Nepal - Last Day

Our last day in Nepal, we flew out of Pokhara for Kathmandu around lunchtime. When we arrived in Kathmandu, we dropped our luggage at Fuji Hotel so we could do a bit more site seeing. Heather, Jun, Chris and I grabbed a cab and started for two important Buddhist temples. Our first stop was Swayambhunath.


Swayambhunath is also known as the monkey temple, for its resident monkeys.


I felt charmed by the quiet of the place. There were lots of people around and music was playing, but still it felt more quiet than the busy streets of Kathmandu. I particularly liked looking out at the view of the city surrounded by what seemed to be mostly locals.


We couldn't linger at Swyambhunath too long, though. We still wanted to get across town to the larger stupa at Bodhnath. The traffic was horrible, and it was practically dark by the time we arrived.


Part of the reason for the traffic was that we were driving during prayer time, 6-7 p.m. This ended up being a good thing for our visit to Bhohnath stupa. As soon as we arrived, we easily slipped into the quiet group of hundreds walking clockwise in prayer around the temple.


It was dark except for a few lights from surrounding shops. It was magical. There were regular folks, Tibetan women and Buddhist monks in red and saffron robes. The music of horns and drums and chanting accompanied our walk.


As we walked around, the music grew louder until we came upon its source. A group of monks sat at the edge of the stupa, with instruments and offerings. People walking by gave money, candy or cookies to add to the stacks. It was beautiful. I could have lingered here for a long time, but we had to move on. Dinner and then straight to the airport for our flight out. Good-bye, Nepal. You are beautiful.