A Long Weekend in Kathmandu
While most expats living in Dubai choose to spend their weekends on the beach, having brunch or visiting one of the neighboring Emirates, on this particular weekend last month my wife and I headed for the city of Kathmandu.
February 20th - We disembarked from the plane, and anxiously made our way through the various check points, to be greeted by a friendly gentleman offering to take our luggage through the airport security and out into the main collection point. Though a price was never mentioned he kindly asked if we could tip him in what he called “Arabic money”. I laughed and gave our helpful trolley boy a 10 dirham note which seemd to please him, so that was a good start.
After a 30 minute drive through the historic city of Kathmandu, Julie and I arrived at the “Himalaya Hotel”. Nestled away on a main street it was obvious that should we require to venture out, things were in close proximity to where we were. The streets were lined with various tourist shops, clothing shops, currency exchange bureaus, a bank and even a few fast food restaurants, should we want to try something else rather hotel food.
Once we checked in and left our bags in our room we quickly took a leisurely stroll around the hotel grounds that was filled with beautiful gardens and even a miniature Hindu temple. Having taken a few pictures, we then decided to head for the little shopping district that was outside the walls of the hotel. Immediately Julie decided to start shopping. I soon found myself holding bags of little trinkets and even a four foot red paper lamp that compacted nicely to fit into our suitcases - all of which Julie just had to have!
Back at the hotel we took a taxi to Durbar Square. We took a few photos then, went to eat in a quaint little restaurant, just off the beaten track.
February 21st - The next day we ventured even further into Kathmandu. As we we were driven through a few villages on the way to a hotel situated on top a mountain in Nagarkot, I could not help but notice how happy the people appeared to be. Further down the hill, busy city life was something many of us would recognise, but up here in the villages, the people greeted us with warm smiles that were captivating. Many were busy transporting water for their homes and manure for their crops up the hill where they lived.
When we eventually arrived on top the mountain the view of the Himalayas was truly breath taking. Stood taking in the view from the balcony of the hotel, with a warm breeze blowing the prayer flags, I could see a beautiful glacier of mountain peeks covered with snow. We must have stood there for 45 minutes just breathing it in.
The next leg of our site seeing journey was to Bhaktapur. When we eventually got to the main square the place was surrounded with both Hindu and Buddhist temples and even an old palace. The people here were different from the villages I had experienced earlier that day. As I looked around I noticed a few tourist similar to myself taking pictures of the temples and even a few of the local schools had bought there classes here to observe a bit of their cultural heritage. A very young girl approached me; she must have been 6 or 7 years old with her younger sibling hooked to her side and rosey cheek’s she asked “would you like to take a picture of me?” I smiled gently and replied “No thanks” The young girl then said “Could I have 10 rupees then?”
February 22nd - On this particular day we were going to visit the Monkey Temple (Swayambunath Stupa) firstly then followed by a visit to old Kathmandu City itself.
The Drive up to the Monkey temple was different from that to the mountains in Nagarkot which I had done the day before. It was very quick and instead of villagers, I noticed a street full on monks that were preparing for a festival. Young and old lined the streets and they looked at me as we drove pass, I wanted to pop out and take a picture but felt it may have been seen as offensive as they were preparing for a religious festival.
When we eventually got to the temple we were greeted by various merchants. There's always an opportunity to buy! Before we could even get to the temple we climbed 365 steps, each step representing a day in the year.
We arrived at the temple and instead of the faces of Nepalese people I found myself looking at the monkeys that were climbing all over their pray altars. They would then steal the food that had been placed there for the god’s. These monkeys weren’t shy of people and from time to time I would notice them posing and if possible willing me to take their photos. I must have taken about 10 pictures of these monkeys; you really had to be there, they were most entertaining!
Old Kathmandu City is one of the original cities that became modern Kathmandu. When Julie and I visited here, we noticed major temples and shrines to the Hindus gods. While here we visited the palace of a “Living Goddess”, a young girl whom they believe is the Gods’ chosen representative on earth here in Nepal. The young girl lives here in the palace temporarily until the age of puberty and which time she’ll be reunited with her family and a new “Goddess” would be chosen. As I walked through the square listening attentively to what my tour guide was saying, I even found myself on a street where Harrison Ford allegedly filmed the opening scene from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”! I took a quick picture of the street, as this was as close as I was ever going to get to starring in a Hollywood movie. Our tour guide then took us to a roof top restaurant; what must have been six flights of stairs. Julie and I then sat down and had a little bite to eat and enjoyed yet another spectacular view of Old Kathmandu and the mountains that surrounded the city before ending the day enjoying the culture and sites in Nepal.
All in all I found the entire weekend to be completely relaxing and the next time you feel ready for a long weekend, I warmly recommend you consider Kathmandu for a taste of somewhere a long, long way from Dubai.
Marcus