The lovely city of Kathmandu

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Kathmandu was our gate to Nepal and to the Children's home in Talamarang. We were picked up at the airport by Bikash who takes care of the Children's home together with Neel and we were taken to their shops in Thamel. And we were offered to stay at Neel's house for the next few days before going to Talamarang. It was absolutely lovely of him. We got to meet his family, were offered breakfasts and dinners every day and it was perfectly close to the touristic centre of Thamel, to Monkey temple and to the famous Durbar square. Perfect with the exception of one day when we ended being locked in the house by accident and couldn't leave for a few hours for our planned trip 😊

Being in India for some time, Kathmandu feels like improved India, India 2.0. More clean and less noisy, less staring people, less dogs and cows in the streets. Saying that it's obviously crazy town as well, with mad traffic, constant beep beep, some stray dogs. And it doesn't really feel like a capital. There is not a single good road, most of them feel like countryside off-roads with mud and huge holes. You can find fields with vegetables almost in the middle of the town and meet people taking their goats for a walk. And there is massive gap between the rich and the poor. Owner of the shops and restaurants in Thamel belong to the rich ones. On the other side of the scale, you see lots of dirty hungry people wondering around the Durbar square, small children trying to sell stuff or at least to beg for food.

The only reason for us coming to Nepal was to volunteer in the Children's home and so we didn't really have any plans what to do in Kathmandu and no idea what tourist sites are there to visit. The more we were positively surprised and we instantly fell in love with this city. For me, it was like a perfect mixture between Varanasi and Barcelona. It has this special atmosphere which makes you feel welcome and in good mood all the time (like Barcelona) and it has these street where you can wonder for hours and you can discover small and big temples and altars and it gives the whole town another dimension, a spiritual touch (exactly like Varanasi). Plus it has the touristic area of Thamel which was perfect for us when we came back from the wilderness of Talamarang and wanted to enjoy the convenience of the 21. century like hot water and TV and not-rice based food.

As I said the best thing to do in Kathmandu is just to wonder around which is what we did most of the time. It is a perfect place for Buddha statues shopping which we didn't do as much as I would have loved to (if we had more money). And there is a few places which are unmissable when in Kathmandu. Firstly the Durbar square. A huge square where you can sit for hours and watch people. Workers carrying crazy loads strapped to their heads. Poor people trying to sell things. Families coming here for a walk and to enjoy the day. Children beggars playing games when are not busy asking tourists for money and food. Ordinary Nepalise people coming here to do the same, to enjoy the day or maybe to meet other friends and play a game of chess with them. You can sip your Nepalise chai for 5 ruppees and get some delicious local stall food for not much more than the chai. Sitting there feels like the best way to get to know the people and the culture. So you sit and you don't want to leave. And while enjoying the very present moment, you still feel the long history of this place.

Then you simply have to visit Swayambhunath, the Monkey temple. One of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites. A legend says that The Buddha himself was here. We were extremely lucky and got to visit Swayambhunath on the day of Buddha's birthday. Although there is an entry fee for foreigners, we didn't have to pay anything as we had our volunteering cards prooving we were in Nepal under the name of well-recognized charity. I was expecting that Buddha's birthday would be celebrated by some special sacred ceremony being helds by Buddhist monks. And I couldn't have been more wrong. It was more like a fun fair back home with lots of people selling stuff, from tiny candles and prayer beads to cheesy colourfull balloons for kids and the whole temple was super over-crowded with families coming here to celebrate. And it was perfect example of how local people can enjoy every moment as you could see huge smile of everyone's face. The moment you reach the temple after climbing 365 very steep stairs, a breathtaking view opens in front of you, you can see the whole Kathmandu city stretching over the valley in between high mountains. The central part of the temple is stupa with Buddha eyes on the top and prayer wheels all around containing the famous and powerfull mantra Om mani padme hum. And the whole place is just special. The temple hill is surrounded by a forest which is home for monkeys. Holy monkeys as the legend says. Not sure if that is true, but what is for sure, that they are not timid at all and they run around very close to people and you can see lots of cute little baby monkeys.

While visiting the Buddhist sites, the Boudhanath is another must see. It is one of the holiest and biggest stupas and we joined all the other people and monks and circumambulated the stupa 3 times in a clock wise direction. While walking around, you can spin prayer wheels to free the Oh mani padme hum mantra so it can blend with the mantra being recited by the people walking around the stupa and you can feel the spirituality of the place by every single cell of your body. We sat down in one of the roof-top restaurants surrounding the stupa and watched people medititating and saying the prayers while you can see the majestic snow covered mountain tops of Himalayas in the distance.

So we absolutely loved Kathmandu. Munching on momos, watching local people, feeling the Buddhist spirituality and enjoying the luxury of a nice guesthouse. And we will definitely be back, to see more of Kathmandu and more of the rest of Nepal which we couldn't this time.

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