Today a sightseeing tour of Kathmandu to help with acclimatisation.
Kathmandu is a very busy bustling city, really the only city in Nepal. The roads are really busy; on the outskirts with big old Indian Tata lorries, brightly coloured buses and taxis. As you move closer to the city centre, the motorbikes are plentiful, taxis get smaller and then there are the Tut-tuts and pedal powered rickshaws.
Horns are blasting away at every turn, there doesn't seem to be any logic at junctions, overtaking happens at the most unexpected places and of course there is smoky pollution. You certainly have to keep your wits about you when crossing the roads, the method seems to be think positive and act purposefully!
We start our visit in the Hindu section, where the famous Hindu Temple of Pashupatinath sits on the banks of the Bagmati river.
We walk from our bus towards the river through some street markets. Jewellery, brightly coloured dyes and spices, pottery and trinkets, bit of hassling from the street sellers - if you show a spark of interest, you'll struggle to move away from them, without being rude - a fast learning curve.
Then around the corner, we reach the river. A very moving sight awaits us and quite honestly shocking for a westerner, it is the Hindu cremation site. Non-Hindu visitors are allowed to have a look at the temple from the other bank of Bagmati river. Up to 40 cremations per day are carried out here, as it is the holiest Hindu site in Kathmandu, it is seen as an honour for Nepali families to say goodbye at the temple. You watch in stunned silence as you see the families walking around the bodies, going through their religious ceremonies. As I said very moving and different for us, who tend to hide our deaths, but here a very open part of their culture.
Onward through some very old temple areas, wild monkeys are jumping about and you'll also see some Sadus (holy men)
We then walk around by the entrance of Pashupatinath and through another small market area, selling rolls of spectacular coloured cloth for saris etc.
The next section of our sightseeing tour takes us to the buddhist area around Boudhanath Stupa - one of the biggest Buddhist Shrines in the world. This impressive 14th century building dominates the landscape, it is about 100m in diameter and 40m in height, covered in prayer flags and again a very busy place. In the 1980s there was very little else there except for the temple, but since then there has been significant development around the site, again plenty of hustle and bustle, monks, Nepalese and tourists all milling around.
Kathmandu is a very busy bustling city, really the only city in Nepal. The roads are really busy; on the outskirts with big old Indian Tata lorries, brightly coloured buses and taxis. As you move closer to the city centre, the motorbikes are plentiful, taxis get smaller and then there are the Tut-tuts and pedal powered rickshaws.
Horns are blasting away at every turn, there doesn't seem to be any logic at junctions, overtaking happens at the most unexpected places and of course there is smoky pollution. You certainly have to keep your wits about you when crossing the roads, the method seems to be think positive and act purposefully!
We start our visit in the Hindu section, where the famous Hindu Temple of Pashupatinath sits on the banks of the Bagmati river.
We walk from our bus towards the river through some street markets. Jewellery, brightly coloured dyes and spices, pottery and trinkets, bit of hassling from the street sellers - if you show a spark of interest, you'll struggle to move away from them, without being rude - a fast learning curve.
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Onward through some very old temple areas, wild monkeys are jumping about and you'll also see some Sadus (holy men)
We then walk around by the entrance of Pashupatinath and through another small market area, selling rolls of spectacular coloured cloth for saris etc.
The next section of our sightseeing tour takes us to the buddhist area around Boudhanath Stupa - one of the biggest Buddhist Shrines in the world. This impressive 14th century building dominates the landscape, it is about 100m in diameter and 40m in height, covered in prayer flags and again a very busy place. In the 1980s there was very little else there except for the temple, but since then there has been significant development around the site, again plenty of hustle and bustle, monks, Nepalese and tourists all milling around.
The Boudhanath stupa is surmounted by a harmika, which is a sort of four-sided pedestal. Painted on each side of the harmika are pairs of eyes. Believers interpret these eyes as that of the Buddha looking down at the whole world. Above the two eyes is a smaller third eye, representing the eye of god. Below the eyes is a symbol that looks like a nose, but is in fact the Nepali number "1". Believers interpret this "1" as indicative that the path shown by Buddha is the only way out of the sufferings of the world.
Rising above the harmika is a thirteen-tiered finial, looking like a step pyramid. representing the thirteen steps towards enlightenment.
Above the finial is the umbrella, similar to the hti in Burmese stupas. This represent nirvana. The pinnacle at the top of Boudhanath represents perfect knowledge.
Rising above the harmika is a thirteen-tiered finial, looking like a step pyramid. representing the thirteen steps towards enlightenment.
Above the finial is the umbrella, similar to the hti in Burmese stupas. This represent nirvana. The pinnacle at the top of Boudhanath represents perfect knowledge.
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| There are various monastaries surrounding the stupa |
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Hundreds of prayer wheels on the perimeter of the temple, inscribed with the Tibetan mantra Om Mani Padme Hum On plan the stupa looks like a giant mandala, or diagram of the Buddhist cosmos. These are replicated with very finely drawn paintings on canvas, the most detailed work being carried out using single or 2 hair brushes (cat or rabbit!). The eyes at the top of the temple represent Nirvana  So our second day is coming to an end, we'll be back to the city later for a meal then an early night, because the hard work starts tomorrow, an early wake-up call is scheduled , as we have to be at Kathmandu airport at 6am for our flight out to Lukla. |
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