Work In Progress, Kathmandu

As I was walking out of the laneways of central Kathmandu, and upon reaching the main road through the city, I came across a heap of people looking up at the side of one of the buildings. Curious, I set my bag down for a minute, and took in what they were all looking at.

This work in progress was captivating, and I would love to see what the finished piece looks like! Those faces, those eyes!

I would love to know what the message says!

The crowd seemed to be staying point, watching the artist at work. No one seemed particularly concerned at the notion of "graffiti".

A little touch of beauty on a drab city building. A joy, the world over.

Kathmandu Cubed

I first spotted this geometric splash of colour on the way to my Kathmandu guesthouse in the Freak Street area, in the pouring rain. It was a little flash of character as I hunched over and followed my directions and the sign to my booked room, along little streets.

Heading back to this little street to check it out when it was not belting down, I loved that the cubes are working their way around the building, fitting over the windows, and appearing to have flowed out of the door around the corner.

City Of Bhaktapur

On the way back to Kathmandu from Nagarkot, my driver suggested I stop and explore the city of Bhaktapur - a former ruler of Nepal. A well preserved ancient city, where village life is alive and well, and busy!

Weaving my way into the cobbled streets, and laneways, I reached the Dattatraya Square first, which is actually the oldest part of the city. Famous for the Peacock Window and the wood carvings on the buildings, the Temple imposingly stands to one end.

I had lunch in this square, before continuing on my way through the little streets.

Eventually I found Durbar Square. Here, the temples are the stand outs dotted around it, with the Royal Palace accessed through the Golden Gate, which is actually made of brass!

Some people watching in this vast space was in order, as groups of tourists were shown about, amid locals crossing the square to go about their day, or head to temple for prayer.

Following the signs, I found the next square on the trial through the city, to the Pottery Square. Earthen pots are laid out to soak in the heat of the sun, and also for sale, in this space by the local potters.

Makes for a unique sight, with rows and rows of different shapes and sizes of pots covering the ground, made from different coloured clay. This area was a hive of activity.

Taumadhi Square was the next open space I found among the paths between buildings, and stood in awe of the multi-roof temples. The Nyatapola Temple features five pairs of temple guardians sitting along the stairs to the entrance, being the Malla warriors, elephants, lions, griffins and then the two goddesses of Baghini and Singhini - all protecting the path to Siddhi Lakshmi inside. Each pair is said to be 10 times stronger than the one below on the ascent, and the temple itself stands as the tallest pagoda in Nepal.

Trying to find my way out of the city, to the right path to lead me back to my driver, proved to be the hardest part of the day, with so many turns and laneways looking the same. I started to bemoan my rejection of a persistent guide at the start of my visit to the city as I began to wonder if I would ever find my way out! Determination and the help of a few locals and some broken English and gesturing finally got me to the right spot, before any serious panic set in! I think my driver was more worried than I was!

Views Of The Himalayas

Sitting in a bar in Siem Reap, I was recommended a spot in Nepal, "just 40 minutes drive from Kathmandu", where I could get an amazing view of the Himalayas by a young Aussie girl who could not stop raving about the country. She has spent some time there, and scribbled the name of the place on a scrap of paper for me. She said if I didn't have time for a trek, then this would be the next best thing. She was bang on!

So the drive to Nagarkot took an hour to reach the top of the smaller mountain among the bigger, whitecapped mountains, but that was the only bit my fellow traveller was wrong about.

The view was breathtaking!

I'll admit that whilst my driver was working on the climb up the 2000 meters above sea level, I was skeptical that I would get to see the mountains from here. There was smog at first, and then clouds.

Then I caught a glimpse of the magical view of the snow peaks.

My driver took me to the lookout near The Tea House, where I gazed. Then I walked down to The Tea House and had a pot of tea to soak in the view. And the clear, fresh air.

Imagine if this view was your backyard - wow! For the village on the mountain in front of where the decking was at The Tea House, it's theirs!

As my time up there was reaching midday, the cloud blanket that was covering the valley below started to rise and hide away the best bits of the Himalayas, and so it was time to head back to Kathmandu for me.

On a clear day, or in the early morning, you can reportedly see from Annapurna to the left all the way to Everest on the right. Wow! I recommended staying up here overnight to my travelling buddies, and they confirmed the Everest sighting at sunrise. What a treat!

Garden Of Dreams

A place of tranquility and beauty was just the answer to my harrowing morning in Kathmandu visiting the temples - and I found it in the neo-classic Garden Of Dreams. Somehow in the middle of the city of pollution, traffic jams, cows meandering in the streets, and the chaos of people and noise, this little piece is spared all of that.

The Garden Of Dreams is an Edwardian inspired private garden, which features pavilions, a cafe and restaurant, and a natural amphitheatre, among gorgeously manicured plant life and water features.

Besides my first Western style meal for a couple of weeks, seated on the upstairs balcony of the cafe, the sight of this space and the cups of potted tea on offer, I could have been anywhere!

The most fascinating aspect of the visit to the Garden for me was the gallery of photos showing the rehabilitation of the garden. Pictures of a very rundown and overgrown site, and the comparison with the images of the current masterpiece was very impressive!

The Garden was mainly filled with tourists taking a break as I was, and canoodling local couples taking advantage of the many private areas afforded by the garden's design.

Recharged with lunch and the space to clear my head, I was ready to return to my exploration of Nepal's capital city.

Temples Of Kathmandu

A couple of the main things to see in Kathmandu are the three significant temples, being two Buddhist and one Hindu, in this city of diverse practices and harmony. I actually only managed to visit two of them, but not for a lack of trying!

The Boudhanath temple is about 5km from the centre of town, and when the taxi stopped to let me out, I was pretty confused about where I was. The entrance is a pretty nondescript gap along a strip of stores and businesses, but it opens up to a large courtyard with the grand stupa in the middle.

One of the world's largest stupas, and a World Heritage Site, it is one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist monuments outside of Tibet.

Circled by market stalls, cafes, restaurants and guesthouses, the courtyard is filled with tourists, people completing their prayers for the day, and pigeons.

Walking around at ground level, and then walking up to the stupa level itself and completing a lap, details such as the prayer flags, the drum rolls all the way around, and the rituals of the monks and worshippers make this a reverent visit, and a view into Tibetan exiles and their religious tasks.

The Hindu Pashpatinath temple was the one with the most impact for me. The most fascinating, and the visit which stayed with me the longest after taking it all in.

This temple is on the outskirts of Kathmandu, near the airport, and is the site of cremations on the gnats along the embankment of the river.

When I arrived I noticed that there was an abundance of men in police uniforms in the temple complex, and upon getting to the other side of the river, deducted that this presence was actually because the person being cremated was an officer. An important one, I would think, because as the pyre was lit and burning, many of these uniformed onlookers come down to the edge and saluted a goodbye.

As this cremation was in full process, another gathering was in the same area of the embankment performing a cleansing ritual on a body, in preparation for a cremation. Of the area of this body that I could see from my vantage point, the man was not older than me. As I watched, a guide showing some other Foreigners around stopped and told me not to be sad about what I was seeing, that it was all part of the cycle of life.

Sure, but it was still someone's brother! Uncle. Son.

Watching these rituals was mixed with awe at the process, some morbid curiosity, and also much respect at such open Hindu rituals. I overheard another guide tell his patrons that the gathering around each cremation process was not necessarily just family, but because it was such an important religious ritual, many people came along to the temple just to be part of it.

I sat longer and watched another gathering prepare their loved one's body for the pyre, and then place the body, garlands of flowers, and what I presume was clothing of the deceased on the gnat, and then start the lighting process. A man who I assumed to be the Western equivalent of a 'next of kin' circled the pyre several times, before lighting the mound, and letting out a pained wail. Cycle of life, yes, but still grief.

Another pyre was almost finished, with just a small pile of charred remains left, and an attendant came along and swept everything from the pyre into the river below. Soon, another attendant come along and piled on a stack of wood logs, ready for the next one.

Swayyambhu was the temple that I missed. Nicknamed the 'monkey temple', it is perched on the closest hill to the city, and I could see it from the rooftop of my guesthouse.

I had every intention of going to see it on my last morning, on my way back to the airport and onward. But when I got down to street level and walked among the laneways from Durbar Square, and strange silence struck me - there were no cars! Everyone was walking, and I soon discovered that a strike was on, and there was no transport.

I ended up getting a cycle rickshaw all the way from the city to the airport, which took over an hour, and was a real struggle up hills. I didn't have the heart to try and add a trip to the hill temple in addition to getting me to the airport to my poor driver.

I don't like monkeys anyway!