Özge Bilgin Kesitler ve Günlük Yaşam: April 2014

My visit to Nepal was in October 2013. At the begining, we hesitate to go this country since it has a reputation for being dirty, dusty, crowded etc., which i think now is bullshit. Do not hesitate to go to this country. Go and see the smile, purity on the face of the people. We were also afraid not to find anything to eat that fits our accustomed taste but on the contrary, i loved the fresh and all organic food there. The local nepali cusine is great and so delicious. There are plenty of traditional restaurants in Kathmandhu and by the help of foursquare comments we were lucky to find a seat at Thamel House Nepali Restaurant on our last night. They have a set menu in which all major traditional nepali food is served. In our last day afternoon we went to thamel square for shopping (i bought outdoor salewa boots of great design to a cheaper price compared to Turkey) and ate at that restaurant.

Kathmandu Streets on a rainy day

One of the difficulty before our trip started was to consolidate on an itinerary. If you search on the internet there are lots of iteneraries which after a while becomes confusing. But, our constraint was time! We had only 8 days and i both wanted to see the historical cities and the rural mountainous areas. Me and my walking body, is not such sportive people although i have the courage of ignorance that i thought i can walk to the Everest base camp but as i said our limitation was the duration of 8 days. In 8 days, you can just walk up to base camp-namche bazaar and could not see anything else. So, i gave up. I will write my itinary systematically below but please note, none of the places i can say to you “no need to see there”. They are, i believe all “must see” spots for a first time nepali trip.

Kathmandhu Durbar Square

Kids were on the steps of the temples as if the balconies of the temples are their playground

Kite runners of Kathmandu Temples

A lonely boy at the top of the temple

Kathmandu Durbar Square View from our Hotel

Date	Hotel	Programme Details	Where we stayed	Hotel communication
Day-1	World Heritage Hotel	Kathmandu	Stay at Kathmandu	World Heritage Hotel and Apartment
Day-1	World Heritage Hotel	Kathmandu Durbar Square + Swayambhunath	Stay at Kathmandu	(DWARIKA CHHEN)
Day-2	World Heritage Hotel	Kathmandu	Stay at Kathmandu	Kathmandu Durbar Square
		Bouddanath Temple		Kathmandu-25, Nepal
				Tel : + 977 1 4261862
				Cell :+ 977 98510 66000
Day-3	Thagu Chenn	Patan+Bhaktapur	Stay at Bhaktapur	Thagu Chenn Boutique Hotel
		PATAN till afternoon (there are taxis every where in kathmandhu that can take you to Patan)		: +977 9851152541

		After PATAN, take a taxi to Bhaktapur (no problem in finding a taxi in these 3 cities)
Day-4	World Heritage Hotel	Bhaktapur to ChanguNarayan (we took a taxi for the climb, in return we walked back to Bhaktapur)	Stay at Kathmandu	World Heritage Hotel and Apartment
Day-5	....	Kathmandu to Sundarijal (by taxi)	Stay at Chispani	a house that our guide arranged, it is not posssible online booking in advance for chisapani
Day-5	....	Sundarijal to Chispani (whole day though walk! Approximately 22km)	Stay at Chispani
Day-6	Nagarkot Fort Resort	Chisapani to Nagarkot (whole day tough walk!	Stay at Nagarkot	Nagarkot Fort Resort
		Approximately 15km)		Lazimpat Kathmandu
				9771 6680069
Day-7	Dhulikhel Mountain Resort	Nagarkot To Dhulikhel	Stay at Dhulikhel	Dhulikhel Mountain Resort
		(whole day tough walk!		+977 1 4420774
		Approximately 15km)
Day-8	....	to Namobuddha and Panauti city	Stay at Kathmandu	World Heritage Hotel and Apartment
Day-9	Kathmandu	Mountain flight + Pashipunath + relaxing in gardens of dreams	Stay at Kathmandu	World Heritage Hotel and Apartment

1st day -Swayambhunath temple: It has a great atmospehere. I had great photos of monks there. Hearing the song “om mani padme hum” gives a different feeling that is mostly comforting. We prefer to arrive this temple by walking from Durbar Square (our hotel is also a traditional nepali house located just 5 min. walk to Durbar Square, Hanuman Statue, etc.) I loved the ambiance there! The houses, doors-windows-shutters are great piece of art all through Nepal. We could not go anywhere else on this day, because i was flight sick and i slept half of the day.

The classical view of Swayambhunath Temple

The monks inside Swayambhunath

The monks inside Swayambhunath Temple

The monk watching the visitors of the Stupa

Candle selling women in the Stupa

Exploring around the Swayambhunath Stupa

You can see many boy monks around the Stupa

Boys chasing after the monkeys which are so many in Swayambhunath Stupa

Monkeys are not welcome to their backyard :)

2nd day- Boudhanath Temple: When we entered inside, i was so charmed by the beauty of the place. It was a cloudy and rainy day, nevertheless we have walked over and over around the Stupa. We even encountered a monk in his bordeux religious clothes with rosary in his hand having cirle rounds around the Stupa. He was counting the rounds he completed. I guess he had to achieve a number of rounds as his worship. I entered a buddhist ceremony where photography was allowed J). That was a great experience! It was my luck i guess to come accross a buddhist ceremony. The chants, the insturments, praying tools of budism, all was a fabulous feast. And there were plenity of women prayers also with their buddhist praying tools. Ther even served me a candy, which had a bitter taste.

Bird eye view of this lovely Boudhanath Temple

Women prayers (Tibetian minority in Boudhanath Stupa)

Monks walking around the Stupa

Rainy Day in Boudhanath Stupa

Portraits inside the Boudhanath

Women prayer of Boudhanath Stupa (Tibetian minority)

Girl enjoying the rain @Boudhanath

The monk having his circle as his worship

3rd day- Half day PATAN+ Half day BHAKTAPUR: Patan is really a very nice city. The temples are magnificant. They are precious art. The temples, buildings , all of them are very valuable. I was suprised by the architectural esthetic of Nepal and eastern countries. I dont want to offend anybody but i concluded that the handmade art in Patan-Bhaktapur-Kathmanu and Penauti is so original and authentic that you can find pieces of this unique esthetic concept in western civilizatins, in other words western art/architecture may be improvising from this rich creativity existed in Nepal. In Patan we had our lunch in Swotha traditional homes which is on the list of travellers’ 1st choice. That was nice, but the coffee house inside is european furnished and for me there were nothing special, but the food was nice&traditional.

Bhaktapur: We take a taxi from Patan to Bhaktapur. A shabby car of a random guy can take you Bhaktapur, do not worry not to find a taxi, it is all available at the city entrance gates (They are also cheap). But don’t expect an official taxi. After seeing PATAN, i said i loved PATAN more than Kathmandhu. Then after we arrived in Bhaktapur, i said between 3 of these, i think the best is Bhaktapur. During our stay, it was Dashain Festival.( i think it was our luck to come to a festival but don’t worry i think there are plenty of festival_one in every month_that you can come across one) During the festival celebrations, people as a group were chanting with their drums, other instruments, flags, wandering at the streets carrying their god’s statues especially at nights ...

Every where (especially Bhaktapur) was ornamented with colorfull tiny triangular flags. After seeing the main temples, i (full of energy and eager to explore more than what is served) wanted to have long walk and get lost between the streets of Bhaktapur. Bhaktapur is relatively bigger that you can spend at least 4-5 hours in the streets of the city. No need to say, this city is great and maybe the most well preserved one. Again by the help of foursquare, we picked the one of the most famous restaurant in Bhaktapur that has a great view of the square (don’t miss to come to this square) for the dinner. It is the peacock restaurant. After dinner, we had some night photography while walking back to our hotel passing through the center. We wathced people praying, lighting candles at the verandah of the temples to thank to their many gods (during the festival, this is customary). No need to say, this time, watching the hindus was great experience (you know I had chance to observe Buddhist praying rituels in – Boudhanath Stupa). I can assure you that there is no religion or race that have the smile of the hindus on face. By the way, there is no competition or tention between hindus and buddhists. They even pray for each other gods. Visit each other temples with the same respect and dignity. Believers of these two religion is so humanist that that live side by side with no problem. We stayed the night at Bhaktapur.

The festival flags all around

People wandering the streets and singing to celebrate their Dashain Festival no matter the rain

Whole day raining in Bhaktapur

Hindu Temple in Bhaktapur

When it get darks, Hindu prayers light candles and put some food for their gods

Bhaktapur wooden work of a temple

4th Day- Bhaktapur& Changu Narayan: Changu Narayan is definetely a “must see “ temple. It would be a total “miss “ not to visit it. The road from Bhaktapur to Changu Narayan has great scenary. In the morning, we took a taxi to Changu Narayan temple. Since it is a climbing path passing through rice fields, we prefer walking down the hills and shooting the scenary on the return from the temple to Bhaktapur. Temple is located at elevation of 1400m and you can have a view of Kathmandu valley from above. I again didn’t content just to see the temple and its garden but also went behind the temple, took the ladders down to the village nearby. Dried corns string to a rope, hanging on the windows was the common façade of the village houses.

Wooden art works of Bhaktapur

Women were so joyfull at the Temple

Back side view from Changu Narayan

Kids enjoying the view at Changu Narayan

The walking path from Changu Narayan to Bhaktapur is highly recommended (also it is a good warming practice if you will start a 3 day trekking to Annapurna on the next dayJ ) But as I said, to save time we didn’t climb there, in return we get back to Bakhtapur on foot, enabling me to shoot the great scenary.

On our way from Changu Narayan to Bhaktapur

We passed through many rice fields

It is time to pick the rice leaves from the mother earth

Late afternoon when we arrived to Bhaktapur, we would like to try one of the most famous coffee house of Bhaktapur, which is on the top of the temple and having great complete view of the major square of Bhaktapur, Marco Polo. In Nepal, the milk is real milk, so if you are not used to drink pure milk (unpastorised i think) it would be diffucult to have it with your musli at the breakfast. But, the coffee in here with milk was so good and take away the tiredness of all day walking. At the evening, we turned back to our hotel Dwarika’s Chen (house of a newari men, who is very well care taking of its guest) in Kathmandu and start packing for the tough 3 days trekking. I was so exited about seeing the Annapurna range!! As of that day, due to the clouds and heavy rainy weather we couldn’t see the Annapurna which they say, if it is the right time you can see the mountains even from Swayamboudnath in Kathmandu. That’s the sad side of our trip that although october is the best season to see the mountains, the clouds did not release them to accompany us during our trekking. And, our mountain flight had been cancelled 3 times!!! Since there were no clear vision. But on the last day, we had the one hour flight over the mountains finally.:)

5th Day- Trekking from Sundarijal to Chisipani:

An unforgettable day in Nepal... I was unaware of what i will face during this day. All i know was that it would be a tough walking, actually climbing from 1500m to 2500m only in 8 hours! We again took a taxi from the hotel at Kathmandu to Sundarijal, and we arranged a Nepali guide (this is must, at the entrance of the national park, they check your documents and ask for a guide) by the help of our hotel’s owner. (as i said, the owner of our hotel helped in every aspect of our holiday). Sundarijal is the starting /entrance point of the trek and the national park. The officer of the natioanl park was suprised that we were the first Türkish entering this route. Yes, i know i am a real explorer and adventure lover. And i am not a typical Turkish, having sun bath all the day at the beach with my water melon beside me. Anyway, we got off the taxi at Sundarijal and the area was full with the other tourist crowds. Since i have a 20kg photography bag, and our back-up clothes/rain suits etc. , we decided that we should definetely get a porter, in Nepali called SHERPA. He was a short&strong local guy. Most of the time, he was climbing in front of us so easily with that heavy bags on him. Then, he stopped and waited for us to reach him. It was impossible to reach him unless he stopped J Compared to him, we were slower and frquently stopping, resting etc. He was ok all the time. He really had the practice. And for sure, he was eating very well, much more than us J. We were leaving the rice fields down below us, as we were climbing. The scenary is fascinating! The small village after 1 hour walk from our starting point at Sundarijal, is again very picturesque. (i haven’t been yet but it resembles the North Black sea region of Turkey). During the whole day, we climbed up&up. I was fascinated by every step and frequently stop for a photo of this wonderful view (and also to have a little rest of course). On the first day climbing, i was better than my husband, i was a head of him most of the time, but the 2nd day trekking was very hard for me, that i usually had to stop our sherpa&guide& husband. And on the half day, we stopped at a tea house for lunch where you can have Dal bhat! . They give you a big plate with full with rice, spinach kind of greeny food, potato, all pan fried with delious spices, which is called Dal Bhat. It was delious because the owner of the tea house got the potato and spinach from his backyard. He picked them from his nearby garden just after we arrived. So fresh, so delicious… Although, i am a weight watching freak, i didnt care about eating that much carbohydrates. That was the best potato with correct spices i had ever had.

Ma husband, we are just starting to a whole day climbing trek

The first village we arrived after Sundarijal

Our funny and relaxed Sherpa:)

As we climb to 2500m there had been a little fog which gave a misterous effect to the surrounding. Although i felt really exhausted, i pushed our team to catch the sunset over the Annapurna. I shouldn’t miss it. For a while, i was anxious that we were gonna miss the sunset but finally we achieved to arrive to Chisipani at 2215. The time that i see the litte peak of a single mount belonging to annapurna range, that was a great moment, a great experience that no word can describe. I think, real mountaineers can only share my feelings at the moment of this encounter of the Annapurna mount. God damn to the clouds, only a part of the mountain was visible with an orange sun light on it. It was so glorious. I wait for around an hour for the clouds to be draggered so that the Annapurna range becomes visible all in front of me but it didnt happen. What a pity... They said Chisipani is the nearest and the highest point where you can see the Annapurna range, even Everest if the weather mercy! Unfortunately we were not that lucky, but i am also satisfied what was visible to me. To see the mountains, our only chance was the mountain flight but to be honest, it does not give the same feeling. Seeing the top of the snowy mountain from below ground is something different and uncomparable to see it from above by plane. Chisipani was the highest point of our trek, and after sunset it got foggy and really cold.

We rarely come across local people sharing the paths with us

The breath taking view when we arrived Chisipani

Glorious Chisipani

At night, we were so tired but no matter, my husband had his Everest beer with our talkative guide. While i was chatting with the other European tourist about istanbulJ, our guide and my husband arranged for the flat that we were gonne have the night. There is no way that you can reserve your place online for Chisapani stay. The time you arrive there, you get you flat. It was again crowded with tourist goups but we didn’t have difficulty to find a room, althoug there were a few ugly concrete buildings there. The room that we stayed was terrible, the bedding was dirty and the room all smelled sweat from the previous visitors. Since it was cold at night, we could not open the windows. Without having a shower and changing our clothes, we hugged each other and stuck to only one bed putting our towels underneath us and tried to sleepJ That was again an unforgettable memory of the Nepal tour. It was only for one night, and despite the room conditions the beauty of the nature made me not to care about such city girl obsessions. The food that you can have here was potatos with scrambled eggs of course also with spices, noodles, creps... all delisious... After i turned back to Turkey, i kept on cooking noodles for a while. As a contribution of our Nepal visit, I realised that i really liked noodles.

I also saw a lonely women tourist, who dared to take the route whole by her self and her Sherpa. I really appreciate her that she did not wait for a company to have this great experience. So, i can say it seems totally safe to travel alone as a women in Nepal.

6th Day- Chisipani@2215m to Nagarkot@2195 : We start early for our 2nd day trip. The route from Chisipani to Nagarkot has up and downs, so at the night where you arrive nagarkot your elevation does not change too much. I found this 2nd day really hard, it was longer than the day before. Nevertheless, we had to arrive Nagarkot and should have not miss the sunset. Nagarkot is famous for its sunset and sunrises. Although i stopped my team frequently for a rest, when i realised that we could not catch the sunset, i didnt care about the tiredeness of my legs and also the rain (yes it heavily rained on this day but just for an hour) and speed up. Don’t do the same and make your team nervous, just have a relaxed trip and do not loose too much unnecessary time before afternoon. Because, this route is really long (at least i felt like that). I was nervous of tiredness and angry to my husband that he didn’t care about catching the sunset and speeding up with me. He followed me back after and i had my sunset with the guide. Since then, i started hating the guide. I thought he should warn us about the length of the route. But he couldn’t. Later on, he confessed that the he did not take this route before. He had experience about Annapurna trekking routes. He even did not know the correct way, that where we hesitated about the path we should take, we waited and followed the other tourist groups to show us the way. We should understand that before, since he was stopping for taking photos, which makes obvious that it is his first time. Anyway, i could not have the sunset with my husband just because of that idiot guide. After having a bad mood that afternoon, i was happy about my photos and a lonely sunset in Nagarkot. Nagarkot is really very green. Just make sure to be on time on a terrace for the sunset with your lover of course!

Our hotel at Nagarkot was the most luxurious and antique hotel of the region and we were so happy to be able to have shower and a comfortable sleep at our king size bedJ The food at the hotel was also good. I slept that night for a early wake up to capture also the sunrise in the morning, so it became another early mornings of me for the love of photography.

Nagarkot seemed on the horizon, hurry up guys i need to catch the sunset

Finally we got to Nagarkot

A lady of Nagarkot watching the sunset

7th Day- Nagarkot@2195 to Dhulikhel@1550m:

With the thought of getting a real good sunrise photograph of Nagarkot, i woke about 5am in the cold morning without anybody around. Even the terrace was not yet opened and i could not find a hotel staff to open the cover above the ladders climbing to the terrace so i handled it by myself. I set the tripod on the terrace and waited for hours, but again bad luck the clouds were so intense that you cant see anything else but the fog. Although i was dissapointed with the foggy sunrise, i felt lucky about the yesterdays’ sunset despite the minor obstacles we had.

After i was convinced that i could not get a good sunrise photography, i quit for a delicious breakfest of creppes J. This day became a sunny and hot day. After rainy, cloudy days, finally it was hot and shiny. Today, we were heading downwards, which made me sad to descend after being ascending for 2 days.:)) Since, i had a good breakfast and having no faith in our guide, this time i didn’t stop frequently, to arrive Dhulikhel on time. The sceneary was great. The rice fields, the villages (both the people and the houses we passed through), the nature is so beautiful. Fascinating! I still remember the huge tree, that i could not help posing in front. At luch time, we stopped at a tea house and i didnt want to move anywhere else but stay there. It had an amazing view... wonderful... One of the best parts of our trek. I strongly advice to take this route (from Nagarkot to Dhulikhel) I had to confess that, getting closer to the noon time, with the tiredness you stop talking and joking and get obssessed to arrive to the hotel. Someone should write the rules and ethics of trekking, i suggest. It is just a matter of time that you get mad about your guide, if you get lost just becouse his misleading and had to walk one hour more. That happened to us, but again we were lucky to arrive hotel and its beatiful garden lobby having again the Annapurna view, before sunset. If you are trekking in Nepal, the critical issue is to get to your point having enough time in advance for you to enjoy the sunset. Chisapani, Nagarkot and Dhulikhel are all famous for Annapurna view. But because of the cyclons,wheather movements etc., the mountains are visible before the sunrise and at the time of sunset. So, arrange yourself accordingly.

Rice terraces, the path from Nagarkot to Dhulikhel

The comman way for the kids to swing, brillant!

The rice terraces - should be somewhere between Nagarkot& Dhulikhel

On the way from Nagarkot to Dhulikhel

A house on our way from Nagarkot to Dhulikhel

The breath taking views between Nagarkot & Dhulikhel

At this point, there remained 2 hours to arrive to Dhulikhel

Kids picking potato, helping their parents

We are trilled by the view

While waiting for Dal Bhat to cook, we had a selfie on the road to Dhulikhel :)

This little girl is already parenting her niece

She is so clever but too shy. Beside parenting her niece, she also attends to school

I also want to write a little bit about our hotel in Dhulikhel. It has a great location and lovely garden with nice iron tables&chairs, it had a romantic &lovely decoration. The garden may be very relaxing for a day to read and only watch the annapurna view. I got my small piece of the view with a peak of only one mount.

For Dhulikhel visitors, i stongly suggest our hotel (dont expect new brand washing tabs inside the room, the garden by itself is worth to be there). At night time, we tried local cuisine but it was not that good as Dal BhatJ we had on the peaks of mountains. Although Dhulikhel is the farthest and lowest point that you can see the Annapurna range, you should take the trekking from Nagarkot to this city for great scenary& nature.

Again our sherpa... Check out the load on him we put:( he had no difficulty to carry and walk. Actualy his performance was better than ours...

8th Day- Namo Budha& Panauti:

Our initial plan was to walk from Dhulikhel to Namo Buddha but we gave up. We were totally finished after 3 days walking. Instead, we took a taxi to go to Namo Budha. And, we could stop the driver if we wanted, saw something interesting etc. on the road. That’a really long way to walk and really no need. It is better to go there by taxi and have your time inside the monastry. It is an isolated monastry far away from the residential areas. It was my fisrt time to see a buddhist monastry and i was impressed by the atmosphere there. The buddhist architecture, the monks, kid monks were so different and new to me. Don’t miss to visit Namo Budha! I had joined the budhist ceremony previously in Boudhanath stupa, but the ceremony in here was different. More glorious! Photography inside was not allowed. ( i am sorry i couldn’t keep recording the below video)

It seemed that since this is a monastry where the monks live, the ceremony in here were more strict& seemed really serious. (Although i caught a boy kid monk playing with his cell phone under his table, instead of reading the mantra in front) The lead teacher were keeping record of the boys joining the pray. The absent boys would work harder to reach to the nirvana, I guess. The drums, the pipes, the chants song all together was a great holly atmosphere and a great experience. Let me share what i got from the pray.

This lady is dealing with the dried corn at her verandah, The villagers on the way to Namo Budha

The boy monks enjoying their free time

The ceremony lasts for the whole day, one part of monks leave their places to the new comers. I understand that it is not obligatory to join them all at the same time. After leaving the saloon, i tried to photograph the boy kido monks. I feel that they are not so interactted with girls, while i tired to photograph them on the terrace suddenly i was chased by their dog, which i could only escape only by closing the door behind me. I did not know, what would happen if that door was not there... The boys liked this and all of them got a laugh at me. I was so scared and a little bit ashamed but for getting a phtogoraphy, it was not my first time being chased by a dog L.

Generally i can say that, monks are shy to pose to cameras. So, you keep your distance from them to get their photos.

Keep in mind to stop at the lovely village just before you arrive to Namo Budha.

Till from morning to late afternoon, we stayed at Namo Budha which enjoyed very much then head to Penauti, another historical city close to Kathmandu.

Panauti is very small, very lovely city. The people in here seem poorer than Bhaktapur but nevertheless i loved this small historical city. I am happy that, i also included this small city to our itenary. From Namo Budha to Panauti, do not even try to walk and loose time. There is not much to stop on the road. We got to Panauti by the taxi that took us to Namo Budha. (we arrange a whole day taxi from the Hotel in Dhulikhell by the help of our idiot guide, this may be only point we helped us)

The pray flags of Budhisim

A lovely girl at the Namo Budha visiting Siddhartha

Namo Budha monuments

At the entrance of Panauti, there were a rice field, that a group of people were gathering& grinding the rice leaves. I watched this lovely team work of rice production process. The ladies with their traditional rice-head packs seemed suffering due to the weight. They were so skinny but powerfull and adapted to carry the bush, rice leaves with these authentic bags. I got happily crazy to have the chance to photograph them in charge!

Rice farming

The women seems tired under that bag of rice

Panauti Main Square

Kids of Panauti

I love this photo...

After having the experience of rice agriculture, we had a short walk inside this cute city. The temples and houses were similiar to Bhaktapur just being the miniature version of it. After having satisfaction of what we have seen during our Kathmandu valley trekking, we turned back to Kathmandu late at night.

9th Day- Mountain Flight – Pashupatinath – Gardens of Dreams: After 3 times cancellation, we finally got our mountain flight. As i said before, it was nice but may not be necessary if you saw the ranges in Chisapani or Nagarkot. Anyhow, we seen the holy EverestJ behind a dirty plane window. I wish i was rich as to get that 5000 euros helicopter tours, having lunch on a mountain terrace with everest view at elevations 6000ms. Yes for sure, for Rockefeller families, that are such options. J

Photos of Everest from our Flight

One Mountain flight with Buddha airlines

Since the Pashupatinath temple and the airport is very close to each other, after the mountain flight we visited the Pashupatinath. I was with the family having thier dead fathers body burning ceremony. That temple is crowded and hot since all abutments are on fire!. The congested view of this area is very picturesque. If you are again an obsessed European finding dead bodies irritating, and blind to see the pure faith of people to their traditions, have your time in Gardens of Dreams.

Pashupatinath Temple

Pashupatinath Temple& its mysterious ambiance

The burial ceremony i involved

Yes, after i participated in a dead burning ceremony from the begining to the end, we moved to Gardens of Dreams since we had half day in Kathmandu. The garden is nice, you can relax and have your breakfast. There were so many tourist laying on the grass, relaxing, it is like a university campus with an esthetic landscape. Inside there, you cant’ hear the horns and isolate from the surrounding. As usual for a last day, we did shopping in Thamel square. The stuff that can be bought is of course nice textured table clothes_collecting different and traditional table cloths is my special interest, Salewa boots for lovely colors, hand made Budha sculpture, hand made Ganish sculpture ornamented with coral and turquaise natural stone pieces (i find Ganish very sympathic among a thousand of gods, oh my god is was difficult to get the stories of the hindu gods, althoug i studied some hinduisim mythology books before), and i got my karete pants of lovely textures which we can also describe as hippy style pants and excited to wear them this summer most of the time.:)

This is my story of Nepal... To conclude, just go and have 10 days at least in this country. You won’t regret it. Pull up to go trekking! It is also guarantee that after eating mommos all the night and potatoes at lunch, you will be still loosing pounds in returnJ.

“om mani padme hum” was my favorite song of the Nepali days. There is one more newari song which sticks to your mouth during long day walks “resham firiri” J).........

Ps: Due to the Dashain festival, we also encountered a goat sacrificing ceremony of hinduism. The ceremony started early in the morning and we watched the details from our hotel terrace @ KTM. The ceremony took place in the military office garden. There was a band playing live music, one guy brought the goat to the arena, and when suddenly music stopped and they shoot the gun, then at one movement the guy strike the sword on the neck of the animal. It is gone. The head is seperated from the body at one sword strike. Then the body of the animal is held from its legs and sweept around the head 2 times to spill the blood. Then music starts again, and the next animal comes for the same. I didn’t count but at least they sacrificed 100 goats that day. I must say that it is a wild rituel.

Check also my mixed iphone photos: