Three Magic Days in Kathnandu

My first afternoon in Nepal, I strolled through three magnificent but distinctly different temple complexes, representing two of the world’s great religions. I witnessed cremations on the bank of a sacred river, stepped gingerly around a pool of blood from a recently-sacrificed buffalo, and toured an old-world bazaar. All in about three hours. All in Kathmandu.

First, though, a reality check: Kathmandu is a sprawling, crowded city of some half-million people. Between the fascinating temples and squares lie endless blocks of dreary, dusty, often narrow and hilly streets lined with ramshackle storefronts, jerry-rigged selling stalls, and the sorry-looking abodes of people who obviously live in extreme poverty. There are fine hotels and restuarants, but you’ll need a guide or good diectory to find them.

Fifty or so miles beyond Kathmandu, Nepal offers marvelous mountain-view resorts, golf courses, and camps for trekking the Himalayan foothills. But if you haven’t time for that --I didn’t, unfortunately -- at least see the ancient cities that came together to form modern-day Kathmandu. I’ve provided some ‘Activities’ entries for your consideration.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Unless you’re fiercely independent and budget-minded, hire a car, guide and driver. What would be an extravagance in the Western world is highly affordable in Nepal and India.

Taxis (and the slower, less comfortable autorickshaws) are also inexpensive by Western standards. However, a professional guide will make far more efficient use of your time and his explanations of the things you’re seeing will make for a more memorable visit.

Transit buffs might want to ride the trolley bus that runs from the football stadium near city center to within a mile of the ancient square of Bhaktapur. But the windows were dirty and the high floor plus steep entryway looked awkward for the not-so-agile. Forget about the other city buses.

Kathmandu is friendly to Westen tourists. Street peddlers may hassle you, but not nearly as aggressively as in other Asian cities. Taxi drivers may overcharge you, but at 75 Nepalese rupees to the U.S. dollar, a 50-rupee overcharge isn’t really a big deal. And, despite the narrow, twisting sidestreets he may detour through, the driver WILL get you to your hotel safely.

The Grand Hotel Kathmandu ISN’T the pricey palace the name implies. It’s a tastefully and generously furnished, comfortable but otherwise unpretentious, mid-size hotel (8 floors) offering very high quality at very resaonable prices. (SITA World Travel rates it four stars.)

It’s in a relatively remote neighborhood, four miles or more from the center city on the opposite side of town from the major tourist sites. However, that makes for quiet nights, and taxicabs are cheap.

Rack rate was US $95, but in April 2001, a single could be had for $80, including full breakfast and taxes. Every room had a panoramic mountain or city view. Mine had two queen-sized beds, plenty of lounging and luggage space, and a roomy, well-appointed bathroom (but anemic shower).

Television options included an Asian version of CNN and other English-language programming --- lots of cricket --- but not much else. But who goes to Nepal to watch TV? And what’s not to like about a hotel whose doorman proffers a stiff, proper, British military salute to every guest?

Warmly furnished in red and mahogany, set off by cream-colored plaster walls, the Maharaja Dining Room at the Grand Hotel Kathmandu isn’t just for hotel guests --- it’s for anyone in Kathmandu who’s looking for a quiet, comfortable, quality dinner in a room with a view. Eight floors up, it offers panoramic mountain and city vistas and two private banquet rooms opening onto open-air terraces,

The menu had only Indian foods, but I always found at least one dish mild enough for my Western taste. My favorite was a delicious tandoori (clay oven) cooked chicken drumstick called 'Tangri Kabob' that tasted more crispy-roasted than baked. Service was attentive, swift, and, in a word, superb.

There was a quiet, cozy bar in an alcove off the main dining area, also with picture windows overlooking either the city or the mountains. Service here, too, was attentive and it was a good place to await the 7pm opening of the restaurant.

Menu prices were reasonable, but Western-style alcoholic drinks were expensive.

The Ganges River is sacred to Hindus, who dream of bathing in, or dying next to, its purifying waters. As a tributary of the Ganges, the Bagmati River through Kathmandu is equally holy; the ashes if a person cremated on its banks will eventually find their way to the Mother of Waters.

The cremation rites are, of necessity, public. Tourists may watch and photograph from the opposite bank, but it’s hoped they’ll do so quietly and respectfully. Every deceased --- rich, poor, or nobility --- comes to the riverbank on a simple bamboo stretcher, wrapped in a simple shroud. Coffins are only for those who died far away and needed to be brought home for their farewell. Many families do everything themselves; higher castes may hire others to make the preparations. By tradition, the eldest son lights his father’s funeral pyre.

My guide pointed to a large stone building, looking much like a hotel, overlooking the river. It was, he said, an ancient form of hospice --- a place where the hopelessly ill could die in peace, next to a river that would carry their ashes to the purifying waters of the Ganges.

Bhaktapur, a medieval city dating to the 9th Century, is one of the seven original communities that eventually became Kathmandu. Patan is even older (3rd Century) but now is faster-paced and more cosmopolitan. As in old Kathmandu, life centers around the ‘Durbar’, or Palace Square.

But what a contrast! Kathmandu hustles and bustles. The constant ebb-and-flow of tourist flocks makes photography difficult. The Durbar at Bhaktapur (or, by its modern name, Bhadgaon) is a tranquil place to meander, contemplate, and compose photos at leisure. Shops along the narrow, yet inviting, cobblestone streets adjoining the square have higher-quality merchandise.

Highlights: Locals gathering at the Lion Gate to the main temple. The interior courtyards. The pottery square, with artisans at work. The relaxed, low-key street markets.

The square at Patan, also filled with a variety of temples and monuments, is similar --- yet different enough that you should see both. Walk 10 minutes to the public baths and Temple of Kumbeswar for the colorful sight of women doing their laundry as gaily-dressed children play nearby.

With a guide and driver, and not returning to your hotel for lunch, you can see both cities in four hours or so.

Old Kathmandu City, one of seven original cities that became modern Kathmandu, centers on the 'Durbar',or square,fronting the Royal Palace. Here, you’ll find the major temples and shrines to the Hindu gods --- of which there are many.

Nepalese Hindus come here for a glimpse of the Living Goddess, a young girl whom they believe is the Gods’ chosen representative on earth. Temporarily separated from her family, she appears regularly in a courtyard window. During festivals, she’ll tour the city in a massive chariot.

Standing guard over the nearby Monkey Gate --- through which believers pass to pray and seek absolution --- is the powerful Monkey God. It’s believed that if he spies a sinner, that person will die. So, to allow sinners entering the temple to repent, his sculptured likenesss is blindfolded.

Beyond the Palace Square and temple complex lies the Old City’s hyperactive, often overcrowded, bazaar. It’s worth fighting the crowds to see at least a block of it. Then, turn tight into a street of stores carrying superb textiles and high-quality silver, tableware and jewelry intended as much for well-to-do Nepalese as for tourists. Here’s where to do your SERIOUS shopping.

Mt. Everest Flightseeing

It costs US $200, lasts less than an hour, and you have to get up at 6 am to do it. But why go all the way to Nepal and not get up close to the world’s highest mountain? Do the Mt. Everest Flightseeing trip.

Shangri-La Airlines will get you as close to Mt. Everest as you can go without actually climbing it. People on the left side of the plane get to watch the parade of lesser peaks leading up --- like a crescendo -- to Everest itself. If you’re on the right, you’ll enjoy the same view in reverse on the way home.

Have your camera ready for two low and slow passes around the mountain -- one favoring people on each side. But remember: photography through the double-thickness plexiglass windows of an airplane cabin is difficult and not usually satisfying.

For an extra bonus, every passenger’s invited to the cockpit for a view of the mountains as seen over the pilot’s shoulder. The airline normally uses ATR-42 turboprop aircraft, selling only window seats for a total of 21 passengers. But because it was the off-season, we had a little 19-seat Twin Beechcraft and just nine passengers. Nirvana!

Your driver turns off the main road into a sidestreet winding through what appears to be a typical very-low-income Asian urban enclave. You’ve no idea that you’re approaching Nepalese Hinduism’s holiest temple. Leave the car, walk downhill on a narrow cobblestone lane, and the sight explodes in front of you: Directly ahead, a colorful pagoda-like shrine resplendent in crimson and gold trim. On the left, a massive temple complex. Further ahead, across a footbridge, a hillside with terrace after terrace of individual shrines, each honoring a different god or deceased dignitary.

This is the must-see temple complex of Pashupatinath --- Temple of the God Pashupati. There are many legends to recount and many stories to be told here --- it’s far better to visit with a professional guide.

As you gaze at the shrine-covered hill rising beyond the holy Bagmati River, a puff of white smoke drifts in from the right. Walking further, you’ll discover that its the smoke from riverside crematory fires. The cremations --- a Hindu tradition --- are worth their own journal entry.