Around the Kathmandu Valley

We had to come back to Kathmandu to apply for our Indian visa (something we should have done ages ago, but for some reason did not) so we decided to make the best of it and see some of the sights around te city. The valley is packed with important temples and pilgrimage sites and now we have the time to check the out - our visa will not be ready until the 28th.

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We started the day a Pashputinath - the largest Hindu temple in Nepal. Only Hindus are allowed into the temple itself, but the grounds along the Bagmati River are quite a thing to behold. AS well, the Bagmati makes its way to the Ganges and therefore is a popular location for cremations, one of which happened to take place while we were there.

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To be honest, I was expecting it to be horrific, but it was shockingly not so at all. The rituals go beyond just the burning of the body and the nature of the act seems to create a wonderful sense of closure for the family. The men of the family (no women are allowed to be involved) bring the body, which is wrapped tightly in a white cloth and then covered by a bright silk cloth, to the river and dunk the feet in the water, as well as sprinkle the while body with the water and red powder. They then bring the body to the cremation site and perform several rituals, around the body, including more water and red powder. The "clothing" is then carefully removed while straw is placed over te body and then lit on fire. We were told the bodies burn for 4 hours.

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From there we walked to Boudhanath, one of the most important Buddhist stupas in Nepal. (Nepalese love the superlatives.) It was a very pleasant 20 minute walk and upon entering the stupa grounds, you are entering what feels like an oasis to the city.

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The stupa is huge and surrounded by a pedestrian path on which people are circumambulating the stupa, mumbling prayers and turning prayer wheels. There are monks from all over the world, as well as many Tibetans dressed traditonally, making the rounds and with the hum of music in the background and the general calm it is easy to forget the crazy city that is only steps away. After making our way around we stopped at one of the many monestaries overlooking the stupa and just hung out. It was easy to get sucked in to the calm and staring eyes of the stupa; a wonderful way to end the day.

Tomorrow we head to Bondipur, an old town that supposedly is not ravaged by tourism and has some good day hikes. Should kill some time before we need to be back here for the visa.