We Flew To Kathmandu And Caught The Himalayan View! - Part 9 : Namaskaar, Namaste...

So this is the last part of our Nepal story. I'm feeling quite sad about entering this last post on Nepal, I guess that also explains my procrastination. We miss Nepal, miss Krishna House, Mountain House, Uncle Purna, dhal bhatt, Bhat Bhateni, FISHTAIL! and of course, Yak Yak Yak Yak Yak! :)

One reason why this holiday was very meaningful to me especially, is that our boys are grown enough to understand and remember it. We've brought them to the Philippines, Bali, Sumatera and Singapore, but they were still quite young then. This time we could talk about our walks and visits and they really could appreciate the whole "enrichment" thing. We hope to go again some day, next time when the boys are bigger we could maybe trek the Annapurna and around the Everest range. I surely want to make my way to the fabulous Yeti Mountain Home Kongde and wake up to the view of Everest :)

Meantime, we'll keep on reading our dear Nepal book, look at our pictures, read my blog entries; there are also our lovely mementos, Tibetan carpet, yak wool shawl, tika powder and stencil, our hemp stuff, Tintin books and our fridge magnets, which are daily reminders of the wonderful time we spent in that charming part of the world...


Hari Ketujuh

Hari ini juga hari yang santai. Kami pergi ke Tasik Begnas di mana kami menaiki sampan di sekeliling tasik. Di sekitar kawasan tasik pula, saya ternampak budak-budak yang berjudi dengan permainan dadu! Selepas Tasik Begnas, kami bersiar-siar di pekan Lakeside Pokhara sehingga malam, di mana kami telah singgah di Silk Road Cafe. Di sini kami menikmati minuman lassi dan mufin yang sungguh lazat.

Hari Kelapan

Kami bersarapan awal, lebih kurang jam 6 pagi, kemudian pada jam 7 pagi kami memulakan perjalanan ke Kathmandu menaiki kereta. Ia mengambil masa kira-kira 8 jam. Jaraknya 200km, tetapi jangkamasa perjalanan sangat panjang kerana jalannya sempit dan berliku-liku. Namun pemandangan sekelilingnya sangat cantik. Separuh jalan kami berhenti untuk berakit di Trishuli River. Airnya sangat sejuk! Walaupun sejuk, kami sangat seronok! Selepas berakit selama 3 jam, kami makan tengahari dan meneruskan perjalanan ke Kathmandu. Kami tiba di Kathmandu pada jam 6 petang dan terus ke Bhaktapur untuk menginap di Krishna House. Kami tiba di Krishna House lebih kurang jam 7 malam.

...with Indira, Stan's lovely wife who makes my favourite toast at The Mountain House:) We said goodbye to them today...

...with James Desmond, the world cyclist on a noble mission...He left The Mountain House, Pokhara, the same day we did, but his journey to Kathmandu, all that 200km, would be on 2 wheels!

Trishuli here we come! The boys loved this!

Hari Kesembilan

Selepas sarapan, kami menuju ke Patan Durbar Square. Di sini kami melawat Candi Rudravarna Mahavihar dan Candi Mahabouddha. Dari Patan kami menuju pula ke Kathmandu Durbar Square. Seperti di Patan, di sini juga terdapat banyak bangunan-bangunan lama yang berusia hampir seribu tahun. Selepas makan tengahari di Bandaraya Kathmandu, kami ke Candi Pashupatinath. Candi ini adalah tempat di mana penganut Hindhu membakar mayat mereka yang sudah meninggal. Kami sempat melihat beberapa mayat sedang dibakar, asapnya banyak dan berkepul-kepul, kami terpaksa memakai topeng muka.

Mahavihar Temple, Patan...

Mahabouddha Temple, Patan...

Patan Durbar Square...

A cozy little shop we found in Patan, Melting Pot, which sells cool hemp products, it also has a cuddly little apartment rental upstairs...

Swayambhunath or also known as Monkey Temple, Kathmandu...

Kathmandu Durbar Square...

Kathmandu Indra Chowk...

Pashupatinath Temple... As Ajaya of Krishna House said, "...I don't know how you would feel about seeing dead people being cremated, but it's a part of our life..."... Well, it was indeed a new experience for us, a little eerie to be honest, but we understand and appreciate now how important and sacred this is for the Hindhus...

...there's a river between this piazza and the temple, where the ashes and all other remains are released after cremation...

...within the compounds of the Pashupatinath, there is a lovely forest and a deer park. On the boys' left is the deer park, while the forest is further in the back. Ajaya reminded us not to wander too far in without an experienced guide, coz there have been instances where people got lost, that's how huge the forest is...

This is also one of my favourite things in Nepal, mine and Marrakesh's. Whenever he saw a tika box or vendor selling tika in the markets, he would just sit and stare at all those vibrant colours, and he loved all the beautiful mandalas we found. So, at this last stretch of our trip, we decided to let him have his tika, and he chose the cyan, his favourite colour, it's the one on the last row, next to the red... :)

Hari Kesepuluh

Ini adalah hari terakhir kami di Nepal. Penerbangan pulang ke Kuala Lumpur pada jam 3.30 petang. Sebelum ke lapangan terbang, kami melawat Candi Changu Narayan di Bhaktapur, lebih kurang 10km dari Krishna House. Candi ini sangat lama, ia dibina di dalam abad ke-4. Di sini kami melihat ramai penganut Hindhu bersembahyang, ada juga yang sedang menyanyi, menari dan bermain alat muzik, semua lagu-lagu keagamaan mereka. Seterusnya kami melawat Changu Museum, di mana kami melihat pinggan-mangkuk purba, matawang purba dan duit-duit lama, buku-buku lama dan juga sebahagian daripada sebuah meteorit! Selepas semua ini, kami ke Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Tribhuvan untuk menaiki pesawat pulang ke Malaysia. Di dalam penerbangan ini saya sempat membeli sebuah "travel chess set AirAsia". Keseluruhannya, ini adalah percutian paling menyeronokkan!


Changu Narayan Temple...

Changu Museum...

From the museum rooftop, we could see the Langtang range (in the background)...

Our treasured Nepal finds...

Books we bought from Perfect Bookstore, Pokhara Lakeside...

Tibetan hand woven carpet from Tashi Palkhiel, Pokhara...

Tibetan belts from Tashi Palkhiel and Pokhara Lakeside...

My fru fru yak wool shawl from Changu Narayan...I bought it coz it was different from the ones I'd bought earlier in Bhaktapur, and the girl who was selling it had made it herself :)

Marrakesh's cyan tika and mommy's wooden printing block with my favourite paisley motif stencil...

Hemp products from Melting Pot, Patan...

Fridge magnets from Perfect Bookstore, Pokhara Lakeside...

The one that stole my heart...

This is a silk shawl I found in Pokhara Lakeside. I was just strolling along the row of shops while my 4 guys spent time at the 3 Brothers Cyber kiosk, and I saw this beautiful shawl in the window. I stopped and looked, and I thought, no, I don't think I can afford this. Then I continued walking and I passed that window again as I went back to the cyber kiosk. The guys were still happily online and in no way seemed ready to move their butts, so I thought I'd stop by that window again, just to have a last look and to say goodbye to that beauty. As I stopped in front of the window this time, the owner popped out and said, "Would you please come in Madam, you like that shawl? Please come in, just have a look at it, you can try it, no problem. I have noticed you walking by a few times, come in, come in, please...", he said, smiling. He handed me the beautiful shawl, he told me it is not handmade, but it is pure silk and made in Nepal. Apart from my darling carpet, I'd only spent so much on meals, for our whole family. But I had fallen in love with this one, from the first time I saw it in that window, and the shop owner knew this. He just went on showing me other shawls, and he started talking about Nepal's shawl industry, the most popular being silk and pashmina. He explained to me about pashmina and the variety of it. He must have attended a good school coz his command of English was pretty good. He also talked about the Nepal's businessman's greatest competition, Indian businessmen! And he went on to show me the difference between Nepali work and that of India and China. I felt guilty about wanting to buy that shawl, but I knew if I didn't get it I may just regret it. So, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and bought it! And since the owner was so polite and obliging, I bought another shawl from him, a hand made water pashmina made in Nepal, for my mother-in-law. On our last day in Nepal, after Changu Narayan, I still hadn't found anything to bring home for my mum. I thought of my beautiful silk shawl, how much I loved it, and I imagined how lovely it would look on her, maybe with a pair of green baju kurung. I know my mum will always love anything any of her children gave her, especially if it means so much to us, and this shawl really means a lot to me. So, from our trip to this enchanting land, where most tourists and holiday makers hone in on silk and pashmina shawls, and brought them home by the dozens, I got only 2 pieces, for the 2 very special people in our lives... :)


Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's the end!

Nepal was dusty and congested, the electricity was low, lights were dim and there were daily routine power cuts. Water was scarce in some places and we had to constantly make sure all our drinking water was safe for consumption. The public toilets, especially the ones along the road from Pokhara to Kathmandu? That was something we didn't dare to explore. All the temples were high up at the top of the hills and mountains, and everyone drives like they're at the derby. But Pokhara was awe inspiring, while the Kathmandu Valley offered charm and intrigue. The locals were humble and nice, and the ones we met and befriended were simply wonderful. We visited 6 of the 8 Cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Nepal, Kathmandu Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, Swayambunath, Pashupatinath and Changu Narayan; we didn't have time to visit the Boudhanath Stupa, and Lumbini was not along our route. I might have mentioned in one of my earlier posts that the Peace Pagoda in Pokhara is a world heritage site, I'm truly sorry, it is not, it is one of many Peace Pagodas built around the world as shrines to World peace.

Nepal may not be a suitable travel destination for everyone, but for us, we just simply loved Nepal! Surely an experience we'll keep in our hearts and our minds always...Namaste :)