Bhaktapur, a dream in the Himalayas

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At first I had no idea what to expect. Actually, I didn't even know what was Bhaktapur two weeks ago. Than, we got on our flight to Kathmandu, and I had to ask myslef, what are we going to see in this land that I know so little about. Small notice, don't forget that we nearly never travel with a guide book... Bhaktapur became very fast an obvious choice. It is an old city 14km from Kathmandu. Most cars are not allowed in, and tourist have to pay 10USD just to enter the city. Somehow, I think cities like Venise should apply the same rule to limit the number of tourists and fund restorations.

There is only 14km between the two cities, but it can easily take up to an hour to get there. We decided to beat the crowd and entered Bhaktapur at 7am...this may give you an idea how early we are waking up once again! There is a slight disadvantage at entering the city so early...is that the Kathmandu Valley is laying into clouds every mornings...not great for the pictures till at least 9.30am. But on the other side, we were there before the tourist shops opened....this is a great advantage...before the "fake" tourist guides harrass you every two minutes...we had to face this on our way out...bye guys! And even better, before any other tourist enter the city. They have few guesthouses around, but most tourists make the daily trip from Kathmanadu...and a place without tourists...I'm sorry to say, is a lot better to enjoy on your own!

To summarize, the city is a labyrinth of small alleys, with four main squares spreaded around the city. The entry, and somehow center of the city also is Durbar Square, an amazing collection of old buildings.

The pictures will speak for themselves...there are children all over the place...and more important, smiles all over the place. You can see that tourists seem to be more an advantage here than a burden for the local population. It is also the harvesting season for the rice, and we had few great moments witnessing the different steps of rice processing...do not ask me how you call each of the steps in
english, I've got no idea.

I don't know how many kilometers we did, but we lost ourselves on purpose few times in little alleys full of local life...truly amazing place.

This is it for our little week in Nepal. We plan to come back, and if you haven't been here, plan your trip too. For us Nepal was even more special as Ma'ri and her family will have for ever an emotional link to the country. Things should have happened differently, but we decided to keep our plans and still come to witness the kind welcome of the Nepalese. Nepal is beautiful, but more than this it 's the Nepalese who have entered our hearts!

We are already in November, Christmas is showing at the door...a first "tropical" christmas for Ma'ri! We will spend a big pasrt of the week in Shanghai, and end of November will bring more surprises...the pool is opening soon...diving season is back!

With love from all of us in Asia!

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Comments

[BK Srinivas (Alabama USA)]

Lovely Photographs
What a historic city. Thanks for sharing your write up and the photos. No traffic of vehicles in the city, must be nice!

[Ma'ri]

Nepal...
Thank You! :) I Love You!!!

[victoria]

Hi Peter! I love your blogs. I always read them, because I like the sort of travels you make. Thanks for sharing. By the way,, I´m going with a friend (we are women of 50 years), in about ten days and I have read that the political situation is a bit confuse at the moment. What do you think about it? Thanks for your advice. Best regards and congrats again for your blog.

[Maisondubonheur]

Hi
They had fighting before. Foreigners have never been targeted, so I would not change my plans. If things happen, as they did before, the "action" is only in Kathmandu and they are making sure all foreigners are safe. Enjoy your trip.

[victoria]

thanks for the advice