Road to Kathmandu

             Day 5.

             A early start to the day to see the sunrise over the Himalayas from the roof top of our hotel.

              After breakfast we headed back to Kathmandu visiting Bhaktapur on the way the third of the ancient 

               Royal capitals. At Durban Square we visited the Golden Gate at the palace of 55 windows as we

                made our way to Taumadhi Tole Square.

                Bhaktapur the traffic is prohibited except for motorcycle making you keep your witts about you 

                 Durban Square founded in the 12th century is located in the heart of of the city,is filled with 

                 monuments palacesand temples with elaborately carved roofs.

                  The Golden Gate is the entrance to the palace of 55 windows complete in 1754 the Gate is one 

                  Of the finest examples of Nepal’s repousse metalwork.

                   The palace of 55 windows built in the 17 century,the palace features a balcony of 55 intricate 

                   wooden windows a masterpiece of wooden carving.

                    Arriving back in Kathmandu around 1600 hrs after a freshen up it was get ready for dinner

                     Which was a traditional Nepalese dancing and food.

Sunrise over the Himalayas 0605 

At 0608

0612

Sunrise 

The Himalayas in sunshine 

The market place in Bhaktapur 

The hot food shop

The Butcher 

The meat being weighed out 

The fishmonger 

One of the Temples destroy by the 2015 earthquake still being rebuilt 

Durban Square 

The locals having a rest in the Square 

Temple in Bhaktapur that survive the quake 

Taumadhi Square 

The dance show at dinner 

Night cap.

Love

Len and Val

Road to Kathmandu

            Day 4

            It was a lazy start to the day with a 0945 departure from Kathmandu to Dhulikhel with a stop on the way at Changu Narayan Temple 

            on the way which is A UNESCO World Heritage listed site situated on a ridge overlooking the valley Changu on one side and

            the valley of Kathmandu on the other side, this temple is dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnuand is one of the finest examples of Pagoda 

            architecture. We then continue the 30 Km east of Kathmandu to Dhulikhel to watch the sunset on the Himalayas.

View of the Changu valley 

The Kathmandu valley 

The Changu Narayan Temple 

The local bottle shop Dhulikhel 

Sunset on the Himalayas 

Val on the roof top of our hotel.

Local kid in Dhulikhel 

Love 

Len and Val

Road to Kathmandu

             Day 3.

              Today was 0500 wake up call for the day we had been waiting for it was out to the airport domestic terminal for Yeti Airlines

              Flight 305 to the mountain and return the mountain being Everest and what a flight it was to fly to the top of the world and see 

              Everest up close and personal.

              On return it was onto the bus and visit villages in Patan the second largest city in Nepal and located 5 Km form Kathmandu on the southern

              Bank of the Bagmati River. Until 1768 when King Prithvi Narayan Shah ( a Gorda ) unified the Kingdoms of Nepal into a single nation  

    

              the Kathmandu Vally supported three Kings one in Kathmandu, one  in Patan and another in Bhaktapur. 

               The first being Bungmati know as Duck and Chicken village of the Naraari People and visit the Iradmachhindrannath temple which was 

                destroyed by the 2015 earthquake with help from the Sri Lanka government is being rebuilt.

              We then moved onto our next village of Khokana but this one you will not see any Chickens as God did not want them in the village

              But the temple survived the quake and visited the Gabu Jaaysha mustard oil mill.

              After lunch that every body said how nice the meal was but I can not comment on the lunch as they forgot my lunch so all I got was

              A malt sandwich not my first and probably not my last.

              After lunch we made our way to Durban Square is the centreof Patan,s religious and social life with a cluster of ancient temples palaces and 

              courtyards that date back to 12 and 18 centuries. The square is located on the of Hanuman Dhoka Palace which was the Royal Nepalese

              residence until the 19 Century.

              Then of course to finish the day was the mandatory sales visit but this time not a weaving or textile factory it was a singing healing 

              Bowl shop.

               Back to our hotel for a freshen up and thanks to the Radisson the best meal I have had in 32 Days.

Boarding flight Yeti Flight 305.

              

Abound Yeti Flight 305 Destination Mount Everest and return 

Val aboard flight 305.

Our first view of Mount Everest

View of Mount Everest from the cockpit@ 1100 o’clock 

Mount Everest as we saw it

Champagne at 1250mts

And the bubbles go down well

The Village of Bungmatidrying out their rice.

A local of the village 

A villager sniffing the rice 

The Temple of Iradmachhindranath which was destroyed in the 2015 Earthquake 

A nnew house that has been built 

Mustard oil factory modern part with a electric motor 

Dunbar Squar Patan

The Golden Temple Durban Square Patan.

Love

Len and Val

Road to Kathmandu

              Day 2.

              Our first morning in Kathmandu was a relaxing start at 1000 o’clock wherever first stop was the Swayambhunath Stupa often

              called the monkey temple because of the hundreds of monkeys that scamper about the place.Its location, atop hill west of Kathmandu 

              makes the stupa visible for miles and is though to have been a Buddhist pilgrimage site since the 5th century.

              We then went to Durber square which was one of the areas struck by the earthquake of 2015, and next door Kumari Temple 

              the temple of the living Goddess. The livings Goddess is a Weng girl who lives within the temple  and only comes leaves twice a year 

             till the age of 12 years, when a new one is chosen for the next 10 years.

            After lunch we visited the Pashupatinath Temple a Hindu temple of Lord Shiva situated 5 Km east of Kathmandu on the banks of the

             sacred Bagmati River. Pashupatinath Temple has a two tiered golden roof and is famous for its superb architecture.

            And is the centre of annual pilgrimage on the day of Maha Shivaratri where over one million people will visit in one day,

            and can also witness the cremations of the dead bodies of Hindus in the holly waters that will flow into the Ganges much the same as 

            we witness in Varanasi, devotees from all over the world come here to pay their homage to Lord Shiva.

           Our last stop for the day was at the largest stupa in Nepal and the capital city’s religious centre for ethnic Tibetans who for a significant 

            proportion of Nepal’s population. The Bodhnath Stupa is thought to have been originally built in 600AD after the famous

            Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo who converted to Buddhism.

The sun rising over Kathmandu 

The smaller stupas Swayambhunath Stupa ( monkey temple)

The main Stupa at Swayambhunath Temple 

Val entering the Kumari Temple 

Inside the Kumari Temple courtyard 

The entrance to the Pashupatinath Temple whereonly Hindus are allowed 

The Bagmati River witness the cremations
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The part of the market Thames Markets 

Val and Ion the Bodhnath Stupa the second largest in the world.

Love

Len and Val.

Road to Kathmandu

             Day 1.

             Start of another road story today we all left Udapur at 1230 for Delhi where we split into two groups 10 going home and 12 of us

              Heading for Kathmandu on the 1940 flight.

              We arrived at 2215 by the time we got to our hotel and into our rooms it was  0020 ready for bed.

Hilltop hotel Udaipur 

Roof Top view of Udaipur 

Another roof top of Udaipur with the lake 

Love

Len and Val