to manu impression in one week
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Bram
09 September 2015 | Nepal, Kathmandu
I am not even one week in Nepal and already to much adventures to write down. I will give it a try anyway.
My first and most amazing impression is the traffic of KTM. These seem to be no rules for driving. Officially people drive on the left site of the road but actually people just pass zigzag on either site of the street. On the very last moment the ongoing traffic give you a little bit of space so accidents are just prevented. It's amazing that few accidents happen. The good thing is that there's a continues trafficjam everywhere so people can't drive to fast. As a real dutchman I go by bike through the city and I love to zigzag between the cars, motorbikes, taxis, bicycles, riksha's and pedestriants, going faster than the other traffic.
Talking about cycling, I did a nice mtb tour the 2nd day of my stay in Nepal. We were going with friends of Sietske and Guy to Namo Buddha Resort, about 40 km from KTM. The opportunity to see some scenery and the logistic problems of fitting everyone in the car, I went with Guy and his friend BartJan on a mountainbike. 2 big climbings and a downhill, mostly on dirtroads, it was a conditionally and technically challenging mtb trail, but I managed to keep up with the two guys.
Namo Buddha is a small village with an important buddhist temple, called the stupa of Namo Buddha. Close to the Stupa there's a big and beautiful gompa (monastery) where I even had the luck to see many buddhist praying and performing rituals.
Back in KTM after the nice relaxing weekend I started visiting the temple compexes, called durbar squares. There's 3 famous ones in and around KTM. Patan durbar square is still ratherly well maintained after the earthquake. Several buddhist and hindu temples and shrines are put together, each with statues, paintings and carvings of the different gods. (The most important gods have many differents forms of appearing, some peaceful and some really evil).
KTM durbar square is more damaged unfortunately, but still the impression of how is was is very clear. People are working hard to reconstruct and need the money from the tourists to make it easier to finish and build it more earthquake resistent.
yesterday I went to Pashupatinath, a hindu complex along the Bagmati river where cremation rituals are taking place day and night. One cremation takes many hours and many people (especially nepali) go to watch them. Same as on the durbar squares, also here I was one of the few non-asian tourists. So everyone comes to talk to me and hope that they can earn some money selling or guiding. The good thing is that most nepali are really trustworthy. They will try to rip you off but will never steal from you.
After that I went to Boudha, where is the biggest Stupa of Nepal. I couldn't go inside because they where reconstructing the roof. A guide told his group that they could restore it quite fast, because most is still intact, but instead decided to reconstruct the fundaments so it will be more earthquake proof. Around the stupa there are many small shops and little chørtens (smaller tempels). Both the stupa and the other temples have prayer wheels, with mantras insight. The most famous one is ' Om mani padme hum' which means ' O, You jewel in a lotus'.
Boudha was the first place where there where more european tourists. Funny that in that place, people don't come to you to sell but wait for you to enter their shops.
Nepali people are very friendly, quite some speak rather good english and if they manage to solve the problems with their government and the pollution, this will be an even more beautiful country than it's now already.
My first and most amazing impression is the traffic of KTM. These seem to be no rules for driving. Officially people drive on the left site of the road but actually people just pass zigzag on either site of the street. On the very last moment the ongoing traffic give you a little bit of space so accidents are just prevented. It's amazing that few accidents happen. The good thing is that there's a continues trafficjam everywhere so people can't drive to fast. As a real dutchman I go by bike through the city and I love to zigzag between the cars, motorbikes, taxis, bicycles, riksha's and pedestriants, going faster than the other traffic.
Talking about cycling, I did a nice mtb tour the 2nd day of my stay in Nepal. We were going with friends of Sietske and Guy to Namo Buddha Resort, about 40 km from KTM. The opportunity to see some scenery and the logistic problems of fitting everyone in the car, I went with Guy and his friend BartJan on a mountainbike. 2 big climbings and a downhill, mostly on dirtroads, it was a conditionally and technically challenging mtb trail, but I managed to keep up with the two guys.
Namo Buddha is a small village with an important buddhist temple, called the stupa of Namo Buddha. Close to the Stupa there's a big and beautiful gompa (monastery) where I even had the luck to see many buddhist praying and performing rituals.
Back in KTM after the nice relaxing weekend I started visiting the temple compexes, called durbar squares. There's 3 famous ones in and around KTM. Patan durbar square is still ratherly well maintained after the earthquake. Several buddhist and hindu temples and shrines are put together, each with statues, paintings and carvings of the different gods. (The most important gods have many differents forms of appearing, some peaceful and some really evil).
KTM durbar square is more damaged unfortunately, but still the impression of how is was is very clear. People are working hard to reconstruct and need the money from the tourists to make it easier to finish and build it more earthquake resistent.
yesterday I went to Pashupatinath, a hindu complex along the Bagmati river where cremation rituals are taking place day and night. One cremation takes many hours and many people (especially nepali) go to watch them. Same as on the durbar squares, also here I was one of the few non-asian tourists. So everyone comes to talk to me and hope that they can earn some money selling or guiding. The good thing is that most nepali are really trustworthy. They will try to rip you off but will never steal from you.
After that I went to Boudha, where is the biggest Stupa of Nepal. I couldn't go inside because they where reconstructing the roof. A guide told his group that they could restore it quite fast, because most is still intact, but instead decided to reconstruct the fundaments so it will be more earthquake proof. Around the stupa there are many small shops and little chørtens (smaller tempels). Both the stupa and the other temples have prayer wheels, with mantras insight. The most famous one is ' Om mani padme hum' which means ' O, You jewel in a lotus'.
Boudha was the first place where there where more european tourists. Funny that in that place, people don't come to you to sell but wait for you to enter their shops.
Nepali people are very friendly, quite some speak rather good english and if they manage to solve the problems with their government and the pollution, this will be an even more beautiful country than it's now already.
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09 September 2015 - 17:55
Roel:
Lijkt erop dat je het naar je zin hebt :-)
Geniet er van daar!!
Zie je snel -
09 September 2015 - 18:28
Ramon:
Ha Bram,
Goed om te horen dat je t leuk hebt daar (en dat je toch maar niet bent komen logeren)! Vergeet niet een motor te huren, als je dat aan durft.. Groetjes ook van Lisa!! -
09 September 2015 - 19:30
Sander:
Ha Bram,
Een mooie start van je reis. ga zo door en de groeten aan Sietske en Guy en de meisjes
Groet,
Sander & Elidoor en de jongens -
10 September 2015 - 00:03
Hanneke :
door jou word ik nu verplicht Engels te lezen en te schrijven!! Dank Bram! Een jaar gratis training en de mooiste verhalen van jou! Geniet!!!! -
11 September 2015 - 11:28
Karin:
Oh wat heerlijk, ik ben gelijk weer terug in Kathmandu door je verhaal. Fietsen door de stad, vergeet je mondkapje niet, voor je het weet hoest je slijm op en rochel en spuug je net als de Nepali op staart. Enjoy! -
11 September 2015 - 14:44
Marianne:
mooi verhaal! -
11 September 2015 - 22:18
Stef:
Hi Bram,
nice impressions of your first week. It also takes me virtually back there. How did you get a bicycle? do they people you are staying with have one or did you rent one? I also thought Kathmando was too high up to be able to to any serious mountainbiking. but apparently not. The chanting and just seeing of the monks is a very nice experience. Sometimes we still put on the CD with the Buddhist songs we bought there. Very relaxing music.
The nicest square around KTM was Bakthapur, but i am afraid that was is also very heavily damaged. You still might want to check it out. And what about the food? do you enjoy it? Kathmando had a backpackers quarter where many many tourists came, stayed, ate, strolled around and bought. Is it still active, or not many tourists now? You just arrived, and still have a lot to explore on the "high" side of Nepal, but do not forget to go to Chatwin NP as well, in the south. And there is the birthplace of Buddha as well.
Anyway, keep enjoying and looking fw to your next update -
12 September 2015 - 12:20
Bram:
Nice to read your reactions.
As Karin wrote, a mouthcap is no luxury when going on the street. I were my buff during biking between the terrible traffic.
Stef, Thamel is still alive and fortunately had quite some tourists, thouhj not so many as usual they say. The season is just starting, so let's hope many more tourists come to visit Nepal and spend their money. I for myself have bought enough souvenirs already so I did my part very well.
chitwan is on the list, probably after te trekking, so more change to really get into the jungle.
It hadn't been raining for a whole week since I arrived but last night it started raining and went on almost all morning. Looks like Holland.
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