Kathmandu (Three) Plus a Monastery Plus a Great Stupa Plus a Medieval Town

My descriptions of the sights we’ve visited in Nepal thus far have been, shall we say, minimal. Mostly this is because by the time we return from the excursions, I am too tired (pleasantly so, I must add) to document much of what we have viewed. This is to inform you that I doubt this will change for the rest of this trip. I either need a little more time and energy to write or a few years less on the body.

The Kopan Monastery

Our first event of the day was to visit the Buddhist Kopan Monastery, located on the mountainside just above Kathmandu. We weren’t quite above the haze of the valley, but the air was slightly better. We arrived on a day full of activity for the several hundred students we observed. Its 1971 (or so) founding is relatively recent and the monastery is a clean, tidy place. Apparently we were lucky with the timing of our visit as some ceremony was taking place. I”m sure our guide described it, but neither Frances nor I followed the explanation.

The tree on the right is artificial.

We were given a thirty minute talk on Buddhism by one of the senior monks. We never did find out what his own story was or his function in the monastery. We did learn, life is all about happiness. Not pleasure, but true happiness. We’re working on it.


Left: Solid advice for visitors, especially the first one. Right: I should have posed a person beside this prayer wheel to show its huge size.

Boudhnath, the Biggest Stupa in Nepal

The next stop was to visit the Boudhnath Stupa (or Bodhnath, by our trip literature) built about 600 A.D. We couldn’t go in, so we viewed it from all sides. (Stupas are Buddhist shrines, often, including this one, containing relics of Buddha.) The best view, apparently, is from directly above.

We had one sales stop, getting a talk on the process of producing these paintings (including using 24 carat gold). If we had been younger and in an acquiring mode, we would have been tempted. The righthand picture is a painting of the stupa as if viewed from above. We forgot to bring a drone, so this picture will have to do.

Patan and Its Medieval Palaces

Lalitpur is the third largest city in Nepal and contains the medieval capital of Patan. Patan, along with Kathmandu and Bhakpatur (which we did not visit), are the three major cities and the three ancient kingdoms of the Kathmandu valley. Patan’s Durbar Square palace and temples were also badly damaged by the 2015 earthquake but much has been restored. There are both Buddhist and Hindu temples in the complex. While the square as a kingdom’s capital was founded in the 3rd century A.D., most of the temples date from the 16th century.


We again had a sales stop, this time for a demonstration using soft hammers on brass bowls, the vibrations easing tension in the body.

Frances is being “treated” bottom up and me top down, apparently. The staff worked hard to sell us bowls, but we passed. I already deal,with too much ringing in my ears.

We are now leaving for Chitwan National Park. We’re sitting in the Kathmandu domestic terminal as I write this. It’s only a 20 minute flight away, but apparently it will take us all day to get there. It did.

Kathmandu (Part Two)

Our second breakfast complete, we were bused to the center of old Kathmandu. There we started a city walk in the marketing area, passed dozens of temples, large and small and ended up with visits to several temples. I took so many photos and videos that for the first time since possessing an iPhone my battery charge dropped to a level that the camera quit working. Here is a collage of markets, temples, palaces and people, too many to remember the names of, let alone document.

Streets and markets

People

We passed scores of temples, large and small.

The palaces were greatly damaged during the 2015 earthquake and restoration continues.

The walking tour complete we rode rickshaws through the crowded streets to a restaurant for a late lunch. As usual, there were too many courses, but the Himalayan trout lunch (our choice of entree) was as good a trout preparation as I can remember. After all, it had been at least four hours since our second breakfast.

On our return to the hotel we were treated to a talk by Maya Sherpa, who has climbed Mount Everest three times. Sherpa is a family or clan name, not an occupation. Most Sherpas are farmers. Maya also led a three Nepali women team to the top of K-2 (in Pakistan). K-2 is considered by many as the world’s most difficult climb.

And do I need mention that another grand meal awaited us—a traditional Nepali feast. The classic meal of 22 courses was reduced to six for us, but the truth is that each course included five or six samplings of different dishes. While a couple of the offerings were spicy hot, on the whole, the cuisine was less spicy than I was expecting.

There is still more Kathmandu and vicinity in the next post. 

Kathmandu (Part One) and Everest

After a 4:45 a.m. iPhone alarm wake-up, we were delivered to the Delhi airport three hours early for our flight to Nepal. Early? No, we needed nearly the full three hours to go through checks, scans, pat downs and  other inspections. We must have shown our passports eight times. But once on the airplane we had a smooth flight out of the smog and haze of Delhi—into the smog and haze of Kathmandu. We did get our first glimpses of the Himalayas (above the haze) in route.

Our lodging in Kathmandu, The Dwarika’s Hotel, is quite special, carefully built and expanded over the last several decades to use centuries old wood (carved and uncarved) that otherwise would have been used as firewood. The founder of the hotel, Dwarika Das Shrestha, believed that Nepal must preserve its heritage and its culture and chose to start with its physical heritage. Our fifth (top) floor room is quite nice, other than the shower, which is weak and erratic in its flow.

A small red arrow points to our room.

Once settled in, we were taken to observe funeral pyres along Kathmandu’s Bagmati River. Hindus bring their deceased family members for cremation at the point on the banks of the river near the Hindu Shrine at Pashupatinath Temple. There were close to a dozen bodies being prepared for or in the process of being cremated while we were there. Friends and family members were on one side of the river and tourists like ourselves on the other.

Washing the body and preparing the fire. Relatives do the washing; laborers prepare the fire.

As the cremations go on 24-7, one wonders how much of Kathmandu’s haze and pollution comes from the cremations. It take two hours for the cremation to be completed. The ashes are dumped in the river, which eventually flows into the Ganges River.

Our pictures were taken with Hindu Sadhu religious men, an opportunity lubricated by a donation from our guide. While exiting the area I tried to get a picture of another group but they quickly covered their faces as I raised my iPhone.

Dinner that first night was on our own. As a change of pace Frances and I opted to patronize the hotel’s Japanese restaurant. For simplicity we ordered a prix fixe meal. Apparently it’s not just American restaurants that serve more than one can consume.

Once again, we had an early morning wake-up, with a first breakfast at 6:00. It was off to the airport for our trip to view the Himalayas, on Buddha Air. (Hima - Snow, Aliya - House (of) for the curious) 

Only our tour group was on the chartered airplane, so after take-off the 18 of us could  move to any of the 72 or so seats. I had trouble keeping my iPhone from focusing on the window glass, but I got great views and a good picture or two.

Bottom left is Mt. Everest, the leftmost of the two peaks in the center. One the bottom right? I took a picture of the picture we were given for having taken the flight.

We return to the haze of Kathmandu valley.

Our itinerary in Kathmandu is packed, as indeed is the whole trip, so I’ll end this post here. Indeed, after our second breakfast we were off on an extensive walking tour of the city. 

Delhi

Our hotel was in New Delhi but our day of touring was to sights in Old Delhi. “New” and “Old” are misnomers. New Delhi should be “Newest Delhi” and Old Delhi, “Slightly Older Delhi” as Delhi has been razed, rebuilt, and moved seven or eight times during its long history. Each new conquerer over several millennia built forts, temples, palaces and mausoleums to impress the populace, rivals and their gods. There are dozens of major historical sites in Delhi in various states of ruin, preservation and restoration. For our day-long excursion, we concentrated on two, Humayun’s Tomb and Qutub Minar.

“Don’t drink the water and don’t breath the air”

We traveled by coach so, once again, many of my pictures were taken through tinted windows. Worse, the air was hazy with pollution, perhaps low by Delhi standards, thank goodness, but not something most of us would want to endure long term. 

We passed by but did not visit Lal Qila or the Red Fort. It was built in the mid 1600’s and covers over 250 acres, with a mile and a half of walls and turrets.

Passing the Red Fort

It’s a Sunday and the street markets were active. I was on the wrong side of the bus for pictures of the denser populated market areas. Besides the hive of peoples in the markets, many Indians were out in colorful attire, or at least the women were.


The longest stop of the excursion was to visit the complex that contains the mausoleum of Humayun, the second Mughal emperor. Commissioned by his wife, the mausoleum was built between 1565 to 1577. The structure is a fusion of Mughal and Persian architectural styles.

Gates into the mausoleum area.

Views of the mausoleum, including a finial of pure gold.

Humayun’s tomb and the dome above the central section.

There are several other significant mausoleums in the complex.

Our next stop was to visit the complex that is the site of Qutub Mknar, a minaret and victory monument minaret. Built between 1199 and 1220, it is 256 feet high. It’s spectacular. Climbing the tower is now closed to tourist. In 1981, a school group of children were climbing the narrow stairs of the tower when the lights went out. The children panicked and in the ensuing chaos, forty five of them fell to their deaths. 

The Qutub Minar and surrounding ruins as we approached it.

The minaret.

Inside the ruins. Right: The Iron Pillar, perhaps the oldest major iron relic in India (400 BC)

The women were all wearing colorful attire, perhaps because it was a Sunday.

We ate dinner in one of the hotel’s specialty restaurants, The Imperial Spice. The name should give you a hint as to the seasoning of the Indian cuisine. Spicy it was, but not so much as to reduce our enjoyment of the offerings. No doubt, for foreigners, the chefs accommodate alien palates. (At all our eating venues, western food is also offered but, other than at breakfast, we eat and greatly enjoy Indian cuisine.)

A few more roadside sites from the coach, here on on way to the airport.

We were in bed by ten thirty as our alarm was set for a 5:00 a.m. wake-up, with the luggage to be picked up at 5:30 a.m., 6:00 a.m. breakfast and a bus to the airport at 7:00. We’re  off to Kathmandu, Nepal.

Northern India and Nepal

Third Time Is a Charm

Frances and I have twice before tried to visit India, the first attempt cancelled because of COVID and the second indirectly submarined by the Houthis.  Both of those plans were to be cruise voyages with short but multi-day excursions to the interior of India. Perhaps it was best that we were delayed, as this Indian adventure will now be a land tour of two and a half weeks, including eight nights in the nation of Nepal. The travel company is Tauck, our first trip with this well-regarded company.

Our flights over were refreshingly trouble free, but it was still the usual long, draining, nearly sleepless experience that is simply something that must be endured. We did luck out with not having to change terminals at JFK. Even our luggage made it all the way to New Delhi.  We arrived at our hotel just before mid-night August 7, beating our travel companions, Brian and Karen McKenna, by a couple of hours. They were still a bit groggy when they joined  us for breakfast the next morning.

Our room, or suite rather, is in The Imperial New Delhi, a grand old hotel that displays its imperial heritage well. Built in the 1930s and located on an estate of eight acres in the heart of India’s capital, the hotel contains over 5,000 works of art and historic photographs. I hope we have time to tour the hotel and grounds.

Top two rows: Our suite. Bottom right: We meet Brian and Karen for breakfast.

Our first full day had a limited itinerary. It included an early afternoon meeting with our Tauck trip director and the eighteen of us in the tour group. Only the McKennas and Dallens are first-time Tauck travelers. We are among the older members of the group, which promises to be fast paced. Wish us good luck, or at least endurance.

The meeting was followed by a relatively short bus, er coach, tour of the capital. We had assigned seats on the bus and this will be standard (and changed regularly) throughout the trip, even in smaller conveyances. For now, on the large coaches, one can move to other seats, which Frances and I did once I located seats with more adequate knee room.

The capital complex, including the old and new parliament buildings in the bottom picture. These shots were the best I could do from the bus.

The last hour of the tour was a visit to Gandhi Smriti (originally the Birla House), where Mahatma Gandhi lived the last 144 days of his life and where he was assassinated.

Top left and bottom left: The front two rooms of this “bungalow” are where Gandhi lived those last 144 days. India (and now Pakistan and Bangladesh) were in the throes of chaos and millions of deaths, mostly between the Hindus and Moslems that followed India’s independence. Gandhi was killed by a Hindu extremist who believed Gandhi was too accommodating to the Moslems. Middle left: The “Martyr’s Pillar”, where Gandhi was shot. Concrete footsteps are memorialized between the bungalow and the assassination spot.

The group met for a reception and dinner in the hotel’s 1911 restaurant, named for the year King George V and Mary were coronated in London. We’re going to love Indian food.

It’s 3:00 a.m. in the morning as I compose this posting. We’ve a full day of touring coming up in a few hours. I do hate my slow adjustment to major time zone changes jet—but it’s truly still so worth it!

Traveling with the Dallens

What's Coming up?

It's been a great past several years of traveling, including India, Nepal, the lower Danube, the Amazon, the Galapagos Islands, Antarctica, Southern Africa, Argentina, Uruguay, Northern Europe, Canada and the Caribbean. I've moved the posting for our most recent trips to the archive: Blog Archive

So what is next?

In July 2025 we head back to Australia, first to visit the Kimberley, then to ride the India-Pacific Railroad from Perth to Sydney. We will be  home only two weeks before heading to Mongolia and China. We have plans, both specific and vague, for several trips after that, but we’ll get to those later.

Traveling with the Dallens

Blog postings for our past trips (at least those from 2015 on) have been moved to the archive. You can access the archive here:

Blog Archive

Thanks for following our adventures,

John and Frances