Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur is a small and beautiful medieval town. It is a magic place that takes you into its spell at first sight.
I felt in love with it as soon as I entered Durbar Square after paying the tourist entrance fee.

First of all, motorized traffic is prohibited in the old center area. So it's quiet.
Second, a lot of effort has been put into restaurations and maintenance and the monuments are all in pretty good shape. They all stay free from shops or vendors.
Third, it is extremely clean.

There are several legends about how the settlement was born. What's for sure is that it is located on the old commerce route to Tibet. The "youngest" square in the old city dates back to around 1326 - the arrival of the goddess Taleju. For the new goddess a new location was mandatory and so the new square (Thaumadi square) was created to the West of the existing one. Naturally, Durbar Square (aka Palace square) was born then, too.

The two squares are connected to each other. Both are dominated by beautiful temples out of which the Nyatapola Mandir in Thaumadi square is the biggest and highest. More than 30m high, it has 5 pagoda-style roofs and it is the third of this kind only in Kathmandu. Its name actually means "5 floors" and refers to both the roofs and the number of platforms at its base. The stairs leading up the base are guarded by 5 pairs of huge statues. People climb up the stairs and sit on the top platform to rest or watch the activity in the square. Children climb up the elephant statues. It's a lot of fun for them. Next to Nyatapola is another temple and, facing both, a smaller temple converted in a cafe. The Cafe Nyatapola is the perfect spot for a tourist to sit and watch.

And there's lot to see. Souvenir vendors come and go. They offer bags and jewelry and tiger balm and much more. Street vendors also come and go. They sell coconut slices or fresh pineapple juice or roasted nuts, etc. Men bent under their heavy loads traverse the square. Women chat while their children are playing in the square. Toddlers are crawling along half-naked.

The palace - partially housing a museum - consists of several interconnected courtyards and temples. Some of these - the most beautiful ones, apparently - are not accessible to tourists. Anyways, whatever is accessible is stunning already.

The narrow streets leading away from the squares are all cobbled with the same kind of bricks as the ones used for the buildings. So the whole townscape is very uniform in color and style. The big squares are rich in temples competing for your attention. It can be overwhelming. And the woodcarvings that adorn all these temples, those are absolutely superb. They are extremely rich in detail and a long lasting proof of the special skills and traditions of these people. Gods and goddesses, but also normal life scenes and animals and all sorts of creatures are represented in the carvings.
Most houses are old as well showcasing the woodcarved window frames and balconies. At the main street level they house small shops. It's a living museum you're walking through.

The narrow cobbled streets lined up with very nice souvenir shops are extremely nice. They remind me again of Italy. It could be a street in San Gimignano or some little village in Tuscany we're walking on. You can buy anything from pottery, thankas, handmade paper cards and woodcarvings to clothes.

If you are patient and walk also around and a bit off the main tourist paths, you can witness many aspects of the activities and daily life of the Nepali villagers.

The pottery market is a large square where hundreds and thousands of clay pots of various sizes lay to dry in the sun before being burned. A few women dressed in bright red sarees bent deep down and carefully stepping amid them, turn the pots from time to time.

Then, just a few minutes away from the crowds off the street that takes you down the hill and to the bus station we reach another large square. Here, people are busy to deal with their corn. Large sheets of plastic or woven rags are spread out covering the square. Corn and barley and other grains are drying out. Some women are busy churning the corn - the dried shells fly in the air and get carried away by the wind.
There are also small chillies drying out and some other unrecognizable vegetables. Chicken are walking around freely picking whatever they feel like. And on the side there are some goats sitting in the shade.
A man is filling up a bag with grains.
It is a simple and peaceful scene - I could sit down and watch for hours. I presume nothing has changed in this spot in ages.

After enjoying a tea in the Cafe Nyatapola across the big temple we go explore the oldest area of the town.

In the old Dattatreya area the narrow streets are winding up and down the hilly terrain. Here, too, are some impressive large temples and lots of smaller ones to discover. It is Saturday and kids are running around and playing on the streets, women are chatting or sitting and watching the passers-by. The men are gathered together to chat, smoke or play cards. No tourists so far on these streets we've ventured and everything is so simple and beautiful. At some point we sit down and watch for maybe an hour.

From time to time a procession is passing by - men and boys (I only spotted a couple of girls) dance in pairs accompanied by traditional drumming. They each have a stick in one hand which they clap together while they jump. Unfortunately, the costumes are far from traditional. Actually, most of them are wearing jeans and the like. We have now seen these processions several times along our way. Women and older people are all gathering in the squares to watch them.

Eventually, it is time for me to return to Kathmandu and, accompanied by Yvonne, I head down the narrow cobbled street former commerce route to Tibet past the pottery market and to the bus stop. I am lucky and get on a local bus and back to Katmandu within an hour. She's smarter - staying there overnight.

I will come back to Bhaktapur.