Our third day began today at 9.30am.... a much more respectable hour. We gathered in the hotel lobby and departed for a tour of the medieval capital of Bhaktapur. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site where beautiful temples, palaces and squares have remained virtually unchanged through the centuries. We walked around Durbar Square to see the Palace of 55 windows and Nyatapola temple. There is a lot of restoration work going on at some of the historic temples and monuments that suffered damage from the earthquake. It is still incredible to me just how much damage there is.
Roads are potholed and would most probably be the last thing to be repaired. The most importance has been placed on housing and restoration of the historic buildings.
The traffic in Kathmandu is as bad as it is anywhere we have travelled. There is no such thing as laned traffic. It’s simply a case of drive where you can. Crossing a street is a nightmare and we had to do it many times in Kathmandu. We were fortunate that we had Ram, Anoop and a “traffic”guard to help us negotiate the traffic. Ram would call for us to be “sticky rice” as we crossed the road (no pedestrian crossings) and surprisingly the traffic would either go around us or wait for us to cross. It was however quite daunting.
Our lunch today was at Chez Caroline and we were once again served a three course meal. I think westerners have the reputation of being big eaters! I could not get all the way through a single meal while we were in Nepal. We had time to ourselves back in our hotel after lunch as we were not going to meet again until later in the afternoon. A quick nanny nap for me!
At 4.00pm we departed for Bodhnath Stupa, one of the largest Tibetan communities in Nepal and the place that I was most looking forward to visiting. I had seen many photos over the years of the round Stupa where hoards of worshippers chant their mantras as they walk around the Stupa, spinning the wheels that run around the circumference of the Stupa. It is an incredible site to see and no photo could ever do it justice.
After free time at the Stupa we were then taken to a Tibetan monastery where we were given a private meditation with one of the Buddhist Masters. I’m lost for words as to how much this gentle man moved me. We were encouraged to ask as many questions as we liked and he answered them all in his perfect English. My question is always “how to quieten the mind” for meditation and I was surprised to hear him say that even he at times struggles with this.
After this unforgettable time with the Master we once again boarded the bus and headed to Pashupatinath temple. It is another World Heritage Site and one of the holiest of Hindu temples that attracts scores of pilgrims from all over. We witnessed two cremations followed by the Aarti Ceremony (Evening Prayer Ritual). It really was a moving sight.
By this stage we were all quiet tired so we were grateful when Ram asked if we were ready to return to the hotel. This was our last night in Nepal and I knew that if I ever had the opportunity to return I would in a heart beat. It truly is a beautiful country filled with smiling generous people.
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