Blogs from Durbar Square, Kathmandu, Nepal, Asia - page 3

...well the journey continues. I've spent two extraordinary days here now and I still think this is a pretty special place. Yesterday started off with no plan, really... just wandered through the area I'm staying in and then down towards Durbar (Palace) Square, the main tourist area of Kathmandu. The square is full of buddhist and hindu temples, but quite honestly, I hadn't a clue what was going on and was sitting there looking a bit lost, when approached by a guide, who offered to give me a tour of the square. This is supposedly common here, and you're generally warned that it probably isn't the best way to spend your money, but having talked to the guy for ten minutes (more about trekking and Nepali politics than guided tours), I figured it would be worth ... read more

After the relative leisure of my first week in Kathmandu, Orientation Week was a non-stop week of activities, classes, and general adventuring. It began with a trip to Durbar Square, which is the center of Kathmandu, and separates the “Lower City” from the “Upper City.” Generations ago, the King of Nepal had arranged Kathmandu such that the lower and upper classes didn’t frequently interact, in order to minimize conflicts (apparently). Durbar Square is the millennia-old centerpoint around which the city was built, and after which the city was named. The oldest building, of which I can’t recall the exact age, is built out of the wood of a single tree, and is well over 1000 years old. Despite this, it is still heavily used, and the wood itself doesn’t seem to have suffered much weathering. Around ... read more

I failed to learn from previous experiences and after arriving at the Nepali border I decided to take the cheap option as usual and save the one pound that was the difference between the local bus and the 'deluxe' bus and so set off on my '7 hour' local bus journey. Unfortunately my '7 hour' journey ended up being a 35 hour marathon test of endurance! For 21 of these hours we were completely stationary in the middle of absolutely nowhere waiting for the road to be rebuilt as it had washed into a river! To make it worse it was torrential downpour outside and it was such a crappy bus that it rained nearly as much inside the bus as it did outside! The rain also meant that it just wasnt possible to get off ... read more

The flight to Kathmandu was full, mostly Nepalese returning home and volunteers that want to make a difference somewhere in the world. We saw the Himalayas from the plane. It was so impressive the mountains were higher than the clouds and covered with snow. We touched down shortly after 5pm. Kathmandu is situated in the Kathmandu Valley and I could see and feel the mountains around us. The traffic was crazy and frustrating…. everyone just driving everywhere and anywhere but we survived and arrived at the Crown Plaza Hotel. Half an hour later I met up with Cloe and we walked down the street and visited the shops. Later we took a taxi to the famous Thamel Street. Here you can buy clothes, shoes, bags, local arts and crafts and all your mountaineering equipment for your ... read more

After getting to know our fellow volunteers we went for sightseeing today with our guide Dinesh. One volunteer is here for 8 weeks, two volunteers for 4 weeks (us) and five volunteers for 6 weeks. The latter go for a Mount Everest basecamptrekking (up to 6000m). But anyway, the sightseeing took us to Swayambhunath Stupa or Monkey Temple in Kathmandu. You have to walk 365 steps to ge there and they are rather steep. Later we learned that each step represents a day in the year. Once you get there you find a small village on it's own and an astonishing view of Kathmandu. And not surprising also a lot of monkeys! Next to that street-dealers (shop owners) and sadly enough also many beggars. After we descended the steps our guide organised three taxis for us ... read more