Hello Nepal. Well this feels different!
Outside of temples and a starting spot for mountain trekking, I was going to Kathmandu without any real knowledge of the area. Immediately upon arrival from India, it felt different. Calmer, quieter and less chaotic.
Surrounded by incredible scenery, Kathmandu has a unique and interesting character to it when walking around the city. There’s a ruggedness to it. Many of the streets are dirt roads, the buildings aren’t in the best shape and the architecture and temples all over the city give it its own identity. There’s a mix of Nepalese culture and modernity throughout the city, while feeling you are still far away from a more developed urban life. Since the country has become government run, buildings higher than 2 storeys are now permitted. A new building era has begun.
Roads are unpredictable, Power-cuts randomly happen, it’s all part of the experience. Everybody is smiling. But before we explore Kathmandu any further we took a jeep ride out of the city.
As we made our way out of the city, brick factories and rural developments give way to rice fields on the way to the hillside village of Panauti.
Panauti is still regarded as one of the oldest towns in Nepal. It offers a poignant look at the passage of time. The crowded bus-stop in the sprawling mess of the new town gives way to small brick streets leading through a once prosperous, trading medieval city with a relatively small temple at its centre accompanied by an antiquated yet charming museum. The main visitors here, it appears, are a multitude of pigeons.
With the exception of a few motor vehicles there seems to be little evidence of modernity. Washing is done in the river, cement is made by hand, wool is hand-spun and wood is hand-carved.
Earthquakes and age have taken their toll on the village but some building renovations are underway. The tiny, lopsided doorways, hand-carved wooden structures and wonky, subsided brickwork provide a historical backdrop to the day to day chores of everyday life.
Our next stop is Bhaktapur…