NEPAL: A Country You Can Call Home! Part 1 (Kathmandu)

September 21, 2015

Map of Nepal

Nepal is a landlocked country in Southern Asia, between the Tibet autonomous region of China and India. It contains 8 of the world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest - the world's tallest - on the border with Tibet, and Lumbini, the birth place of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

It has a very diverse geography, rising from less than 100 metres (328 ft) elevation in the tropical Terai—the northern rim of the Gangetic Plain, beyond the perpetual snow line to some 90 peaks over 7,000 metres (22,966 ft) including Earth's highest Mount Everest or Sagarmatha at 8,848m (29,029 ft). (Text from Wikitravel)

My cousin and I travelled Nepal with our favorite LuminAid

Last November 2014, my cousin and I travelled India and Nepal from Dubai. After we visited the famous Taj Mahal in Agra, we went back to New Delhi to catch our flight to Kathmandu.

All is fair at King Tribhuvan Airport :)

It was my first time to visit the said country. I was lucky to see the sites before the earthquake hit last April 25, 2015. When I first stepped in to Kathmandu Airport, an extraordinary feeling came into my system----it was like I'm HOME! I am a Filipino but I can feel the homey feeling as if I was in my own country. Nepal! Oh Nepal! The gateway to the HIMALAYAS!

Taken at World Heritage Hotel and Apartments- Dhwarika Chhen

Kathmandu

It is the capital of Nepal and also its largest city. There are lots of tourist sites across the city. Don't worry, everything is cheap in Nepal! The greatest experience you will encounter here is the people. Nepalese are one of the most genuine people I've ever met in my entire life. :)

Hotels we stayed:

My cousin and I stayed at World Heritage Hotel and Apartments on our first night in Kathmandu. We booked it through AGODA. We got the attic room. It was spacious. It can even accommodate 7 people! The hotel was nice and very simple but holds a very strong history. Located at the heart of Hanuman Dhoka Square, everything was almost in the neighborhood...even the living goddess Kumari!!!

On our last day, we travelled to Nagarkot, 30km east above Kathmandu Valley (In between our stay in Nepal we went to Pokhara---will post Part 2 of my trip next) and we stayed in Hotel at the End of the Universe. I can describe the hotel as authentic and hip! The hotel restaurant also is very cool. You can just sit there and relax while listening to alternative music. In the morning, you can climb the highest point of the hotel and if the weather permits, you can view the beautiful Himalayan Range Gamesh-Himal Side.

Sites we visited during the trip:

Hanuman Dhoka Square

Hanuman Dhoka is a complex of structures with the Royal Palace of the Malla kings and also of the Shah dynasty in the Durbar Square of central Kathmandu, Nepal. It is spread over five acres. The Hanuman Dhoka Palace (Hanuman Dhoka Darbar in Nepali) gets its name from the stone image of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, that sits near the main entryway. 'Dhoka' means door or gate in Nepali. (Text from Wikipedia)

Boudhanath Stupa

Boudhanath (also called Boudha, Bouddhanath or Baudhanath or the Khāsa Caitya) is a stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is known as Khāsti in Nepal Bhasa, Jyarung Khashor in Tibetan language (Tibetan: བྱ་རུང་ཁ་ཤོར། Wylie: bya rung kha shor) or as Bauddha by speakers of Nepali. Located about 11 km (6.8 mi) from the center and northeastern outskirts of Kathmandu, the stupa's massive mandala makes it one of the largest spherical stupas in Nepal.

The Buddhist stupa of Boudhanath dominates the skyline. The ancient Stupa is one of the largest in the world. The influx of large populations of refugees from Tibet has seen the construction of over 50 Tibetan Gompas (Monasteries) around Boudhanath. As of 1979, Boudhanath is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Along with Swayambhunath, it is one of the most popular tourist sites in the Kathmandu area. (Text from Wikipedia)

Just across the stupa is a monastery known as Guru Lhakhang Monastery. We went inside and met a buddhist monk named Brother Nawang.

This is one of the many reasons why Buddhism is always on my mind and heart. Brother Nawang, the Buddhist monk here in the pictures, asked my name when we entered the place and he instantly started praying for me without asking what my religion is, where did I come from, and most importantly, he didn't ask for any donation! The monastery doesn't even have donation box itself.

Bhaktapur

The third of the medieval city-states in the Kathmandu Valley, Bhaktapur is also the best preserved. Many Nepalis still use the old name of Bhadgaon (pronounced bud-gown) or the Newari name Khwopa, which means City of Devotees. The name fits – Bhaktapur has not one but three major squares full of towering temples that comprise some of the finest religious architecture in the entire country. (Text from Lonely Planet)

As a resident of Dubai, I was really in awe with how people lived in Bhaktapur. They were living as if they were still in medieval period. It was like an eye-opener to me. Living in an urban area with world class facilities, top of the class skyscrapers, home to the world's tallest building, most things here in Dubai are glistening! But then, when I exposed myself to the Nepalese whose life don't depend on modern technology, I was like 'WOW". These people surely know how to live life! I can see how happy they were with the simple things around them.

Faces of Nepalese people