Bouddhanath is the Tibetan area of Kathmandu and it is the most amazing feeling when you go in there. It actually feels calming to be there. The scent of burning incense and the sound of the chants and spinning prayer wheels is enchanting. I took some videos. My guide explained a lot about Buddhist symbolism.Pashupatinath was an experience. Less calming, kind of disturbing. It's the massive Hindu temple in Nepal. There were about 4 or 5 funerals going on while I was there and I took some video of the funerals. And there were monkeys and holy men. I was hounded by sellers and warned not to look the monkey's in the eye - apparently that pisses them off.
Durbar Square in Patan is very cool and really old, medieval actually. It is going back in time…the architecture…the narrow stone paths. A lot of these buildings were built well before they had access to concrete. They used a mixture of ghee, black lentils and dirt to build the structures, a mixture much stronger than concrete. Go figure, a little butter, lentils and dirt...who knew?The Royal Palace in Durbar was built in the 12th century and is the home to massive slaughter celebrations. Thousands of animals have been slaughtered over the years. Last week about 100 buffalo were killed (heads cut off in one slice) in the palace courtyard. I have some video explaining the slaughter. It's a huge pool of blood. There were tons of blood-stains and hanging entrails when I was there today, gory remnants of the celebration.
Only one courtyard in the temple is open to the public. A few years back, all three courtyards were open to the public but an American film crew came in to film and apparently they stole a lot of the statues and stuff, so the other two courtyards were closed off. Nice eh?
Then off to Lazimpath (sp?) Street for a little shopping after a potato curry and flat bread lunch… yummmmm
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