Cremation pyres and a big stupa

We set the alarm for 0615 and got going early for Pashupatinath, which we reached by taxi. We got dropped off before the stalls of trinkets and flowers which were aimed mainly at local devotees.

We walked to the main temple area into which we weren’t admissible (but we knew that). We found our way to the Bagmati river area. Signage suggested that there was a hefty NPR1000 fee but no one was collecting or policing it, so we went straight through.

Both banks of the Bagmati were lined with cremation platorms. It must be a quiet day for cremations as we saw none. I imagine this place must have been billowing with smoke soon after the earthquake.

There were also holy men seated around. They appeared to be praying, chanting, giving blessings or telling fortunes. A side set of stairs led uphill to a forest but we didn’t go all the way up. We came back down for another wander as it was interesting to just people-watch.

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From there, we took a taxi to Bodhnath, the largest stupa in Asia. From the ticket booth, we could see the Buddha-eyes of the temple was covered in scaffolding for repair. We debated whether to go in but decided that we would anyway, since we had missed the Bodhnath 21 years ago. We paid NPR250 to enter the area and was pleasantly surprised with the inside perimeter, which was made up of shops, cafes and hotels.

We walked around the perimeter partially and went up to a rooftop terrace for a cuppa; food was expensive in these places.

After our rest and reading, we took a detour from the perimeter walk to the Shechen monastery which was closed due to some earthquake damage. We returned to the circuit and tried to go up the plinth of the stupa but that was largely closed as well.

We completed our circuit around 0930 and decided to head back for breakfast. There was a bad traffic jam and no taxi wanted to go. We found a simple place (more like a shisha bar) for breakfast before attempting to head back.

Taxis were costlier than expected; in the end we shared with a Tibetan guy who appeared to be from China. He spoke to me in Mandarin. It took me a while to understand him as he had a flat tone and I couldn’t quite tell whether he was speaking Mandarin or not. I remember in Tibet, I used to eavesdrop to try work out whether people were speaking bad/flat Chinese or Tibetan!

Dark clouds gathered in the valley in the afternoon. We weighed up going to Durbar Square but with the hefty ticket fee, we thought it would be wise to wait till when we’d have clear weather so we can explore it leisurely. It was quite some time before the rain actually came, so the afternoon was largely whiled away with no specific achievement.

Due to heavy rain, we grabbed a simple dinner in the hotel.