Today's highlights included: Climbing to the top of a conical shaped hill to see the Monkey Temple (Swoyambhunath stupa) with hundreds of monkeys everywhere. Walking through rain soaked streets to tour Kathmandu Durbar Square with its cluster of ancient temples & palaces. Visiting the Imperial Palace where we saw Kumari, the living Hindu Goddess, who's actually a little girl. She appeared briefly in her golden window. Buckets of rain & thunder all day-the remnants of a typhoon that struck Japan earlier this week. I felt glad I brought my raincoat & umbrella. Impressions as we walked through the city's busy streets included dodged motorcycles & cars all honking their horns to warn other drivers & pedestrians in the packed, narrow streets. Crowds of people. A woman dressed in a colorful sari feeding pidgeons & other women sweeping temple areas with brooms made of twigs. Identifying our 1st Nepalese bird (the house crow). Many stray dogs, small shops lining the roads & traffic that reminded me of Kenya. At the end of the day we used the hairdryer to dry our hiking shoes from the day's outing. Although I felt sleepy & jet lagged before dinner but I delayed a nap with the hope that I might sleep better tonight. These are a few of the memories of our first full day in Kathmandu.
 |
| Large bell at Monkey Temple |
 |
| The golden spire atop the Monkey Temple hill is the most ancient & enigmatic of all the shrines in the Kathmandu Valley |
 |
| Women sweeping up leftover offerinngs |
 |
| Masks for sale outside the temple |
 |
| Spinning prayer wheels |
 |
| Statue guarding temple entrance at Kathmandu Durbar Square |
 |
| Woman feeding pidgeons |
 |
| Marigolds are considered special. Leis made of marigolds were placed around our necks to welcome us to Nepal. |
 |
| Shiva, The Destroyer |
No comments:
Post a Comment