Kathmandu - Bhaktapur
...the last few days...and sorry for the pic delays...
04.01.2009
17 °C
New Year's day we ventured to one of Nepal's most famous sights the Bodhnath Stupa. This is the most recognizable stupa in all of Nepal, so like everyone else we snapped lots of photos of it too. We should have known better by now but we were still surprised by the tourist overload -it is like Nepal Disney. Nonetheless it was impressive to visit such a special place.
That evening we walked to the most famous Hindu temple in Nepal the Pashupatinath Temple. Although we had already visited the well known Monkey temple this could have been named the same; there were monkeys EVERY WHERE! Of course as a city kid myself I could not get enough...unless they got too close of course. We wondered through here as the sun was beginning to set and found ourselves at the ghats of Kathmandu. 
Though we have seen documentaries of cremation in India and Nepal - witnessing it first hand is something very different. There is something both daunting and truly amazing watching someone go back to nature. The ceremonies around the death of a person are as complex as the individual themselves - so we will leave it to you to check wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyre
The next day we headed to Bhaktapur to freeze...I mean enjoy the beautiful old city center. I must get it out of the way that we could indeed see our breath in our room and due to the barking dogs ( 2 hours straight 3-5!) sleep was hard to come by. Having said that we walked around the whole of the city and really enjoyed it. It was much more quiet than Kathmandu and the only real hassle were the local children begging for a rupee and their photo to be taken. We walked through the old city center and around the local villages - stopping for a nice spicy snack in the late afternoon. Street vendors sell pretty much about everything but the man that was setting a spicy bean and rice crispy mix was my guy. Feeling quite adventurous I did give the local mix a go and it was Fab, I'm looking forward to having it again soon.
Today we are on a relax day - maybe a massage or find a warm sauna no way around it...no work for us 
Tomorrow we are going on a cycle trip and the day after a flight to see Everest!!!
Hope you all ease back into work ok and that you have enjoyed your holiday!
Posted by Hansnally 19:55 Archived in Nepal Tagged backpacking
great pictures! glad you two are having fun!!
05.01.2009 by kayers