the ways of Kathmandu

day 1) First contact with the busy streets of the city. Rickshaws, bicycles, cars, scooters, traffic jam , many colours and smells.
day 2) The streets of Kathmandu are full of statues. Visit Durbar Square, a large plaza full of Hinduism temples. Visit of the hill of Swayambunath. On the top, stood a huge stupa
day 3) Visit of Pashupatinath, near Bagmati river. Holy place for Hindu. Afternoon we walked to Bodnath, the biggest stupa of the valley. The coloured praying flags floated in the air.
day 4) We went to imperial city of Bakthapur. Atmosphere is different from Kathmandu. It is calm; modernity seems to stay out of this city. Visit of Nyatapola, an impressive temple.
day 5) Foggy morning, visit of Durbar square, a lot of erotic works on the wooden parts of temple. Women in sari waited for ceremony.
day 6) Again, Kathmandu Durbar square. We had the chance to see the Kumari, the alive goddess of Nepal. It is a young girl who is the reincarnation of a god. We took rickshaw to reach Patan, the third imperial city of the valley. Visit of Durbar square and golden Buddhist temple.

Quick Tips:

Six majors spots in the Kathmandu valley:
1) Kathmandu Durbar square
2) the stupa of Swayambunath
3) Pashupatinat sanctuary
4) Bodnath stupa
5) Patan Durbar Square
6) Bakhtapur Durbar Square

Best Way To Get Around:

You can walk in Kathmandu city center. You can also walk to reach Swayambunath stupa. For reaching Patan or Pashupatinat, you could use rickshaw (bicycle's taxi). To go to Bakhtapur you need a taxi (15 km from the center of Kathmandu).

For $6-8 you could have a double bed accomodation. The Marco Polo guest house (don't confuse with Marco Polo Hotel) is located in Thamel (the tourist districtof Kathmandu)in front of the immigration office. It is clean. There is hot water and no central heating but they provide blankets. Perfect for budget travellers.

This hotel is located in Bhatapur, the imperial city, 15km from Kathmandu. It is for the budget traveller, it costs 350-450 rupees (USD 7-10) for a double bedroom. Hotel is not specially nice but safe and clean. The interest to sleep in Bhaktapur is that the city is far less polluted than Kathmandu and you have time to enjoy the marvelous Durbar Square.

In the afternoon (weather is better no mist) you could visit the hill of Swayambunath, 3 km outside the city. On the hill's top, a huge stupa looks after the valley. There is a stairway with 365 steps (one per day of the year). A stupa is a kind of cairn on the summit of which are painted the eyes of Buddha. You could feel a great atmosphere of peace among the Buddhist monks with red dresses. Some funny monkeys play all over the monument. Fine view of Kathmandu.

The streets of Kathmandu are full of tiny statues of god especially Ganesh (the god with the elephant head). If you have a half day free you should visit Durbar Square, a large plaza full of Hinduism temples. Nice statues of Ganesh, Garuda, and Hanuman. The most representative temples are those of Krishna, Vishnu and Taleju. Temples are made in red bricks; the number of roof varies from one to seven. Animal also inhabit this place: the range from holy cow, monkeys, dogs and birds.

Kathmandu is a wonderful place for shopping. Most of the shops are in the Thamel area. You could bring back : Carpets, more in silk than wool. The decoration of these carpets are inspired by Tibetan mythology. Gurkha knife, Gurkha is a Nepalese tribe, they use to be great soldiers of in the British army. Tibetan art is also fine, you could find nice tanka and mandala (religious paints) or cooper statue of deities and gods. Clothes also are cheap and of good qualities, many silk items with many colors.

The stupa of Bodnath is the highest of the Kathmandu valley. It is 40 m high. It is located in the Tibetan district of Kathmandu. Many refugees live there, so the atmosphere is really interestin. The eyes of the stupa look in the four directions. All around praying rolls help pilgrims find wisdom. Small colored praying flags float in the air. It is said that the wind read these prayers.

Bhaktapur is one the three imperial cities of Kathmandu's valley. Cars are forbidden inside the walls of the old center. Atmosphere is very different from Kathmandu. It is very calm; modernity seems to stay out of this city. Before nightfall we visited the Nyatapola, an impressive five-roof Hindu temple. At the foot of the stair case are 2 huge statues of warriors that are ten times stronger than humans. At the upper level stand 2 elephants, which are ten times stronger than the fighter. On the following level we can appreciate lions, griffons and finally tantric gods. On the foggy morning, we visit Durbar Square, a lot of erotic works on the wooden parts of temple (including a very funny image showing 2 elephant making love). Golden gate, Malla king column. On the eastern part of the city, women in red saris wait for the ceremony.

On a foggy morning I visited Pashupatinath, on the banks of Bagmati river. This is a holy place for Hindus. This is a sanctuary devoted to Shiva. Shiva along with Vishnu and Brahma are the most important gods. A lot of Nandi (Nandi is the messenger of Shiva, it is always represented as a bull) statues decorate a large avenue which lead to the top of a wooden hill. Here you could find a temple inhabited by monkeys.

Near the river stand the gaths where the bodies of dead are burned, ashes follow the flood until the holy Gange. During the funeral ceremony I met a strange Sadhu who proposed to lift a 50 kg stone with his you know what! I declined his proposal so I didn't know if he was able to do so.

One morning we tried to rediscover Kathmandu Durbar square. We had the chance to see the Kumari, the goddess of Nepal. She is a young girl, who was chosen by very strict criterias. She is the reincarnation of a god. She lived as a queen in her palace until the end of her childhood. After that she became a girl like any other, only she was rich. It is sad because she would have a hard time trying to find a husband ( a curse will strike the man who married her). It is forbidden to take her picture. She is said to have divine skills and she always offers good advice to people. To see her you should go to Kathmandu Durbar Square in the Kumari Chwonk. She appears from time to time on the balcony. To increase your chance to spot her you should give a tip to her parents.

One amazing thing when you have a walk in Katmandu is the presence of monkeys. As you know, Hindus believe in reincarnation and Buddhists respect the life of every god''s creatures. Holy cow is a classic snapshot in India, a monkey playing on the roof of a temple could be the Nepalese typical picture. These small grey animals are rhesus macaques. Very friendly. Sometimes they look like clowns, sometimes like beggars. Even if it seems like a charming child, never feed it, otherwise a group of fierce monkeys will steal all your food! The population is concentrated in Pashupatinath. Their comportment is very funny, always playing or screaming. It is a real spectacle of its own. These animals on a temple lost in a lush vegetation will remind you immediately of the "Jungle Book" from Sir Kipling. The other place where you could find monkey is Swayambunath and Katmandu Durbar Square.