Around Kathmandu

As I'm reaching the end of my six week holiday, the budget is getting tighter, especially after I decided to do a mountain flight to the Everest. That's why I decided to save the environment and my money by hiring a mountain bike for the next 2,5 days.

So I started in the morning heading north of the capital and uphill to Budhanilkantha, after a coca-cola stop and about an hour of cycling I reached the place. There I saw the sleeping Vishnu on a bed of snakes in a water-basin. Only Hindus are allowed to come close to the statue and place their offerings in front of it.

From there, the next kilometers were an easy downhill ride, before I went on the Ring Road and was racing against an army truck - I won:). The next stop was the big stupa of Bauddha - one of the holiest Buddhist sites and one of the largest stupas in the world. It is the centerpiece of a big mandala - you can walk around the base. The walkway is surrounded by houses with souvenir shops, cafes and restaurant. So I had a nice lunch on the roof top terrace and enjoyed the view on the stupa.

Another ride on the Ring Road brought me to Pashupathinath (meaning Lord of the animals, another name for Shiva) Temple. It's the oldest Hindu temple in Kathmandu at the banks of th river Bagmati. On the same river bank, the dead are burned on the ghats before their ashes are scattered in the river. On the other riverside, there are a lot of little temples and a big bunch of monkeys.

In Nepal, there is total different tourist paying concept. Usually, you pay to enter a special monument, instead here you have to pay an entrance fee to enter the area. If they find you without a ticket, you are kindly asked to buy one. Prices are compared to the Nepalese citizen rate quite high: 200 - 750 Nepales rupees (2-7,50 Euro).

At all the holy places you can find sadhus - ascets living from donations and spent their life in a religious way. One of the sadhus on the picture is following this path already for 40 years.

The next distance was very long as a had to cross the whole city from east to west to reach Swayambhu. But not only did I have to ride the bike uphill, there were also 350 steps to climb.

The reward for all the effort was a great view on Kathmandu and another stupa.

From there I went home to wash off all the dirt. In the evening, I went for something Italian.