Nepal for July 4 Weekend-Day Two

Nepal Day 2-Bhaktapur, Mountain resort

There were two main highlights.  One was another UNESCO site, and the other was a tour of a village up outside of the city.  You'll get some great stories as you see the pictures below.

Bhaktapur

On the road to our mountain resort, we stopped at this place called Bhaktapur at Caitlin's suggestion.  It is another of the 1000 Places to See Before You Die, and a really cool village area.  It dates back to at least the 15th Century AD, and is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  It was so lovely and quaint, and really like stepping back in time.

A dried up well as we are walking into the main old area, looks good in sepia.

Detail of the well area

yes, this is the entrance to a school.

See the kid in uniform for school

Inside the main village area.

Isn't it just beautiful?

I think this is a temple, but not sure.  Apparently there was another temple at which goats were being sacrificed.  Only Hindus could go in to watch, which was just fine by me.

Protector dragons. You can kind of see how it is a distinct style from Indian and Chinese.  Really cool.

Obviously this is Sandip.

A house in which people still live.

This was the place that tried to sell stuff on the outskirts of this village at which we stopped.

Giant statue of Shiva the destroyer.

Farmland on the way.

Mountain resort, our village tour

So we went to this mountain resort an hour outside Kathmandu.  It was relaxing and green.  A highlight was definitely our guided tour of the nearby village.  All these kids followed us, and they spoke really good English.  We got to see their soccer field, try some of their fruits, learned about the one TV channel they all watch, they told us about their school-girls and boys together, and learning English!  And of course we taught the kids about interracial marriage (they actually asked both me and Sandip twice if we were married to make sure they got it right. We said yes, and made a point to say we met in post-graduate studies), and a bit about America.  A true experience that reminds me why we wanted to come here in the first place.

At our mountain resort.

The main reception area

View from the mountain resort of the foothills of the Himalayas.

This is a goat on our guided walk through a nearby village.

These two girls followed us for the tour.  Aren't they sweet?  They were so great.

This woman has a store in which many of us came in to enjoy a beverage.

JC and Sandip enjoying the homemade drink.

A good view of the store.

This was a baby in the family of the shopkeeper.

A very cool tree which has a temple near it.  It was up on a hill.

More kids.

A natural tattoo-the kids we spent the most time talking too pulled a leaf from a tree and made this impression.

Me and some village boys showing off our white tattoos.  Notice you can't really see mine.  

By the way-these boys are in the middle of nowhere, and they had great dreams.  Two wanted to be on the Army, other wanted to do hotel management to see the world.  So great.

Our mountain resort.

We are waiting to enjoy tea at our tour guide's house.  There was a baby goat chewing on this mat.

Coming back from our walk.

This is an alcohol called white mischief.  How could we not take this picture?  Some of the folks tried it and said it was pretty gross.

Playing Trivial Pursuit.  For the record, my team won.  Yes everyone be in shock-I was.

The end of Nepal!  We will return I am sure.

Nepal for July 4 Weekend-Day One

So on July 4th we went to Nepal with a bunch of friends from the Embassy.  One of them (John) did Peace Corps in Kathmandu, so that was awesome.

We spent one day in Kathmandu and then went to a nearby hill resort about an hour away.  This post is from Day One in Kathmandu itself.  Anyway enjoy the pictures.

Day One: Kathmandu
You know, as I am thinking of this trip, I have to say one thing.  If you had asked me about 5 years ago the most exotic and far off place I could imagine, it would probably be Kathmandu.  And I was there.  So wild.  We hit two major sites-the old center of the kingdom in Durbar Square, and the monkey temple on a hill.  Also just loving being in the city.  In the evening we went to this bar with a cover band, and they sang a LOT of Guns -n- Roses.

Street scenes

On our way to find lunch.  This is water with algae, not grass.

Food!

Some fish dish that everyone says was awesome.  I had huevos rancheros (yes in Nepal) and they were delicious.

I love this bicycle rickshaw, though technically it is a tricycle rickshaw.

Ramonus, me John and his fiancee Vicky taking a photo in downtown-ish Kathmandu.

This is right next to where we took the photo above.

Buddha everywhere.  More on that later.

A great shot of one of the main streets.

More street shots.

Bridge of main street.

A good message under the bridge.

Also right by the bridge, is where these random guys walked by us with signs saying "free hugs."  They hugged everyone.

Some ladies selling fruit and veggies on the street.  

Sandip's favorite.

Kathmandu's Durbar Square

This is Durbar square-a palace complex where the kings used to be coronated.  This is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is just awesome.  Also the palace entrance has a statue of Hanuman, our monkey king from the Ramayan saga.

One of the buildings.

A detail on the building above.  Look closely to see the details.

How cool is this?

This is a detail from one one of the buildings in the palace complex.

And someone really checking out the action

This is a different section, going further into the square.

Up close view of the buildings in front of me.

This is Kali, goddess who is a consort of Shiva the destroyer (so she is a destroyer too).

Entrance to the place at which kings used to be coronated, see the gigantic building in the background?

This guy is sitting in the building above.  Look closely and you can see him.

This is another view, and that is a statue of Hanuman, the monkey king on the right.

View from a rooftop bar at which we had drinks at Durbar square.

Another view

Most of the gang who went to Kathmandu

Us (obviously)

Sandip acting out what it would be like to climb Everest. since we are drinking Everest beer (which actually was pretty decent)

Eco-friendly plates.

Great shot of the backpacker/main tourist area of Kathmandu.  It is less crowded than normal because we did not go during high tourist season.

The Monkey Temple

This is a temple on a hill called Swayambhunath temple, but really known as monkey temple. It is a Buddhist temple up on a hill. 

There is a monkey on one of the statues.  Monkeys there were not so bad really, though I know mom doesn't believe me.

Full of mischief!

The pointy things are called a stupas.  This is a great view of the stupas in the rain.

Prayer flags attached to one of the houses on the temple complex.

Here are some prayer wheels at this temple.

See it has a face on the temple.  You can tell it is getting darker

Prayer candles.

The Buddha inside the temple.

This is looking down from the top of the temple.

A detail from the temple.

more atmosphere

It is so wet and interesting.

This is typical to see the yellow saffron and red color.

Me at twilight about to descent from the temple

Some Buddha statues at the foot of the temple.

Later that night...

Sandip acting like a Gurkha.  I had no idea what these were, but yet again proof that you sometimes learn interesting things over food and drink...

Gurkhas were totally kick butt warriors from Nepal, known for their knives and fierceness.  They fought for the British East India Company, and later in the British Indian Army and in WWI and WWII  

Our cover band who did a LOT of Guns -n- Roses.  Oh, and a surprisingly good rock rendition of Kung Fu Fighter.  We had a good time and couldn't help but think the band members got a lot of girls.

Goodbye to the cover band, hello to failed attempt to go to a casino, successful attempt to go to an Irish bar (with fake taps-seriously i asked) and the ultimate end to a great day!