of the biggest tourist areas in the city.

Kathmandu Traffic... Cars mixed with bikes mixed with pedestrians mixed with cows mixed with rickshaws. The most unique gridlock I've ever seen.

Self-take on the rickshaw ride.

So, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. We decided that since we didn't really know where we were going and weren't getting anywhere fast, we'd take a rickshaw ride. So fun!

Our hard-working rickshaw driver.

First Day

So we made our way to the Monkey Temple on the rickshaw, and along the way caught some beautiful views of the city and Vishnumati River.

View down to the City from the eastern base of Monkey Temple.

Street View heading up. Once we started heading up to the Monkey Temple, we realized it was going to be about a 20 minute walk up, and that the sun was starting to set and the last place we wanted to be was a temple swarming with monkeys after dark. So decided to put the Monkey Temple on hold for another day.

Instead we decided to head to the Thamel area of Kathmandu to get some dinner (we were starving since our flight left at 7am, so we had been up since about 3am). Another $5 taxi ride and getting majorly lost in the extremely large Thamel area for 45 minutes, before meeting a delightful Canadian couple who helped us later and we finally found the Thamel House Restaurant for a dinner of traditional Nepali/Newari food.

The restaurant (while maybe a bit kitschy) was great. It was housed in a traditional Newari building with candlelight and Nepali music and dancers... And local Everest Beer. A refreshing end to our first night.

We tried the prix fixe menu, which was a smorgasbord of Nepali food, including Mutton and Wild Boar. Everything was good and it was a fusion between Indian and Asian food... A combo of dumplings (Momos) and curries. Mmmm.

Pashupati Area

View of the City from Pashupati.

For our second day, we left bright and early with our guide. Our first stop was the Pashupatinath Temple, the most important Hindu Temple located on the Banks of the Bagmati River. And we were really lucky because one of the most important Hindu Festivals of the year, Teej, was occurring on that day. Teej is the Festival of Women where all the women fast for 24 hours and go to the temple to pray. They all wear their red saris and if they are single they pray for a good husband, and if they are already married, they pray for the long life and good health of their husbands.

But before we could get up to Temple, we got to have our first encounter with the MONKEYS, which were literally everywhere roaming free in Nepal.

A smaller temple on the way up with the famed golden trident.

A 7th century statue.

More temples on the way up.

Pashupatinath Temple

Our first view of the Pashupatinath Temple.

Looking down toward the Bagmati River and the funeral ghats (concrete blocks) where bodies are continually cremated in an open flame bonfire so that the ashes can be then pushed into the River which is a tributary of the Ganges (considered a holy river). It was a little disturbing to see dead bodies being burned, but as our guide explained, the tradition is to cremate a dead loved one almost immediately following death (within hours), and the small funeral ceremony is held before the fire.

All the women in their red saris lined up to go to temple.

Pashupatinath Temple and the snaking line of women.

Another shot of the Temple and the women lined up waiting to go in. So cool to be in Nepal for such an important holiday!

More Pashupati

The Holy Cow.

The Shiva Shrines, with the Shiva lingams, the holy man-part that the Hindus pray to for fertility. Lots of phallic symbolism, it reminded me a lot of Pompeii.

Prayer Flags! Beautiful and also visible everywhere in Nepal.

Bhaktapur

The next stop on our tour de Kathmandu Valley was the Medieval Village of Bhaktapur, much better preserved than Kathmandu, and absolutely breathtaking.

One of the many Hindu Temples in Durbur Square in Bhaktapur. The animals are the protector of the temple, as our guide informed us.

Another older-style Hindu Temple in Durbur Square, Bhaktapur (the pagoda-style temples are the more modern).

Another temple. I definitely got a bit carried away with my camera. I took advantage of having someone with us to take pictures for me, when usually we just take a bunch of self-takes.

Jared in front of the Royal Palace and Watch Tower.

Durbur Square Bhaktapur

Erotic Karma Sutra carvings on one of the temples... Also a common theme. I never knew Hinduism was such a sexualized religion...

View across Durbur Square. I just loved Bhaktapur! It was one of my favorite parts of Nepal. There are narrow cobblestone streets that wind between the red-brick houses and join a series of squares and courtyards that are full of temples, statues, cisterns, and wells. Quite quaint. Especially since the town is out in the middle of the valley completely surrounded by fields where most of the locals still live as farmers.

Take 1: Sitting on temple steps.

Take 2: Notice our local friend also sitting on the steps.

Take 3. Our guide was so accommodating with my camera.

Royal Palace

The Golden Gate of the Royal Palace (Durbur).

The Royal Roman-Style Bath.

Snake 'protecting' the Royal Bath. Animals play a large part in Hinduism, and especially as protectors.

The extremely unique spout. Covered in intricate carvings of all different animals.

Shiva carving by a famous artist whose hand was chopped off soon after this was done (by order of the Ruler of Bhaktapur, in order to prevent another village from convincing the artist to go do work for them). Our guide was just fantastic, and having a guide made a huge difference, because not only was he a wealth of knowledge, but having him kept other random would-be guides from pestering us.

Teej Parade

And, we were also very lucky while in Bhaktapur to get to see a Teej Parade. After the women finish praying at the temple, they spend the rest of the day celebrating and dancing before they break their fast at midnight.

The women parading through town.

The Nepali marching band. Men get involved in the fun too.

Parading through Durbur Square.

Teej Parade. No idea what the banner says...

Once again, got a little excited and got a bit carried away...