15th December: Hike around Pokhara

Full blog to come later (since it's written up on the laptop and there's no wireless in Khardah) but here are the photos we uploaded earlier of our seven-hour trek around Pokhara.

Crossing Phewa Tal, past an island temple

World Peace Pagoda

Enlightened?

Eagles above us

You can just about see the Annapurna range through the haze

Walking through small, isolated villages

The wedding bus...

...and the wedding

Pumpkins sitting in the sun (safe from the porcupines)

Faint outline of the Fishtail, the only unclimbed mountain in Nepal

A pair of water buffalo arrive at our lunch spot, and seem rather miffed by our presence.  Our guide scares them away...

Slightly grumpy buff after having relocated to a safe distance

Another small village

A furry friend who followed us for several hours (until he was eventually scared  off by another village's dogs)

Sipping at some very sweet tea

View of the valley below

The blue square marks the bee-hive inside the house

Seed drying in the sun

Sodden rice-fields on the valley floor

Water buffalo crossing the river

14th December: Travel to Pokhara

We left the hotel at around 6.30am to catch the bus westwards to Dumre, on the way to Pokhara.  From there we were planning to take a local bus to Bandipur, eight kilometres up from Dumre into the hills.  While on the bus, however, we decided that it would be easier to go directly to Pokhara, since we would have limited time in Bandipur anyway and the time saved could be better spent on the way down to Kolkata.  This meant that we had a seven-hour bus ride ahead of us.  The bus was nothing like we were used to in South America.  The small bus packed in the seats, with no leg room and no chance of reclining the seat.  There was no heating and the window wouldn't close properly, so we were glad to have come out wrapped up in our winter woollies.

We stopped once for breakfast, and again for lunch several hours later, which gave us the opportunity to stretch our legs.  We had lunch at a roadside restaurant that served a surprisingly decent vegetable curry with plenty of daal and rice.  Many of the passengers had gone for curry at the breakfast stop, but we couldn't quite stomach it that early so had chosen the chocolate digestives that were (miraculously) being sold nearby.

Lunch overlooking the valley

The views of the valley several hundred metres down from the road were stunning, and we often held our breath when we had to pass other large vehicles.  There was absolutely no room for error.  Thankfully our driver was careful and we arrived safely in Pokhara.

This photo doesn't do justice to the precipice

There we were greeted by a horde of touts trying to lead us off to their hotels.  We escaped by saying that we   already had a booking for a hostel (forgetting the name, of course) and just wanted a taxi into the centre.  Our alleged taxi driver turned out to be the owner of a hostel as well, but after extensive negotiations we persuaded him to drop us off where we had asked.  I had read about a calm little Tibetan guest house that sounded ideal, so we made our way there.  John checked it out while I waited with the bags, and he confirmed that it was indeed calm, little, and Tibetan.  With relief we dropped our bags and headed out into the town to work out what to do with our few days in Pokhara.  After speaking to a travel agency and booking a hike for the following day, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

13th December: Patan and Bhaktapur Durbar Squares

Since we were short on time in Kathmandu (yes, even with eight months to travel) we decided to visit Patan and Bhaktapur in a single day, our last in the Kathmandu Valley.  Patan and Bhaktapur were the other two Malla kingdoms that were united with Kathmandu by Prithvi Shah in the 18th century.  The three Malla kings had competed with each other not only in war but also in constructing the grandest temples and palaces.

First stop was Patan, considered to have the most beautiful of the three "Durbar squares" (palace squares). We were picked up by our guide and driver from our hotel at 8am and we arrived in Patan 15 minutes later. We had decided to spend a little more on a good guide, called Ramesh, and it paid off handsomely with a wealth of information.

Patan's Durbar square was as beautiful as promised. It was the only square to have survived the 1934 earthquake that devastated most of Kathmandu Valley, whereas many of the temples in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur were rebuilt after the earthquake (in some cases only in the 1990s). The temples are mostly Hindu in design, but are used by Hindus and Buddhists alike (and by those who embrace both faiths). Ramesh gave us a great overview of both Hinduism and Buddhism as we walked through the square, admiring the intricate wooden carvings in the pagodas and the ornate statues standing guard outside.  He then managed to negotiate with the guard to allow us to enter one of the courtyards of the palace that was closed to visitors.

Patan Durbar Square

Entrance to the palace

Wood carvings inside the palace

Door to the temple inside the palace

Temple guardians

Once we had finished our sweep through the marvellous temples of the Durbar square, Ram led us off towards the Golden Temple, the most important Buddhist temple in Patan.  On the way he paused outside a thangka shop, and started to explain what the different paintings mean (the Mandala, the Wheel of Life, and the Life of Buddha are the three most important designs).  Inside the shop an old man, dressed in Tibetan robes, was working on a new painting.   Ramesh told us that this man was a Tibetan refugee, a Lama (one of the most learned Buddhist monks), an expert thankga painter and, he freely admitted, a friend.  Yes, it sounds like the usual nonsense, and we were cautious after our naivety in Hong Kong, but even our untrained eye could tell the difference between the hacks and the work produced by this solemn, focused, and reassuringly round old man.

The Lama's assistant invited us inside, sat us down, and brought out several thangkas, repeating what Ramesh had told us about their meaning.  These were clearly a cut above the other thangkas we had seen. Those that had been painted by the Lama himself were more expensive but manifestly finer.  I'd bought a thangka for my parents the last time I was in Nepal and we couldn't easily fit anything else in our bags; nevertheless we were bewitched by our preferred painting (a Mandala).  We said we'd think about it while we looked at the Golden Temple, but in truth it was just a question of deciding between the small and the large sizes.

We entered the Golden Temple, built in 1409,  through a narrow stone doorway, past its stone lion guardians.  Inside the courtyard is the main temple and a large shrine sheltering a gleaming golden statue of Sakyamuni (hence the name), also protected by a pair of stone elephants.  While we talked quietly with Ramesh, an arch-backed old man slowly circled the central temple, brushing the prayer wheels as he passed.

Entrance to the Golden Temple

On the way back to Durbar square we stopped off at the Lama's shop, after deciding to go with the large thangka.  The price amounted to our day's budget, but nothing compared to what we'd have to pay for even a print of decent art in Europe.  The Lama couldn't speak much English (or Nepali, according to Ramesh), but did give us a large smile and, pointing, "my thankga".  The thangka was passed to the Lama for rolling and placing into the cardboard tube to protect it from the buffeting of our rucksack.  After another quick stroll through the Durbar square, it was time to return to the car for the drive to Bhaktapur.

Last view of Patan Durbar Square

Bhaktapur is the oldest of the three Durbar Squares, but has also suffered most from invasions and natural disasters.  The huge 1934 earthquake, in particular, left few if any of its architectural jewels unharmed.  The well-restored square was nevertheless extremely impressive, with wide-open spaces that were a pleasant contrast to Kathmandu and Patan, where it seemed that temples had been squeezed into every last square inch.

Bhaktapur Durbar Square

Ramesh led us past the Golden Date, built in 1754 by King Ranjit Malla, into the Palace of 55 Windows, and then through to a large temple that was sadly closed to non-Hindus.  We were only able to peer through the entrance, past the  armed guards stationed to prevent theft (which has apparently been a serious problem).

The magnificent Golden Gate

By then it was time for lunch, so we followed Ramesh through to Taumadhi Square.  The restaurant was in an attractive old building in the centre of the square, looking across to the imposing five-tiered pagoda of Nyatapola temple.  We invited Ramesh to join us but he declined, presumably eager for a rest; or perhaps he knew that the food would be disappointingly bland.  Nevermind; the view made up for the weak food, as we gazed out at the Nyatapola temple, the tallest in Nepal, with its five pairs of stone guardians: mighty wrestlers, elephants, lions, griffins, and the lion and tiger goddesses.

Nyatapola temple

The restaurant where we enjoyed the view if not the food

First stop after lunch was pottery square, where we saw an old man hunched over a hand-operated spinning table.  Hundreds of pots were laid out in the sun to dry, ready for the outdoor kiln.  Without Ramesh as our guardian we would doubtless have been swarmed by those selling trinkets, but thankfully he seemed to act as a scarecrow.

Spinning table

Pottery square

Kiln with pottery fragments

We then made our way over to Dattatraya Square, stopping briefly as we passed by the Peacock window, an outstanding wood carving from the 16th century.  We then had 45 minutes to wander around by ourselves - at which point we were quickly forced to fight off others offering their services as guides - before meeting up with Ramesh for the drive back to Kathmandu.

The Peacock window

Dattatraya Temple, reputed to have been built from the trunk of a single tree

The traditional black-and-white Bhaktapur saree

Filming in the Durbar Square

We were staying in a different hotel for our last night in Kathmandu: cheaper and much closer to the bus stop, ready for our early bus to Pokhara the following morning.  We collected our bags from Moonlight and trudged through Thamel to our new digs.  We then spent the evening trying to resolve a card issue created by Santander (abysmal customer service, steer clear).

12th December: Hiking around the settlements south of Kathmandu

Our guide met us at the hotel around 8 am and we hopped in a private car (yes, we treated ourselves) to Kirtipur, around 5km away from Kathmandu. Kirtipur is a quiet town and it was thus a good retreat from the noise of Kathmandu. From there we would have had a great view over the valley had it not been for the fog and the mist. Jiven, our guide, introduced us to the town's main medieval temples. On the Uma Maheshwar temple we could not help but notice the erotic wood carvings on each pillar below representations of Hindu deities. In the square children played volleyball with a lump of rubber-bands, using the large bell representing female power as a net. A bit further up was Chilanchu Vihara, a Buddhist stupa. The town also boasted beautiful medieval houses with finely carved wooden window-frames.

Uma Maheshwar Temple with animal guardians

Erotic carvings on Uma Maheshwar Temple

Chilanchu Vihara stupa (16th c.)

We then walked away from the town and off the beaten track, following a mud path through farmhouses and agricultural land. The main crops were vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, and haricots) and rice.

Start of the walk through farmland

Working on the fields

A slightly scared young cow

Half way up a 300m high hill, we stopped for a drink at a local shop. Unfortunately, our conversation could not go beyond "namaste", so we just showed our warmest smiles.  John asked our guide the Nepali for thank you, but had forgotten it ten minutes later. The top of the hill offered a great view over the valley and from there we could look down on Kirtipur. We could also guess at the contours of the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

View over Kathmandu's southern settlements, with snow-capped mountains floating above the mist 

Laundry time

We then walked down along a small channel dug to insert pipes to import water to the valley. We stopped for lunch at the bottom of the hill in a quiet spot, only disturbed by a drunk man who asked us for food. Following our guide's advice, we declined. We then followed the road up to the Newari village of Khokana, which was devastated by the earthquake in 1934. Half way there, we crossed a very smelly river full of rubbish. Apparently, the environment is not yet a priority, and a lot of rubbish is dumped in what is a holy river. A similar contradiction applies to the treatment of cows, which are sacred but are left to eat plastic on the streets at the mercy of traffic.

A street of Kokhana

Buddhist stupa and a neighbouring Hindu temple

A few hundred metres further, we reached Bungamati, a medieval town famous for woodcarving. We stopped at the Rato Machhendranath temple, dedicated to the god of rain. Every 6 months, its statue is transported to Patan on a huge chariot.

The medieval palace is now occupied by poor villagers

Ratho Machhendranath Temple

The driver was waiting for us on the main square and was watching a card game when we arrived. He drove us back to the hotel, where we had a quick nap before going back into town for dinner. We went to a tasty Tibetan restaurant where I enjoyed a delicious vegetarian curry. John had opted for Tibetan vegetable balls, a more traditional dish.