Day 4

Following a night of being eaten alive we decided to head out of the hostel and to a local bakery for breakfast. Having bought a cinnamon swirl and a croissant for less than £1 combined we sat down to enjoy our bargain breakfast. At the end of the meal we happily concluded that whilst the various pastries were yummy they were simply bread in disguise… A croissant shaped piece of bread and a swirled piece of bread with cinnamon!

After breakfast we decided to set out in search of phone SIM cards…surprisingly we stumbled across a Ncell shop pretty quickly! Following a quick chat we both decided on the sims we wanted for our respective phones and Fred was given instructions to the nearest ATM (which was 2 minutes away). However, the case of Nepalese “directions” struck again and after 45 minutes in the shop I started to worry a little that Fred had abandoned me. But I need not have feared because after about 47 minutes Fred pulled up cheerful in a rickshaw safe and sound!!

Once equipped with our phones we began the walk from Thamel to Swayambhunath…thankfully we didn’t need to rely on a map too much as Swayambhunath was visible in the distance. On the way we couldn’t help ourselves but stop at a small shop and look at all there was to buy. Despite having bags that are way too heavy and full already we both bought one Nepalese clothing…Fred some shirts and myself some “poo pants”…I’d call it a success!

Once we had crossed over the river we became sidetracked by pretty prayer flags leading up to a small temple. Not knowing whether it was a Hindu or Buddhist temple we decided not to enter but instead look in from outside. Inside were some monks and beautifully ornate shrines.

We then continued up the steep hill towards the vague direction of Swayambhunath. At the bottom of the Eastern Steps leading up to Swayambhunath we came across a cafe that appeared to be relatively clean and so stopped for a spot of lunch. Still reeling from my previous bad choices I stuck to plain and simple – French fries!

Having finished the meal I decided a quick loo stop would be a sensible idea. BIG MISTAKE. So far we have been lucky with toilets as, whilst in most cases they are  disgusting, they have all been western style toilets. We weren’t so lucky this time. With the poignant smell of piss and a suspiciously wet floor it was better to enter and leave as quickly as possible rather than linger. It is safe to say I used a LOT of hand sanitizer upon exiting!

Following this debacle we wandered up the many steps to Swayambhunath. My first monkey sighting of the day left me very excited and I proceeded to point out every monkey I saw to Fred….after a while I realised that there were so many monkeys it was bound to get very, very annoying so quickly stopped!

All along the steps leading up to Swayambhunath we saw not only monkeys but also prayer flags, stalls and candles! The unfamiliar smell of incense was all about and helped to create the mystical and peaceful atmosphere that surrounds Swayambhunath. Once we had finally reached the top of the long long long flight of steep stairs the view looking back over Kathmandu was breathtaking.
It is only from this view that you realise and recognise the immense sprawling of buildings that makes up the city of Kathmandu.

Upon entering Swayambhunath you are greeted by the Great Thunderbolt, a huge brass-played dorje, which is one of the core symbols of Tibetan Buddhism. This symbol is representative of the power of enlightenment and the destruction of ignorance. It’s often associated with male power whilst a ceremonial bell represents female power. The stupa itself is incredible. With each part of it so intricately designed the meaning of each section can be distinguished. Starting from the base of the stupa    the ring of prayer wheels are engraved with the sacred mantra om mani padme hum (which means hail to the Jewel of the lotus). Next is the white dome which represents the earth and on top of this are 13 tiered beehive-like structures that represent the 13 stages that humans must pass through to reach nirvana. The strings of prayer flags also have mantras written on them, like those written on the prayer wheels. These mantras are said to be carried to the heavens by the wind. Surrounding the stupa are 5 statues which represent the 5 qualities of Buddhist wisdom, also known as Dhyani Buddhas.

Surrounding the stupa are billions of souvenir stalls with interesting goods from bangles and rings to masks and prayer flags!

On a less cheerful note, there are also the tombstones of Buddhist priests dotted around the stupa. Inconspicuous, to the unaware tourist, these graves are admired but often go unrecognised.

All around the Stupa monkeys can be seen climbing and feasting and leaping around – you do have to be careful of them though, they are quick to try and steal any food and anything that looks interesting…including the GoPro!

Whilst it is a recognised fact that tourists shouldn’t give money to those begging in Nepal when Fred was approached by a young boy, it was hard not to fall for his charm. To start with we remained firm and listened to the advice of the guidebook, but this soon deteriorated when Fred started teaching the boy how to say “My name is” and when the boy started to try to read parts of my travel book out loud to me. Helpless to his galliant efforts, Fred gave the boy 5 Rupees…about 2p!

Another odd interaction was in the form of us being asked for photos to be taken with us. This didn’t just happen once but happened mutliple times to both Fred and I. It got to a point where I had 4 people queueing to have a photo taken with me. We are still quite unsure as to why, maybe this blog has made me famous in Nepal! Or…and more likely … They simply wanted their photo taken with a white British person. Either way it was very surreal and somewhat strange!!

Before embarking on our return journey where we would have to face the horror of a thousand steps we decided to walk around the stupa, clockwise, spinning each prayer wheel, also clockwise, as a prayer for good luck. We were both reluctant to leave such a magical and incredible place and I’m sure I will visit again in the future.

Having made it to the bottom of the steps, and having taken even more pictures of monkeys, we decided to take a taxi to the British Embassy to visit Edwina. The taxi ride was manic to say the least and was made even more so by there being cows in the middle of the road for no apparent reason!

Upon arrival  at the embassy we were greeted by Freya (Edwina’s daughter) and were introduced to her group of friends. Afternoon tea soon extended into supper with Freya and her friends and it was great meeting up with other people in our age group! We walked back to Thamel with them all and made plans to meet them in various places! Grace lives in Pokhara and so I’m sure we will see her over the next few days.

Having made it back to our hostel we decided to purge our bags in time for the trek tomorrow…Fred’s purge definitely went better than mine! Following on from that Fred took all of our purged items back to the British Embassy where Edwina said she will look after them for us. It’s definitely contacts like these that help to reassure us that, whilst we are out in the big world, there are still people we can call on if everything goes wrong.

Back at the hostel I was busy making friends with the two new people who have joined our dorm, one man can speak 6 languages fluently, and somehow managed to get on to the topic of Brexit…it definitely made me feel like I was back home!

We are both all sorted now for our trek (we think!) and we set off tomorrow morning at 6:30 for a bus to take us on the 5 hour journey to Dumre. From Dumre we will take a local bus to Bandipur where we will stay for the night and expore!

Hopefully will write soon,

The Wanderers X 

P.S. I tried to add loads of pictures…mainly of monkeys and even one of the disgusting toilet … But the wifi on the 5th floor of a hostel in Kathmandu isn’t exactly great! I’ll try and do a picture page for today at some point tomorrow!