Kathmandu
Kathmandu
-----------------
You should not be reading this if you genuinely want to know about Kathmandu; nor should I be writing this post if there is some journalistic integrity left in the world - but hey, that would be a different world, no? ... The reason I say that is because I hardly stepped out of the hotel I was in for the days I spent in this land of yakshas (water spirits) - partly due to weather - rain and little kids, but largely due to the fact that I had planned to laze in and around the hotel during this trip. So if you want a complete down and low on the town and its whereabouts, you are in the wrong place.
Anyway, since this is the first time I am in Kathmandu, let me tell you something about this interesting find:
* This little and scenic kingdom (now a democracy) is a strange mixture of its neighbors - with the largest influence from, of course, India. A lot of aid and business comes from the big brother, and so do the tourists. Nepalis look up to India as a kind of role model - much like Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis do to an extent - and the influence is palpable.
The sign boards are all in Devanagari (same script as Hindi and Sanskrit). So it's kinda like reading Malaysian - you read the Roman script but cannot figure out what it means. The taxis are all Maruti 800's, and they are all white in color. People look very much like those in East Indian states, and most talk Hindi.
* The first impression of Kathmandu, however, is as if the clock has turned 30 years back in one of Indian cities. Most houses look as if in serious need of repair. The roads are terrible, with crazy traffic. The cabs are old, rickety and mostly second-hand. It is rather nostalgic for anyone who grew up in an Indian metro in the last 80's, a trip down the memory lane.
The airport, especially, reminded me of MDI's building in old Gurgaon, with its red bricks and claustrophobic design. The immigration officers look bored of their job and let you in without even looking at you, especially if you carry the Indian passport. Meh, another one!
* The biggest hotel, still, is Hyatt. The property is sprawling across a large golf course, and is central to one of the two main tourist attractions in Kathmandu - the Bodhi stupa. Do not stay near the Pashupati Nath temple - the other attraction - as some of the hotels that you see on the Internet are a great sham - the site shows wonderful photos, but when you see them in reality, it bites.
There are a few other nice hotels too, like the one I stayed. This one - Hotel Tibet International - is a new property, rather mid-range, with new rooms decorated in a Tibetan manner, and is a stone's throw distance from Bodhi stupa.
* The above mentioned point is extremely important - not just metaphysically but also gastronomically. The Stupa is beautiful and serene and all that, with a nice circular path to walk around and Buddha's eyes watching over you, but what makes this information crucial to the hungry wanderer is that the same circular path is laden with some of the nicest eating places in this area.
The Roadhouse Cafe is highly recommended for its Italian menu - so much so I visited this one twice. They have a terrace as well as indoor seating. There are at least 3-4 others that could get you a similar menu, but this one is perhaps the best.
The cafes here are simply fabulous. For breakfast, the Circle Cafe offers a variety of freshly ground coffee and cinnamon buns, which are excellent. Most cafes have their own collection of local books about Nepal and tourism, and you can spend eons in these with your coffee.
The Stupa and its surrounding is a traveller's delight. The circular path offers cafes, eateries, and shops to buy trinkets. The Stupa itself is quite enchanting, with the two eyes of Buddha that are painted on its tip looking calmly upon you whenever you glance. All you need to go is climb atop one of these nice cafes, get a corner in their terrace and you can safely believe that all is well with the world.
The walkway around the Stupa is paved and is crowded in the morning and in the evening with devout Buddists who take parikrama (walking rounds) around it. It is fascinating to see some of the younger ones walking briskly, while some real old people walking real slowly - turning the prayer wheels around the wall of the Stupa with each step.
* In the evening, one can of course hail a white toy cab and head towards Thamel - Nepal's hippy haven. This is one place you will find mostly European tourists, searching for trinkets and knick-knack. There are some nice eateries too. Hotel Utse is one of the oldest Tibetean eatery in town, and makes one of the finest "Gacok" - a noodle soup filled with meat and veggies and served in a steaming pot ... Oh my, the pot is magical! ... The meat in the bowl does not finish, and the very friendly folks there keep pouring more soup till you have to prostrate and cover it!
Outside Kathmandu
----------------------------
You can make Kathmandu your base and trek around or travel around - which we did not do much due to the rains. The most scenic would be taking a flight (about 30 min) to Pokhra and maybe spending some nights in Pokhra. This is the western, more scenic part of Nepal - with national parks, valleys, and places of interest like Lumbini - Siddhartha Gautama's birthplace.
But the more accessible is to take a cab and go to Dhulikhel - about 30km from Kathmandu. Dhulikhel is noteworthy for the Newari cuisine and the little sleepy town is filled with small eateries offering special Newari thalis for lunch. It is also famous for clear views in most parts of the year of the majestic Himalaya - including the famous peaks of Kanchanjunga and Everest. Dhulikhel Resort has a nice garden seating atop a hill and you can soak in the atmosphere with some afternoon tea. The food at this place is marginal though, apart from Chicken a-la Kiev, which is for some inexplicable reasons spelled as Chicken a-la "King"!
A similar location is Nagarkot, again famous for the views. The other places to visit around the town are the Durbar Square at Patan (Lalitpur) and Bhaktapur - which are two satellite towns of Kathmandu. Nothing spectacular, and the Durbar Square of Kathmandu is good too, if you like that sort of thing.
Within Kathmandu
--------------------------
Frankly, I did not venture out much in the town. It kept raining for most part, and the streets were muddy and filthy. The only go-around was by the little Maruti cabs, which we used regularly to go to Thamel in the evenings, which is rather touristy. The Durbar Square is on the way to Thamel.
The Pashupati temple is interesting. The temple complex is quite large, and has a parthenon of Indian deities. The main Shiva temple is apparently built with wood from one single tree, which is fascinating. The temple complex is next to Bagmati river, and the funeral pyres are on the other banks. The Boudhanath took more of my fancy and time too, being close to the hotel and also offering cafes around. The Pashupati temple is kinda like any other temple in India.
Being a strong follower of history and in tradition to my usual travels, I skipped the museums and all other 'places of interests' listed on the sites, as quite candidly they do not interest me. Instead, we spent time walking around the time, sometimes chatting with locals, eating momos and gacok, and counting with my kids the planes flying out of the airstrip into the green mountains behind.
This visit has almost been a trailer to what our good neighbor can offer. And you can be sure that I will be visiting it - especially the Pokhra valley very soon and updating this post!
Till then, keep moving,
Regards,
Shreekant
August 2014
-----------------
You should not be reading this if you genuinely want to know about Kathmandu; nor should I be writing this post if there is some journalistic integrity left in the world - but hey, that would be a different world, no? ... The reason I say that is because I hardly stepped out of the hotel I was in for the days I spent in this land of yakshas (water spirits) - partly due to weather - rain and little kids, but largely due to the fact that I had planned to laze in and around the hotel during this trip. So if you want a complete down and low on the town and its whereabouts, you are in the wrong place.
Anyway, since this is the first time I am in Kathmandu, let me tell you something about this interesting find:
* This little and scenic kingdom (now a democracy) is a strange mixture of its neighbors - with the largest influence from, of course, India. A lot of aid and business comes from the big brother, and so do the tourists. Nepalis look up to India as a kind of role model - much like Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis do to an extent - and the influence is palpable.
The sign boards are all in Devanagari (same script as Hindi and Sanskrit). So it's kinda like reading Malaysian - you read the Roman script but cannot figure out what it means. The taxis are all Maruti 800's, and they are all white in color. People look very much like those in East Indian states, and most talk Hindi.
* The first impression of Kathmandu, however, is as if the clock has turned 30 years back in one of Indian cities. Most houses look as if in serious need of repair. The roads are terrible, with crazy traffic. The cabs are old, rickety and mostly second-hand. It is rather nostalgic for anyone who grew up in an Indian metro in the last 80's, a trip down the memory lane.
The airport, especially, reminded me of MDI's building in old Gurgaon, with its red bricks and claustrophobic design. The immigration officers look bored of their job and let you in without even looking at you, especially if you carry the Indian passport. Meh, another one!
* The biggest hotel, still, is Hyatt. The property is sprawling across a large golf course, and is central to one of the two main tourist attractions in Kathmandu - the Bodhi stupa. Do not stay near the Pashupati Nath temple - the other attraction - as some of the hotels that you see on the Internet are a great sham - the site shows wonderful photos, but when you see them in reality, it bites.
There are a few other nice hotels too, like the one I stayed. This one - Hotel Tibet International - is a new property, rather mid-range, with new rooms decorated in a Tibetan manner, and is a stone's throw distance from Bodhi stupa.
* The above mentioned point is extremely important - not just metaphysically but also gastronomically. The Stupa is beautiful and serene and all that, with a nice circular path to walk around and Buddha's eyes watching over you, but what makes this information crucial to the hungry wanderer is that the same circular path is laden with some of the nicest eating places in this area.
The Roadhouse Cafe is highly recommended for its Italian menu - so much so I visited this one twice. They have a terrace as well as indoor seating. There are at least 3-4 others that could get you a similar menu, but this one is perhaps the best.
The cafes here are simply fabulous. For breakfast, the Circle Cafe offers a variety of freshly ground coffee and cinnamon buns, which are excellent. Most cafes have their own collection of local books about Nepal and tourism, and you can spend eons in these with your coffee.
The Stupa and its surrounding is a traveller's delight. The circular path offers cafes, eateries, and shops to buy trinkets. The Stupa itself is quite enchanting, with the two eyes of Buddha that are painted on its tip looking calmly upon you whenever you glance. All you need to go is climb atop one of these nice cafes, get a corner in their terrace and you can safely believe that all is well with the world.
The walkway around the Stupa is paved and is crowded in the morning and in the evening with devout Buddists who take parikrama (walking rounds) around it. It is fascinating to see some of the younger ones walking briskly, while some real old people walking real slowly - turning the prayer wheels around the wall of the Stupa with each step.
* In the evening, one can of course hail a white toy cab and head towards Thamel - Nepal's hippy haven. This is one place you will find mostly European tourists, searching for trinkets and knick-knack. There are some nice eateries too. Hotel Utse is one of the oldest Tibetean eatery in town, and makes one of the finest "Gacok" - a noodle soup filled with meat and veggies and served in a steaming pot ... Oh my, the pot is magical! ... The meat in the bowl does not finish, and the very friendly folks there keep pouring more soup till you have to prostrate and cover it!
Outside Kathmandu
----------------------------
You can make Kathmandu your base and trek around or travel around - which we did not do much due to the rains. The most scenic would be taking a flight (about 30 min) to Pokhra and maybe spending some nights in Pokhra. This is the western, more scenic part of Nepal - with national parks, valleys, and places of interest like Lumbini - Siddhartha Gautama's birthplace.
But the more accessible is to take a cab and go to Dhulikhel - about 30km from Kathmandu. Dhulikhel is noteworthy for the Newari cuisine and the little sleepy town is filled with small eateries offering special Newari thalis for lunch. It is also famous for clear views in most parts of the year of the majestic Himalaya - including the famous peaks of Kanchanjunga and Everest. Dhulikhel Resort has a nice garden seating atop a hill and you can soak in the atmosphere with some afternoon tea. The food at this place is marginal though, apart from Chicken a-la Kiev, which is for some inexplicable reasons spelled as Chicken a-la "King"!
A similar location is Nagarkot, again famous for the views. The other places to visit around the town are the Durbar Square at Patan (Lalitpur) and Bhaktapur - which are two satellite towns of Kathmandu. Nothing spectacular, and the Durbar Square of Kathmandu is good too, if you like that sort of thing.
Within Kathmandu
--------------------------
Frankly, I did not venture out much in the town. It kept raining for most part, and the streets were muddy and filthy. The only go-around was by the little Maruti cabs, which we used regularly to go to Thamel in the evenings, which is rather touristy. The Durbar Square is on the way to Thamel.
The Pashupati temple is interesting. The temple complex is quite large, and has a parthenon of Indian deities. The main Shiva temple is apparently built with wood from one single tree, which is fascinating. The temple complex is next to Bagmati river, and the funeral pyres are on the other banks. The Boudhanath took more of my fancy and time too, being close to the hotel and also offering cafes around. The Pashupati temple is kinda like any other temple in India.
Being a strong follower of history and in tradition to my usual travels, I skipped the museums and all other 'places of interests' listed on the sites, as quite candidly they do not interest me. Instead, we spent time walking around the time, sometimes chatting with locals, eating momos and gacok, and counting with my kids the planes flying out of the airstrip into the green mountains behind.
This visit has almost been a trailer to what our good neighbor can offer. And you can be sure that I will be visiting it - especially the Pokhra valley very soon and updating this post!
Till then, keep moving,
Regards,
Shreekant
August 2014
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