Saturday, October 20, 2012

Nepal trip 15, 21-26 Aug 2012 (Part 2)

22 Aug 2012 - Day 3

In the morning, we visited Pashupatinath. The Pashupatinath temple is listed under UNESCO World Heritage site, is the oldest Hindu temple in Kathmandu. But non-Hindus were not allowed to enter, so we just visited at the side of the river. This is also the place where cremation takes place, on the bank of Bagmati river.


Cremation going on - Pashupatinath

Directly opposite the Pashupatinath Temple stand a row of 11 stone chaityas containing lingams. Beyond them is a classic single-faced lingam (ekmukhi) attributed to the 6th century.

Lingam

We could find lots of Holymen in this area. If you want to take photo of him, you have to give some money as appreciation. Below is one of the holyman that we met.

Holyman in yoga post

After that we continued our trip to Boudhanath, one of the holiest Buddhist temple in Kathmandu, also listed under UNESCO World Heritage site. I love the place very much. It's so beautiful.

Boudhanath Stupa

Tibetan temple just the opposite of the Stupa main entrance

We had our lunch there. We were given time to shop as well. I bought some presents such as t-shirts, magnet souvenirs, prayer wheels, etc for families back home. It was raining for a while during lunch and shopping time, but at least we had umbrella with us, so we didn't get wet.

In the stupa, we walked around it for three times and prayed. It was simply blessed to be able to be there... Thank you Sang Buddha for the good karma given.

From there, we went to Nagarkot, 32 km east of Kathmandu, almost 2200 meters above the sea level, supposed to be a scenic spot. Due to the weather, we couldn't see the clear sky. So we just went there to enjoy the cold weather, relaxing and having a good rest :)

Sat there and wrote my travel diary... enjoying the cold weather :)

Other than that, I just walked around to nearby area to take some photos... hehehe... Below are some photos taken there...

Beautiful flower :)

Nice...

Pretty....

I love this :)

Many birds flying in the sky....

I like the last two sentences from below... hehehe....

The view from the top of the hotel

It's beautiful, isn't it??? The rest, we had dinner there... Raymond and Deepak fried the prawn crackers and emping / belinjau, and prepared the peanut sauce as the condiments. All was brought from Indonesia. Thank you for his effort in doing so... It complimented well our dinner dishes :)

23 Aug 2012 - Day 4

The next day, we had our breakfast also in the hotel, then went down to Bhaktapur city, which was an ex-capital of Nepal during the great Malla Kingdom. It is another UNESCO World Heritage Site. We visited the Bhaktapur Durbar Square.

Bhaktapur's Dattatraya Mandir with Garuda statue

Nyatapola Temple (on the left)

Nyatapola Temple - This five-storeyed pagoda was built by King Bhupatindra Malla in 1702 A.D. It stands on five terraces, on each of which squat a pair of figures: two famous wrestlers, two elephants, two lions, two griffins, and Baghini and Singhini — the tiger and the lion goddesses. Each pair of figures is considered ten times stronger than the ones immediately below, while the lowest pair, the two strong men Jaya Malla and Phatta Malla, were reputedly ten times stronger than any other men. This is one of the tallest pagoda-style temples in Kathmandu Valley and is famous for its massive structure and subtle workmanship (Source: wikipedia).

Pottery square

From left to right: Lu Dhowka (Golden Gate), The Palace of Fifty-five Windows, The Statue of King Bhupatindra Malla

Lu Dhowka (Golden Gate) is said to be the most beautiful and richly molded specimen of its kind in the entire world. The door is surmounted by a figure of the goddess Kali and Garuda (mythical man-bird) and attended by two heavenly nymphs. It is embellished with monsters and other mythical creatures of marvelous intricacy.

The Palace of Fifty-five Windows was built during the reign of King Yaksha Malla in 1427 A.D. and was remodeled by King Bhupatindra Malla in the seventeenth century. Among the brick walls, with their gracious setting and sculptural design, is a balcony of fifty-five windows, considered to be a unique masterpiece of woodcarving.

The Statue of King Bhupatindra Malla is considered the most magnificent among other statues in the Square (Source: Wikipedia).

In front of Taleju Temple (Only Hindus can enter)

Naga Pokhari

The Naga Pokhari (Snake Pond) is a 17C royal water tank encircled by a writhing stone cobra located in the courtyard of the Royal Palace.

Cafe Nyatapola

After that, we had our lunch at Cafe Nyatapola, a very nice cafe, mostly for tourists to have their meals there. It was raining when we had our lunch. We were given free time to browse around the shops. There were many shops selling Nepal local products. Good place to shop.. hehehe... But due to limited time and raining, I didn't buy many thing there. Just managed to buy the Alibaba pants... hahaha....

Various post cards from Nepal

Nepal Calendars

Drawing Mandala

Brass shop

Wood-carving shop

At night, we went to eat the Nepal traditional food at Utsav and watched their traditional dances. That was our last night with the rest of the tour participants. The day after that, we separated ourselves and extended 2 more days in Nepal by ourselves. To be continued....

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