After our trek, we returned to Kathmandu for the rest of our time in Nepal. We decided not to go to Chitwan National Park because we were still recovering from being sick, but we finally felt good enough to see a lot more of Kathmandu! We walked across Kathmandu to the Swoyambhunath Stupa and made the steep climb up to the top. It was a pretty neat place with great views of the city. Plus it was patrolled by a group of monkeys!
On the way back down, Priscilla got an ice cream and was immediately cornered by this monkey with no hands. We managed to escape.
Another afternoon, we visited Durbar Square (the one in Kathmandu). It was sobering to see all of the earthquake damage. Many buildings were rubble and most others were only held up by poles. This courtyard is where you can come to catch a glimpse of the living goddess (a girl chosen from Kathmandu who becomes mortal again when she hits puberty).
A few days later, we were finally able to meet up with our friend Christina. She’s been in Nepal for a while and introduced us to parts of Kathmandu and the surrounding cities we never would have known about otherwise!
We made a day trip to Bhaktapur to see the historic cultural city. In the middle of the city, we spotted this huge crooked chariot and some locals told Christina they’d be pulling it through the streets later in the day to celebrate one of the Hindu gods. So we decided to explore a bit more and stick around to see what it was all about. We’re really glad we did, because it was crazy experience! Lots of yelling while local men hauled the precarious chariot around. Parts of it fell off and it destroyed some power lines but everyone seemed cool with it, despite the riot police lined up and ready to jump in if necessary. 
The swirling green water, surrounded by cobra statues, kinda makes us think of Harry Potter…
We stopped by this little hole in the wall to get some of the famous King curd (Juhu Dhau) made from buffalo milk. Best yogurt we’ve ever had!
On the way home, there was a tree packed with these fuzzy birds nesting. Never seen birds like this before!
We still aren’t exactly sure what they are marching about, but there were a lot of them.
Christina recommended we visit Kirtipur to get lunch at this really cool restaurant. All three of us got their set plate, which turned out to be one of the spiciest things we’ve eaten! We also tried 3 different types of raksi (strong rice beer). All three of us preferred the normal ‘white’ stuff. One was kinda like rocket fuel and I’m pretty sure the brown one is the sludge left at the bottom of the fermenting bucket.
Our last day in Nepal, we went to the largest stupa in Asia at Boudhanath. We watched people praying in many different manners and walked around it clockwise with everyone else for a while.
We’re really glad we were able to meet up with Christina (unfortunately not in the village where she is working for Peace Corp) and to see a lot more of Kathmandu and the surrounding towns!
Highlights
- Bhaktapur and the chariot pulling
- Curd! Especially to cool down after some really spicy food and raksi
- Ornate wood carvings, balconies, windows, and doors incorporated into all the historic buildings. Hope they preserve some of it and don’t cover it all up with concrete!
I can’t stop looking at these photos — that chariot and the monkeys and the colors and the food and the people. Wow!
Such ornate wood carvings, King curd…..flat sheets of it? How interesting. Exploring with Christina….priceless !
Oh, those were some kind of pastry dough they were rolling out next to the pot of King Curd! 🙂 Yes!