After a trip of 20 hours we finally arrived in Kathmandu where we would spend two days getting over our jet lag while LE strolled down memory lane and GG discovered a new country. LE did not expect Kathmandu to be the same as it was more than 40 years ago but she thought she might recognize a few things. A thought that was brought to a screeching halt as soon as we started to walk around.
Nothing was the same. The late seventies were a magical time in Nepal. There were few vehicles, no pollution, and the streets were quiet. Food and accommodation was cheap, the
city encompassed rice paddies and grassy fields and the majestic Himalayas could be glimpsed on the horizon. This all started to change in the mid eighties and what was once a small attractive city, seemingly untouched by time, is now a metropolis of 3.5 million people with appalling air pollution, traffic congestion, loss of open spaces, daily electricity outages and a declining water table. The earthquake of 2015 created additional changes; destroying houses, damaging roads and toppling many of the picturesque ancient temples. Kathmandu is still a magical city, it is just a little harder to see the sparkle beneath it's facade of grime and on-going reconstruction.
One of the first things we noticed was that about 1/2 of the people on the streets were wearing face masks. This was not because of THE VIRUS, the masks are used as a filter for air pollution, especially the particulates which cause most visitors and locals to cough, spit and rub their eyes. At the end of the day your face feels gritty. LE decided it would be prudent to wear a mask as well because starting our trek with a cough did not seem like a good idea. Little did she know that in just two weeks mask wearing would be fashionable.
Over the next two days we walked from our hotel in the district of Thamel south through the crowded streets toward Durbar Square, west to the hill crowned by Swayambhunath Stupa and east to the sublime Stupa of Bodhnath. Every direction we looked was something to remember, after a while we stopped taking photos. Most corners had a temple (or two or three), and tucked into small alleyways were carved wooden doors, lattice enclosed balconies, and stone carvings of fierce creatures. Almost every building was a business selling something; brass singing bowls and prayer wheels, padlocks, paintings, fruit vendors, knock-off trekking gear, bangles and beads, restaurants, Tibetan thangkas and carpets, packets of spices, hand made paper products, prayer flags and bakeries selling warm slices of apple pie.
Kathmandu's Durbar (Royal) Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the name used to describe the area containing the old royal palace. It is an important site for Buddhist
and Hindu rituals, holy ceremonies, royal events, and kingly coronations. The site, actually three loosely linked squares, is the location of numerous pagoda-style temples, small shrines, idols, water fountains and ponds. The first royal palace was built here in the third century but at present the oldest temples date from the mid 1500's. LE remembered the square as a place of stunning architecture and was looking forward to see if this memory was correct but we did not arrive until just before closing so instead of rushing around we decided to delay our visit until the trek was over. In hindsight this was a mistake because Nepal was in lock-down when we eventually returned to the city and then we could not go anywhere. So that memory bank remains intact, in LE's mind Durbar Square remains frozen in time.
Our visit to Swayambhunath, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, was more successful. This Buddhist temple complex is located on the top of a hill and 40 years ago LE walked through fields and rural roads to reach the summit. This time we walked along busy streets, dodging motorcycles and buses, then climbed the steep stone pilgrim stairway dodging troops of rhesus macaques. The temple compound is centered on a gleaming white stupa topped by a gilded tower painted with the eyes of the Buddha
staring out across the valley in the cardinal directions. At it's base is a ring of prayer wheels embossed with the sacred mantra Om
Mani Padme Hum (hail to the jewel in the lotus) and pilgrims, circling the stupa in a clockwise direction, spin each one as they pass by. Thousands of brightly coloured prayer flags with similar mantras flutter above the stupa and their prayers are carried to heaven by the wind horse (Lungta). The stupa on it's own would be a splendid sight but what makes Swayambhunath one of the definitive experiences of a visit to Kathmandu is the temple's location. All around the stupa are a jumble of religious buildings, monuments and sculptures displaying both Buddhist and Hindu iconography and crowds of local people jostle together engaging in seemingly random rituals. It was a chaotic, colourful, noisy, fascinating scene of everyday life in Nepal.
The third UNESCO World Heritage Site on our visit was the Bodhnath Stupa, the largest stupa in Nepal and one of the largest stupas in the world. The stupa stands 36 meters high and the whitewashed dome stands on three levels of plinths built in the shape of mandalas. As at Swayambhunath the dome is topped by a gilded central tower with the all-seeing eyes of the Buddha gazing north-south-east-west, and surrounding the entirety is a low wall set with a ring of prayer wheels. What is very different is the stupas location; it is at street level and
completely surrounded by buildings, not visible from the main road. According to legend, Bodhnath Stupa was built during the 5th century by an an old poultry woman who asked the king for land to construct a shrine to the Buddha. The king agreed, and offered her as much land as she could cover with the skin of a water buffalo. The woman proceeded to cut a buffalo hide into thin strips, and placed them end to end to form a huge circumference. The king realized that he had been tricked by the old woman, but he adhered to his word, and the
stupa was constructed according to these dimensions. Historically the stupa was on a major trade route between Lhasa and Kathmandu. Tibetan traders would pray here for a safe journey before driving their yaks over the high passes of the Himalayas. Today Bodhnath is the center of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal with at least 29 gompas (monasteries) located within 3 km. Maroon clad monks and nuns are a common sight and can be seen either wandering along the prayer-flagged side streets, or performing their daily kora (ritual circumnavigation) repeating the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum either quietly or aloud.
It did not matter to LE that nothing was as she remembered, it was a whole new exotic city in which to make other memories. A great beginning to her birthday trip.