Nov 27-“That Little Bit Impossible”

Today, Bhola (the guide that keeps on guiding) arranged a van to take us (me, Makaela, Heather, and Sean) to Bhaktapur. It’s a city separate from Kathmandu, about an hour away depending on the traffic. The main part of Bhaktapur is an ancient city which at one time was the capital of Nepal. There are numerous temples going back to the 14th century. It’s another place where we have to pay to enter…1500 rupees. 

Notice it is cheaper for “SAARC peoples”.

Bhola couldn’t go in “with” us because he doesn’t have a guide license. We didn’t want a guide, but we were asked many times if we wanted one. We walked around the temple part first. 

The poles holding up the building don’t inspire a lot of confidence in the soundness of it. 






There were quite a few school kids there. The schools are for the wealthier Nepalis. 

They waved to us. 

We climbed to the top. 

Those were some steep stairs!

One of the stone animals along the stairs. 

After the temple area, we started to see more shops. We spent quite a bit of time in a Thanka painting shop, learning about how students learn for numerous years to become master painters. The paintings were beautiful and expensive. 

This was a Thanka painting school. 

We did a little shopping. Heather and I wanted to buy these drums. She was looking at a bigger one. She got him to 2500 rupees. Since the one I was interested in was smaller, I asked him if he would take 2000 rupees. He said, “That little bit impossible.”  So I asked 2200 rupees. He said yes! So I got this cool drum for about $15. Heather and did some more bargaining together. She wanted four of these paper lanterns, and I wanted one. They were 300 rupees each. He gave us four for 1000. Heather is really good at this. She asks how much, and when they respond, she says, “Too expensive. What is your best price?” Then gets them to come down even more. I like shopping with her!

As we were walking along, we noticed a lot of little girls dressed up. I asked this one if I could take her photo. 

She is 6 years old. They were dressed up for a “marriage to small fruits”. Don’t really understand what that means, but they sure were beautiful! 

We were to meet Bhola back at the entrance at 1:00. We decided we’d better start heading back. Amazingly, we made it back without having to backtrack, or ask anyone! We didn’t need no stinkin’ guide! Here’s some more colorful photos along the way. 

Veg stand

Dried fish

Potter in Pottery Square

Pottery…lots of pottery. 

Bolts of fabric you could have made into custom clothing. 

Must have been a wedding. 

We still had time when we got back before meeting Bhola, so we went to find some food. We went into this garden courtyard. There were trees loaded with some kind of citrus fruit, poinsettia trees, and persimmons. We were satisfied with the menu choices, so we ate there. This was Makaela’s meal. 

Thale set

And mine, Sweet and sour vegetables. Heather and Sean had the same as me. 

After lunch, we met up with Bhola, and went back to the van. It’s Sunday here, but that doesn’t really mean anything. Kids go to school 6 days a week, only having Saturday off. It’s the same with jobs. So, Sunday is a pretty busy day. 

When we got back to the hotel, Makaela and I went in search of a bookstore. I wanted to get a Langtang Valley map. We found one! I came back to organize my stuff (we fly out tomorrow). Makaela went back out to do some more shopping. She came back with a couple of custard apples. They are a tropical fruit that looks like this. 

It has black seeds a little bigger than a watermelon seed. The flesh is creamy and has kind of a pear/mango/kiwi flavor. It’s really good. We shared two of them.