Last Day in Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal
December 27, 2014
We seem to be early birds on this trip, we have been waking up before the alarm that is set for 6:00am... We packed up and then decided to walk to a German bakery that we had seen on our walk back to the room last night.
I really enjoyed my English breakfast with beans and bacon! We both had poached eggs which were oddly shaped like fried eggs, but had been poached or steamed somehow. Anyway, it was better than the brunch at the hotel and we enjoyed our walk. The air is crisp, but it is very sunny and clear today. The mountains were gorgeous for our last day to enjoy them.
Dipak and a driver picked us up at 8:30 and we were all checked in by 8:45 Washing the body in the Sacred Bagmati River. We went to the rooftop outdoor restaurant and had a tea and Coke while posting the blog for the past couple of days. The sun feels so good!!
We arrived in Kathmandu on time and were greeted by Shayam!! He looks tired and he arrived home safely last night at 10pm. That must have been a brutal drive back in the dark. We have a new guide, Prabim. After grabbing our luggage from the outdoor "carousel" we drove a short distance to a Pashupatinath Temple, one of the most sacred Hindu shrines in the world dedicated to Shiva. It is located on the river where the Hindus perform the ceremony for cremating the dead.
We were able to see three stages of a ceremony. One elderly man had died recently and was on the alter near the water where they were bathing the body with water from the river, then the procession carried the body to the funeral pyre. Watching and photographing the ceremony seemed incredibly sad, intimate and a bit disrespectful Old Town Bhaktapur.
We also saw two other bodies that were being cremated and one body that had completely burned. The male family members were taking water from the river and rinsing the ashes into the river. In this way, the soul has now been released from the body.
We headed to the third city that made up a part of the GKVA, Bhaktapur. It was by far the most interesting area of the city to visit. When we first arrived, Prabim escorted us around an older part of town were we were able to see old architecture - brick or stone walls and ornately decorated wooden windows and doors. People were going about their normal Saturday morning activites - children playing adults socializing near the well, washing their clothes or bathing.
We had a short visit to a shop that had hand made bowls for meditative or healing purposes and handmade scarves. We did not purchase anything today because it was a bit pricey and we really do not need anything Durbar Square. So, we proceeded to the Durbar Square of Bhaktapur. The temples are quite unique - some were made of stone and reminded us of the Khmer (Cambodian) style of temple. The area is very busy today. There were a lot of foreign and local tourists since Saturday is the only day off during the week for Kathmandu families.
Prabim gave us a couple of hours to have lunch and to explore the Durbar Square and Taumadhi Square on our own. The upper terrace of the Nyatapola Cafe was busy, so we explored the area for 30 minutes. The temple had a steep stone stairway that was flanked by large animals. This style is very unique to Nepal and drew a lot of attention. Everyone wanted to have their photos taken on the stairs, ourselves included.
When we returned to the cafe, we pounced on a table as the Japanese tour group finally left and we landed in the perfect seats with a great view of the square and temple Swayambhunath. I had curry chicken and Bill had Biryani (rice, chicken, peanuts, raisins and chunks of coconut). Both dishes were quite good.
After lunch we had a leisurely stroll around Durbar Square and took lots of photos. We went into the courtyard of the former palace and had a quick look around. Soon, the palace will be opened as a museum.
We met back up with Prabim and Shayam around 2:30 and headed to one of the oldest Buddhist Stupas in Nepal located atop a hill in the Western part of Kathmandu. Swayambhunath, meaning self-created, is also known as the Monkey Temple. The temple is overrun with holy monkeys. The legend is that Manjushree Bodhisattva grew his hair long and he had head lice that were transformed into these monkeys. I am not so sure that these monkeys are holy, some of them seemed quite mangy!
After returning to Hotel Tibet International we had to bid farewell to Shayam as he will be taking care of new guests tomorrow. It was very sad to see him go since we have spent so much time with him this week!
We were taken to a room on the 6th floor in a different part of the hotel. Our room is even nicer than the last one we had here. There is a private balcony facing the stupa, so we sat out there until the sun went down. We worked on the blog and enjoyed some Masala tea and Everest beer.
