March 27th: Nepal while Alison is in Goa

Yesterday Alison flew back to Goa’s beaches while I started another 2 week Intrepid tour in Nepal. This tour will combine Nepalese culture, religion, and village visits with rafting, trekking, and road travel by various transports.
The first day was a tour of Kathmandu including Swayambhunath (the monkey temple); Durbar Square with the palace and many temples; Boudhanath stupa (the largest in Nepal); and finishing at the burning ghat.

The way to and up the 365+ steps to the monkey temple are lined with flower vendors, candle sellers, monkeys, Buddha statues, small stupas, and end at the temple with a great view of Kathmandu.
 
 
 
The palace in Durbar Square is where the living Goddess, the present Kumari Devi, lives.
She is chosen at age 5 or 6 and reigns until puberty makes her impure, at which time the next Goddess is chosen.
Various pagoda looking temples, shrines to gods, and personal or family stupas line the square while vendors

try to sell whatever they can from jewelry to ducklings.

Common sights are babies and young children with kohl lines around their eyes to scare off the evil eye from possessing them.

The Boudhanath stupa is HUGH, especially when viewed from a roof top café.

The eyes of Buddha follow you everywhere and there are prayer wheels of all size, from as tall as a person to coffee can size.

The burning ghat was relatively quiet when we visited and the row of Shiva lingas appeared to go on eternally.

Many other interesting sights were happening around us as we walked through Katmandu’s streets. The daily chores of getting drinking water, moving produce via bike, making banana leaf bowls (very eco friendly containers!), repairing the street, and sharpening knives by the mobile street vendor.

Three of us ended the evening by going to a Nepalese bar with live music and dancing.
 
The singing was lead/response style about broken hearts and loosing lovers when translated by our tour leader. The music was a combination of country and disco with a Nepalese flair.