One of the first trips we took here in Kathmandu was a day trip, guided by, well our guide book. It started maybe 2km from where we are staying. It was very interesting because you get to see the street culture here in Kathmandu, but also many religious shrines,temples and monastaries. It's really amazing how many religious monuments there are here, it seems like you can't walk 100m without seeing a stoopa or a shrine.
And i don't think you walk another 1000m without seeing 10+ people praying to some sort of monument ( this mainly applies to Hindu shrines because it is the celebration of Dashain)
One large obstacle that you have to avoid is the Sahdu's walking around, trying to plant Tikkas on you, then charging you obscene amounts of money for it.
One large obstacle that you have to avoid is the Sahdu's walking around, trying to plant Tikkas on you, then charging you obscene amounts of money for it.
I got tikka'd and had to pay 300 ruppese ( ~4 cdn dollars)Although I was slightly embarrassed that I had gotten tikka'd i figured it wasn't that bad. Instead of wiping it off I wore it for the rest of the day, kind of laughing about it.
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I don't know how this little guy got here, but apparently this Buddhist temple has a pet turtle.
I don't know how this little guy got here, but apparently this Buddhist temple has a pet turtle.
I really probably should know what they are putting on this shrine, but I'm under the impression that it's colored rice.
This is one of the amazing Durbar squares here in Patan ( pretty much in Kathmandu, but officially different). There are many Durbar squares ( three that I have seen), they were once main trading locations in the cities, and where Kings would make announcements and would be crowned. Today there is many shops, stands and people selling things, but is mostly a tourist attraction with a entrance fee.
Here in the Patan Durbar square there are many beautiful statues.
I have jokingly called our stay here in Kathmandu " Quest to document all Durbar squares" because it seems like every single day Mike and I have been going out to see another Dur bar square.
I have jokingly called our stay here in Kathmandu " Quest to document all Durbar squares" because it seems like every single day Mike and I have been going out to see another Dur bar square.
This Durbar square is located in Kathmandu. Very central location, near Thamel and Freak Street.
Although the Patan Durbar square is considered to be a better model of what a Durbar square is supposed to be like, I though the one in Kathmandu had more of the Nepali hustle and bustle feel.
Although the Nepali king no longer rules (He was removed in 2006), many reminders of his reign remain all over Kathmandu. From his face on much of the money to this king-throne-super-chair.
This is the most recent Durbar square I have seen, we went to see it today. I really should remember the name of it, but I don't :S. Everything starts to blend together after a while lol and if I wasn't doing such a mega post I'd probably look in my guide book, anyway. This Durbar square apparently was one of the nicest but was damaged greatly during an earthquake.
It's hard to imagine how much energy and man hours have been put into these old buildings, shrines, temples and monasteries. They seem to come in never ending numbers and each one more impressive than the last.
I doubt anybody will read this far, but I'm going to just keep going haha.
Birthday :)
I'd like to start off by thanking everyone that wished me happy birthday :). It's a nice reminder that I have a good life in Winnipeg with many friends, and loving family :)
I doubt anybody will read this far, but I'm going to just keep going haha.
Birthday :)
I'd like to start off by thanking everyone that wished me happy birthday :). It's a nice reminder that I have a good life in Winnipeg with many friends, and loving family :)
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I started off the day with the standard bland croissant, and a small work out. Then we went to a holy river where Hindu people are cremated, right in the open along the river, then there ashes are pushed into the river. This is apprently a very polluted river, but you still see Nepali people bathign just down stream. Now i seen about 4-5 people being burned, and it was quite morbid and interesting. I didn't take out any photos out of respect, but my uncle did so you can just ask me if you want to see ( i know everyone will be asking me :p)
I started off the day with the standard bland croissant, and a small work out. Then we went to a holy river where Hindu people are cremated, right in the open along the river, then there ashes are pushed into the river. This is apprently a very polluted river, but you still see Nepali people bathign just down stream. Now i seen about 4-5 people being burned, and it was quite morbid and interesting. I didn't take out any photos out of respect, but my uncle did so you can just ask me if you want to see ( i know everyone will be asking me :p)
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In this photo you can see the man in the center carrying the hay that they put over top of the corpse and in the background you can see the smoke from the bodies. My uncle was walking into an area that was just covered in smoke, which I refused to go to because I knew that there was corpse in that smoke. He assured me that it was just like BBQ and I called him a sick puppy.
To make him seem like a little bit less of sicko the smoke isn't pure human body, but wood on below the body ( thick pieces of lumbar) then the body wrapped in an orange clothe, then some hay ontop.
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In this photo you can see the man in the center carrying the hay that they put over top of the corpse and in the background you can see the smoke from the bodies. My uncle was walking into an area that was just covered in smoke, which I refused to go to because I knew that there was corpse in that smoke. He assured me that it was just like BBQ and I called him a sick puppy.
To make him seem like a little bit less of sicko the smoke isn't pure human body, but wood on below the body ( thick pieces of lumbar) then the body wrapped in an orange clothe, then some hay ontop.
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After that I was pleased to see some stairs, as it reminded me of my trek ( -.- ). At the top there were a few temples.
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Monkeys seemed to enjoy this area. It was quite enjoyable to watch them run around and play.
After we left this holy Hindu area we went to a Buddhist holy place. This was the location of the largest stoopa here in Nepal.
It's quite interesting switching from the Hindo temple to a Buddhist place, the energies are completly different. Since the Dashain festival is going on, the Hindu Areas are very busy and high energy, which is very interesting to sit back and watch, and hard to deal with when your trying to find your way through. The Buddhist stoopa on the other hand had a very strong energy as well, but a peaceful, relaxing, calm one.
Although I didn't really have a traditional, or exciting birthday, I had a very enjoyable one. Relaxing with my uncle seeing these sites is actually very rewarding, although it seems like everyday is the same, I look forward to seeing everything. I often forget when I am traveling how special everything is, and don't usually remember until I get home. I'm trying to take everything in, and appreciate the uniqueness in everything.
21 yo. Have i wasted the best years of my life, or are they yet to come?
Guess i'll have to see :)))
Much love
- Jacques
p.s sorry for the lack of detailed information, it's a alot to remember. With the amount that i uploaded it's hard to get alot of info in, especially in the amount of time I Have.
Picture of the landslide that forced us to walk part of the road and transfer to a different bus, on the way down from Mukinath ( just after we had finished the trek)
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As a result of the landslide this many people had to wait for buses to come and pick them, it really slowed our descent.
As a result of the landslide this many people had to wait for buses to come and pick them, it really slowed our descent.
On our ride to Pokhara sheep regularly blocked the road, often creating some pretty nasty traffic jams.
The next city we would stay in would be Pokhara ( Regrettably i never took very many pictures because I was quite tired) but here is one I took of the lakeside, which our hotel was located near.
While we were in Pokhara, the Hindu festival of dashain had begun. The traffic was a little bit crazier than usual with a high influx of people coming to their home towns. So of course we decided to go on a bike ride on these crazy streets! We rode our bikes to this temple where many people celebrating the festival. Suprisingly people were very friendly, instead of shunning us tourists they were planting tikkas on our head and trying to encourage us to dance! It was really fun.
Glad to see you're having a good time out there Jacques! It must be awesome to be gaining so much valuable life experience!
ReplyDeleteAlso, love the Tikka, you should keep that look. So, are the Sahdus like really intense gypsies?
i like all the gold statues... haha
ReplyDeletei spray painted this hundred pound root system i found down by the river gold too...
"i like goooold"
love ya too ♥