Patan (Lalitpur) & Kathmandu

Going to Patan (Lalitpur)

We woke around 0400 and dozed till a more reasonable time before going out for breakfast around 0700.  We chatted to some guides at breakfast and they said that our upcoming Mardi Himal hike was a good choice as it is more scenic than the Annapurna Base Camp hike with closer views of the mountains.

We wanted to make an out of the city centre today and it was a toss-up between Bhaktapur and Patan (Lalitpur).  The transport to the former was prohibitive at NPR3000 so the choice was made for us.  It would be Patan with the taxi only costing NPR700.  Transport costs seem to have skyrocketed since my last visit.

The taxi dropped off a short walk from Patan’s Durbar Square, claiming that it was inaccessible to him, possibly because we bargained the price down.

We found our way fine to the stunning row of four Hindu temples that made up Patan’s Durbar Square.  They are all from the 1600s but vary tremendously in style.  Facing this row of stunning Newari architecture is the Palace, which we didn’t bother visiting.

There was meant to be a payment for visiting Patan’s Durbar Square but we couldn’t find it until we were just about to leave.  So, we left.

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From here we found the Kumbheshwar Hindu Temple from the late 1300s.  There was a fair bit of religious activity going on here.

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We wandered to the nearby Golden Temple (Hiranya Varna Mahavihar), a Buddhist temple from 1409 centred around a courtyard.  We were pestered by someone who was trying to sell paintings but masquerading as a guide, an unsolicited guide.  When it became apparent that I wasn’t going to go to his shop, he asked for payment for his unsolicited commentaries.  He quietly disappeared when I declined.  This is not the typical Nepali experience as I find the country relatively free from pesky touts.

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Kathmandu’s Durbar Square

We had become better at bargaining now, since yesterday, when we negotiated our next taxi ride to Kathmandu’s Durbar Square.

We walked around the somewhat L-shaped area and I had a couple of firsts on my fourth visit to the Kathmandu.  I entered the Kumari Bahal palace and the Museum for the first time.

The former was quite insignificant in terms of scale but is special to many, as the residence of the pre-pubescent living goddess.  We were lucky to have caught the place as it closed soon after our visit.

The latter was large and beautiful enough to wander around without care for its history.  Quite notable was the China Aid signs around the museum and in the Durbar Square area.

We walked back to our hotel in Thamel before having lunch and a rest.  We both felt tired but decided to revive ourselves with a spot of shopping.

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Boo needed to rent a puffer jacket for the hike for five days.  I decided that it would cost only a bit more for me to buy one and lend him my old one.  [Edit:  my jacket cost NPR1500 whereas it would have cost NPR1000 to rent one for five days.]

My hypertensive pussy back home is on Amlodopine, ¼ of a 5mg tablet daily.  Being a prescription medicine in New Zealand, I can only get it from the vet at NZD1.92 per tablet.  In Malaysia, it costs NZD0.14 each.  But here in Nepal, I can get it for NZD0.085 each.

I bought a year’s supply, hoping that my geriatric pussy will live that long to use it all up.  It’s only a quarter year’s supply for a human so it shouldn’t attract too much attention at the border.

We finished the day with dinner back at the breakfast eatery.