11th December: Stupendous Kathmandu

This was the day for visiting stupas. First stop was the largest stupa in the world, at Bodhnath.  The taxi dropped us at the entrance after a short ride through the impossibly hectic streets of Kathmandu.  We paid our entrance fee and walked through a short passageway to the narrow path encircling the enormous stupa.  Crimson-clad monks were shuffling clockwise around the stupa, spinning the mantra-singing prayer wheels.  Thousands of prayer flags emanating from the top of the stupa glistened in the morning sun.

Bodhnath stupa

Circumnavigating the stupa

We walked past the numerous shops selling thangkas and made our way up to the first level of the stupa, past a thunderbolt and a bell that represent male and female power, respectively.  We walked around the stupa, admiring the view up at the three eyes of the buddha facing off in four directions.  Above us the slightly-discoloured kumbha, the dome of the stupa, was being cleaned, either with water or with fresh whitewash.  I was ambushed by a group of women to take their photo, and after a dozen efforts managed to satisfy them.  Below us on one side fully- robed devotees, many of whom were evidently Western, prostrated themselves in front of the stupa.

The eyes of Buddha are on you

Passing by a giant prayer-wheel, we popped into a gompa (Tibetan monastery) whose balcony offered a great view over the stupa.  From inside we could hear music and chanting, so we decided not to disturb the monks by intruding any further.  

After completing our tour clockwise (resisting the temptation to spin the prayer-wheels, which struck us as disrespectful if it's not heartfelt), we found a taxi to take us back into town and further west to our next stupa, the famous Monkey Temple (also called Swayambhunath). 

The taxi dropped us at the foot of the 17th century stone stairway that climbs up the eastern side of the hill from which the stupa gazes over Kathmandu.  We ascended slowly past numerous statues of Buddha, most of which sheltered a group of small monkeys (rhesus macaques, to be precise).  These cheeky characters inspected us carefully as we passed but decided we had nothing in the reach of their nimble fingers.  We did see one snatch a water bottle off another tourist, puncture the plastic with its teeth, and sip the spilled water off the floor.

Devoted monkeys

Looking up at the stupa from the stairway

We survived the monkeys and the street-vendors perched on the edge of the stairway, paid our entrance fee, and emerged onto the platform.  We passed another huge thunderbolt and bell placed in front of the stupa and headed for a restaurant with a view out over the city, since our hunger had persuaded us to save the tour of the stupa for after lunch.  We shared the magnificent vista over Kathandu with a tribe of monkeys, who at one rather unnerving point swarmed over the rooftops at great speed, fighting with each other as they went.  After an enjoyable lunch of momos (a Nepalese variety of dumplings), we set off to explore the stupa platform.

Monkeys on the move

Veggie Momos

As with the stupa at Bodhnath, monks patrolled the outside of the stupa, spinning the prayer wheels.  Prayer flags waved in the breeze.  A monkey peeked out of a small niche in the stupa sheltering a dark Buddha statuette as pigeons whistled just overhead.  The stupa was surrounded by several temples, including one to Hariti (the goddess of smallpox) in front of which was a large group of devotees.  We checked out a 6m high statue of Buddha inside the Shree Karmaraja Mahavihar, and took off our shoes to enter the Dongak Choling gompa and admire its surprisingly rough murals.

Buddha's eyes peeking through the well-populated platform  

Buddha and Hanuman, the monkey god

Thieving monkey eyeing up the camera

Taking shelter with Buddha

By that time we were at risk of entering stupa-stupor (Clem tried to veto this but I insisted) and started to head back down the stairway towards Kathmandu.  On the way we passed yet more monkeys and it seemed to be grooming time, as all of them had paired off to give each other's coat a good cleaning.

Looking out over the stairway leading down to Kathmandu

Grooming time

We decided to walk back into the centre of town, through the narrow, chaotic streets, dodging cars, motorcycles, and bikes.  We didn't really know where we were going but headed towards the greatest noise and eventually found a street near Durbar square that we recognised and emerged into Thamel, the horrifically touristy centre of town.  On the way we stopped off at Wayfarers, the tour agency recommended in the LP (one of several hundred agencies in the city), to discuss tour options and buses onwards to Pokhara, in the west of Nepal.  

This used to be a holy river; now it's a sad symbol of the pollution of Kathmandu

Weaving through the crowds on our way back to Thamel

We went back to the hotel to rest for an hour or two, changing rooms in the process because management had realised that our room needed repairs (why they had put us in that room in the first place was not clear).  In any case, we were upgraded to the penthouse, which was huge and slightly less faded than our previous room.  All it was lacking, we later found out, was a heater, so we spent the next two nights very well wrapped up.

We unwisely decided to have a nap, slept through the alarm again, and woke up just in time to get dinner before the restaurants closed at 10.30.  Food was not great; we'd known it wouldn't be, but we couldn't face walking too far. For once laziness trumped appetite for decent food.