Day 333 - Visiting a number of World Heritage Sites

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Today was a full packed sight seeing day…

Bouddhanath Stupa a the biggest stupa in Nepal, with many Buddhist pilgrims and old buildings surrounding this large monument. Not much is known about this stupa, like who really built the foundations and for what reason, but much admiration and respect is thought of the place.

Pashupatinath Temple is considered one of the four most important Shiva shrines in Asia. The largest temple complex in the Kathmandu Valley, it is so sacred that non-Hindus are not allowed to enter its courtyards. We spent most of the time here watching the very ceremonious cremations that are constantly happening along the banks of the Bagmati, which feeds the holy Ganges.

Bhaktapur Traveling about 12kms outside of Kathmandu city centre, we visited the town of Bhaktapur, which is an ancient city which has been preserved as though it is still in the Medieval times. There are a number of charmingly restored Durbar’s (squares) which are home for temples, palaces, monasteries and other monuments. Strolling around the winding streets in the afternoon sun was a very relaxing way to let our lunch go down.

Patan Back into the south of Kathmandu city we visited this more populated Patan Durbar where there are more stalls, tourist trinkets and thus more tourists than that of Bhaktapur. Even though these streets and squares are more detailed and are classed some of the most finest urban streetscapes in the world, we were tired and hot by this time, so we had a wander around, but soon found us in a café drinking a San Miguel!

Today was a great way to see some of the delights and sounds of Kathmandu city. It was especially excellent to view it from the 1950’s Toyota Crown classic car, which was totally inappropriate for the narrow streets but expertly driven by Ram, our driver.

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