So to Kathmandu. A five hour drive from Chitwan through some of the prettiest country we have seen so far and we found ourselves topping the rise that brought us into the Kathmandu valley. I have in the past spent the grand total of 5 days here ever and yet, perhaps because it is the first place since Turkey that is in any way familiar, coming back here felt like coming home. There is definitely something about this place that gets into your blood.
Because I have been here before and seen many of the sites, I also felt this time that I didn't have to be quite so productive in terms of doing the tourist thing. I have instead allowed myself to revel in the Thamel cafe culture and spent more time doing just the few sites that I wanted to revisit. These included an evening at the Bodnath stupa where we took up residence in one of the roof-top cafes that overlook this incredible edifice and an afternoon spent people (and monkey) watching at the Monkey Temple.
Perhaps the best thing I have done on this visit is to make the long climb up to the Sita Piala monastery. It would seem, judging from the looks of surprise I encountered along the way, that this is not something that many tourists do. This is at the same time both quite refreshing and a little odd. Refreshing because it is nice to be off the beaten track a little - something that is quite hard to achieve in the Kathmandu valley - and odd because it is such an obvious and rewarding place to visit.
The monastery, which is home to some 110 Tibetan monks, sits high on a hill towards the western end of the valley. From here you look down on the monkey temple - the usual place from which to get panoramic views of the valley - which looks spectacular from this vantage point set as it is with the whole of the Kathmandu valley as a backdrop. I spent an interesting hour here appreciating the view and chatting to one of the monks about their way of life high on this hill-top before once again making the long decent to the valley floor.
Tomorrow we leave, en-route to Tibet via the 'last resort', home to the third-highest bungy jump in the world. Will I or won't I? I can't decide.
Because I have been here before and seen many of the sites, I also felt this time that I didn't have to be quite so productive in terms of doing the tourist thing. I have instead allowed myself to revel in the Thamel cafe culture and spent more time doing just the few sites that I wanted to revisit. These included an evening at the Bodnath stupa where we took up residence in one of the roof-top cafes that overlook this incredible edifice and an afternoon spent people (and monkey) watching at the Monkey Temple.
Perhaps the best thing I have done on this visit is to make the long climb up to the Sita Piala monastery. It would seem, judging from the looks of surprise I encountered along the way, that this is not something that many tourists do. This is at the same time both quite refreshing and a little odd. Refreshing because it is nice to be off the beaten track a little - something that is quite hard to achieve in the Kathmandu valley - and odd because it is such an obvious and rewarding place to visit.
The monastery, which is home to some 110 Tibetan monks, sits high on a hill towards the western end of the valley. From here you look down on the monkey temple - the usual place from which to get panoramic views of the valley - which looks spectacular from this vantage point set as it is with the whole of the Kathmandu valley as a backdrop. I spent an interesting hour here appreciating the view and chatting to one of the monks about their way of life high on this hill-top before once again making the long decent to the valley floor.
Tomorrow we leave, en-route to Tibet via the 'last resort', home to the third-highest bungy jump in the world. Will I or won't I? I can't decide.
posted by Al at 1:28 am
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