Blogs from Bhaktapur, Nepal, Asia - page 3

Last Saturday we went with the whole family to Gyanendra’s sister in Panauti to enjoy a lazy Saturday-afternoon. We were sitting in the sun, playing cards, football,... We also had very tasty food before everybody went back home. Nowadays, we are busy in the wedding-preparations for Dharmendra (Gyanendra’s youngest brother) and Kanchana (starting from tomorrow). The invitation-cards are being distributed by all brothers. Different than in Belgium: just a few days before the wedding and all brought personally, not via post. Monday was also a very important day: we went to the house of Kanchana, with lots of gifts (mostly food / sweets), to ask permission for the wedding. But first we had samya baji (the traditional newari dish) at home, to bring us good luck. Zoe and the others sisters (in law) were dressed in ... read more

Back in Nepal. Finally, we could see eachother again... Gyanendra was already in Nepal since October 18th, Zoe arrived last Sunday (November 25th). Gyanendra came in the airport, together with almost the whole family, and gave Zoe a warm welcome. Zoe was the last one who arrived and made the family complete (after 5 years): from Australia, USA and Europe, all brothers travelled back home for the wedding of Dharmendra (the youngest brother) and the Bel Bibaha of Seelvia (the youngest kid in the family). For a few days, we were hanging around, preparing for the festivities,... For example: going to the jewellery-shop with the jewels Zoe used for the wedding 2 years ago, and changing them for more shiny and new jewels (that fit for the coming festivities). Nepal seems very chaotic, but nothing is ... read more

To go to Bhaktapur from Kathmandu, go to Ratna Park and take one of the buses there that goes directly to Bhaktapur. I walked there from Thamel and before I got to Ratna Park, I passed by a temple that had Buddha as one of the minor gods. Ganesha was another minor god amongst many others. I’ve never seen the Buddha as a minor god in a temple before! I got on the bus going to Bhaktapur but it was not full so we waited. An elderly Chinese couple came to the bus (I’ve seen them before at the Indian Embassy) and asked a Nepalese if this is the bus to Bhaktapur but he totally ignored them as did everyone else. They kept asking and everybody turned their heads away. I wondered why. Maybe they weren’t ... read more

Dipesh works as a guide for trekkers but because of a bad experience, he wanted to stop trekking. He was leading a group up a peak at Annapurna. A lone Swiss trekker came along with just a porter. He was going very fast and he asked if he can pass Dipesh and his group. Without thinking, Dipesh let him pass. As the Swiss guy was going pretty fast, he eventually went very far ahead of them. All of a sudden, an avalanche came and swallowed up the Swiss guy and his porter. Dipesh became too scared to continue and another very experienced trekker led them through the peak and down the other side. They radioed base camp and a rescue team came and found the bodies 4 hours later. Dipesh blamed himself for what happened because ... read more

I was told to go to Taumadhi Square at 5pm on Friday, April 10. I went because I had nothing else to do. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The square was packed to the rafters. I was in the middle of the square looking at this odd-looking chariot that was carrying a temple-like structure. The chariot was huge with enormous wooden wheels. Around 5pm, a procession came out of one of the temples in the square and they were carrying an idol which was then put into the temple on the chariot. About 30 people were on the chariot. I noticed that there were a lot of foreigners with big cameras either taking pictures or videotaping the event. (This must be on youtube somewhere.) Then, two teams, one on either side of ... read more