17/4/22
So I had heard that today was going to be a fun festival in Bhaktapur so I got a Pathao motorbike taxi about an hour out of Kathmandu. There was a little congestion since the narrow streets were filled with musicians parading through the streets towards the old square. We squeezed past them eventually and arrived at the entrance to the square. I paid the entrance and a guide was quick to offer his services. While I’m not normally keen on guides, the site was massive and I thought a guide may be useful. I told him I would do it, but needed to get a cold drink first. It’s just as well I did – he told me the tour would be two hours but it went over that and only ended because I asked him to, since I was so hungry!! I went to a glorious rooftop cafe and had an iced drink! The views over the temple with all the musical processions were amazing!
Afterwards, I headed inside with my guide. He told me a fair deal of history which I’ve pretty much already forgotten! 🤦🏻‍♀️ He also told me that you can tell a Nepali style temple as the roof is tiered in the same way the flag is! 🇳🇵 So interesting! He also said that most temples were guarded by pairs of animals, always a male and a female to keep the energies balanced and that, each animal on the step above the last was ten times stronger than the previous. We went around many temples, passing by many different musical processions as well as cafes and an amazing looking hole-in-the-wall traditional caf. They had put cushions on the wall outside and when I went by, it was pretty busy. People were eating spiced potatoes and I wanted some.
We continued on our tour, heading past some floats which would be pushed and pulled in another festival day tomorrow, towards the river. This is where, in Hindu culture, people are burnt and then their ashes are scattered in the river. The river looked and smelt disgusting and I was once again shocked that it is seen as a must and a sign of respect to treat your dead in this way. I would be mortified. To me, it the equivalent of being thrown in the trash. I asked why they didn’t scatter ashes on mountain tops instead and he said that one, that was less accessible, but two, water is seen as one of the most pure and natural things in the world and should also be worshipped in its own way. He also said that a lot of people believed that if individuals mistreated the planet, then Mother Nature would hit back in the form of natural disasters. I thought this was interesting as many more natural disasters happen on this side of the world, and it seemed unlikely that everyone just accepted that people on the Asian continent were worse than on the European one. He said that Geography played some part too! So interesting!
After the tour, I was taken back to the potato stall after convincing the guide that street style food wouldn’t kill me. Everyone else seems to spend so long worrying about Western peoples’ stomachs, it’s really bizarre! I never worry, and so far this trip, I haven’t been sick once!! I ordered the aloo masala along with a big pancake style thing with a fried egg on top and a chickpea and bean sauce with it. It was all so delicious! Afterwards, I said my goodbyes to the guide and thanked him before heading back to the entrance. It was time to get a Pathao home. I ordered one, and bought a kulfi from a popular shop while I was waiting. I think I have cracked being a local now, since I sat on the back of the bike without holding on, and eating my kulfi!! The sun was setting over Kathmandu rushhour and it was surprisingly pretty!
I went for some momos at a local caf when I returned home to Thamel, before bumping into Dan, one of the Bristolians I had met the night before, along with another Brit from Cambridge, Zac. Instead of going for my planned coffee, I joined them for a drink. A drink turned into a few, and then the bar closed and we moved to a club. It was a very fun night. We made friends with two Nepali and two French girls who we went out with. We danced our socks of, me in a maxi dress, flip-flops and with my three dog tooth holes in my legs – it seems alcohol is a good analgesic! Time flew, and before we knew it we were heading home at 5am. By the time we were back at the hostel, it was 05.30 and I was meant to be getting the 07.00 bus to Pohkara. Disaster!! I thought it’d be a little grim to get up in an hour and I hadn’t packed at all, so I wrote it off! Lucky I hadn’t booked my bus! The hostel guy knocked for me at 06.50 and I thanked him but said I’d just book another night and go the next day!
18/4/22
Today, after being in Yog Hostel a good few days, I thought I’d finally try the rooftop. After a (much needed) full English breakfast, I headed up for a mildly hungover chill. I got chatting to a few people before Zac from the night before surfaced. There was a Dutch girl, Lisanne, who was in my dorm and a very chatty Israeli, Gil (like the fish, he says!). After awhile Gil and I headed out for a burger. Somehow, we got onto the topic of Israel and Palestine, which I was very nervous about, since whenever I have spoken to Israelis about it before they have always had quite radical views on such matters. Thankfully, Gil did not have such views and we had a good discussion before moving on to lighter topics. The burger was average – why it was battered?! – but the chips were banging. Then we headed back to the hostel.
Zac was still on the roof when we got back and he said he wanted to check out another nearby town called Patan. He said it was meant to have a chilled vibe and was nice to wander around. It was a bike/taxi ride away. I was in. I recruited both Lisanne and Gil and we got a taxi to Patan.
We arrived in yet another Durbar Square, paid a our tourist entry fee and headed in. There was a great looking cafe on the edge of the square, which Zac got snacks from and I got tea. We sat and watched over the square chatting, before wandering through the temples. I was able to share my knowledge on the male and female pairs of animals and how they are identified by their boobs!! From one of the temples, we could see the sky was turning orange, so we raced to a rooftop bar to watch sunset. Once you’re on a rooftop at sunset, its very hard to say no to a cocktail, so of course I got another margarita. The boys got mojito and for some reason they came with very provocative naked lady plastic stirrers! We left once the sun had gone down and walked through the main town as supposed to the old square.
There were many street food stalls and market stalls. Eventually, we found a very local cafe with glorious food. I shared to veggie curries with Zac, one being paneer butter masala if course and then I headed home on a Pathao bike since my leg was a little sore and the others went for a short ‘let’s let our food digest’ walk.
19/4/22
Today I woke early, left the hostel via a short cut down alleys, which was mildly stressful regarding wild dogs, to get the early bus to Pohkara. I had no ticket but just went down there to see if I could barter. I got a ticket for 700 NPR instead of 1000 NPR so I was happy. I put my stuff on the bus before getting a chai and waiting the 30 minutes before it was due to leave.
Since I was early, I was lucky enough to get the front seat, which meant I could dangley legs over the metal bar that separated the seats from the stairwell. I could stretch out. We stopped for breakfast in a typical Nepali roadside stop. The food room was tiny with four big pots filled with different goods. There was Nepali roti, which looks like doughnut, samosas, two different types of curry and rice. I settled for aloo tiki (spiced potato curry) with Nepali roti and a samosa. Despite not being too keen on curry for breakfast after all the days of pancakes and waffles, I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast and even went back to get more curry sauce to go with my roti. It was delicious! Afterwards, we set back off towards Pohkara.
The rest of the journey was relatively uneventful aside from the sharp corners on cliff edges which we often rounded at break neck speed and the fact that we often overtook on a blind corner – it spices up a ten hour bus ride I guess?! It was also apparent that there had been so landslides near or onto the roads but luckily for us, no ones we saw in action! We went through some beautiful countryside with tiered rice paddies, cut into the mountainside, like in Vietnam.
wanderingwelshie travels 