Aluminium Buddhas in Tansen

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We decided to visit Tansen en route to the border - our visa were running out - and finally the birthplace of Buddha, Lumbini, which is very close to the Indian border. There seemed to be know direct tourist bus to Tansen and we weren't prepared to catch another local bus after our terrible trip from Bandipur. It wasn't particularly far, only 140 klms , but it took over 4 hours (with a puncture stop).
Tansen was described as a romantic medieval hill town with many old Newari houses and cobbled streets. It was quite different - there were cobbled streets, a small square but not a lot of old architecture. It was mostly cement block houses. It also lacked hotels - we had a lot of trouble finding a bed. Some hotels wouldn't take us - they have extra paper work to fill out for foreign tourists and if they don't stay regularly it's not worth the hotel's trouble. All the paperwork has to be taken to the police station each day. Another guest house was filthy but eventually we found a room at the back of an old hotel in a new extension. It was a great room, with balcony that overlooked the valley - part of the hotel building was a new bank so we had our own security guard! It was deserted when we first arrived (we stayed 4 nights) but was very busy by the time we left. A British charity was raising money for women and children in Nepal and India via staging an auto rickshaw race from Goa to Pokhara and Tansen was one of their overnight stops. There were 60 of them, all very gaily decorated and just managing to climb the many hills. We didn't tell them that they probably had the worst to come! They certainly livened the town up.
The traditional dress for Nepalese men comprises of a tunic, tight legging style trousers, either a waistcoat or suit jacket (trimmed with a patterned fabric) and a woven round cat which perches on the top of their heads. These caps are many colours (mainly pastel shades) and the material they are made from is woven in Tansen. These factories also produce a fabric for the women's shawls which has a zig zag pattern (representing the mountains) on it. There were many tiny shops selling the caps, shawls and fabric by the meter. We spent a fascinating hour watching the women weave the fabric using heavy cumbersome wooden looms. The centre of the town had many small weaving co-ops.
People were very friendly - I don't think the town got a lot of western tourists there - and we had fun wandering the streets and talking to the children. In the main square was a odd octagonal pavilion which looked recent but was very old as it used for public functions in the 18th century. In one corner of the square was a tiny temple in the Newari style (a mini version of the temples we saw in Bhaktapur). Both the temple and pavilion made ideal stands for vegetable sellers. You could pray at the tiny temple and buy your potatoes and beans on the way out the door.
On one side of the square was a large gate which lead into the palace complex. The gate was made for elephants - the transport of choice for the governor in 1927 - when he left the palace area. In 2006 the palace was totally destroyed in a Maoist attack and is currently being rebuilt. One morning when we headed into the square to have breakfast in the only large cafe in town we were turned back by a large police and military presence. The ex leader of the Maoists was in town checking on the rebuilding of the palace - I'm not sure whether the police were guarding him or the local population! The Maoists have been causing a lot of tension again in India and Nepal and recently blew up some trains in India, caused many riots in small villages near the border and beheaded an Indian policeman. We figured we could find somewhere else to have breakfast!
Later that day we wandered around the edge of the town, through very poor semi rural areas. Mud and tin houses with pigs and goats in the back gardens. The town was full of goats as the local men were buying them to sacrifice for Dasian. They were tied up outside most homes, all wearing little sacred cords around their necks. We also visited the goat market which was at the sports field on the edge of town. Whilst wandering we came across a crowd of people watching a man and his wife (who was suckling a baby the whole time) melt down aluminum saucepans and then pouring the metal into sand molds to make an assortment of religious statues. The lady was responsible for melting, both her and her baby were very close to the coals - it was very hot! All the local ladies were bringing their old pots and pans for sale. Jerry bought a Buddha after we watched the man make it. All for under $1...
Supposedly you can get good Himalayan views from Tansen but we didn't see any! We did however get daily views of 'The White Lake' which formed when the clouds settled into the valleys and Tansen stood on the edge of it. Tansen is surrounded by valleys, all terraced with rice fields and dotted with tiny villages. The largest valley floor was wide and all one big lime green patch of rice paddies so when we couldn't see the white lake it appeared that their was a green one instead. We explored the villages dotted along the ridges which spread out from the town. Very interesting day as we had a lot of conversations with the local people, many who walked along with us. Their houses were made of mud brick and wood - some were very brightly painted. We were told that as part of the Dasian festival people get new clothes and houses get new paint! As Dasian was the most important holiday of the year
most family members who live elsewhere come home to celebrate with their families. We were seeing many groups of people wearing bright new clothes heading along the paths and roads. The bus stand was at the bottom of the hill and all the bus roof racks had as many passengers sitting on them as luggage.
We enjoyed our few days in Tansen much more then we expected to after the lack lustre start. The friendliness of the people had a lot to do with it, the views of the valley from our balcony were great, but the town itself was pretty ordinary. As well as goats everywhere there were a lot of dogs which made a tremendous noise during the night. Unfortunately packs of street dogs seem to part of every town in Nepal and India but fore some reason they seemed noisier in Tansen. And of course there were the daily prolonged power cuts......

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Photos

Metal workers at the side of the road
This man made Jerry a Buddha from a melted saucepan!

Loom for making traditional Nepalese fabric
This fabric is made into the caps that the men wear.