Narayanhiti Royal Palace, Katmandu.
My botanist friend gave me some complicated name for this tree. He wasn't impressed with my reasoning that it should be called "tree with pretty purple blooms."
Statues of one of the kings of Nepal. This is a little down the road that begins at the Narayanhiti Palace gates.
A structure close to Katmandu's Durbar Square. Name unknown.
"Saafal" vendor. Nepal's version of the "ber." Saafal is tangy and sweet to taste, typically served with a liberal sprinkling of salt and red-chilli powder. Awesome.
The Bakery Cafe in Thamel -- about a 5 minute walk away from the Narayanhiti Palace. In Katmandu we had most of our breakfasts here. Apart from the excellent food and great ambience, what's unique about this place is it's staff all of who are hearing and speech impaired. All communication and orders happen in sign language.
The Bakery Cafe in Thamel -- We employ "special" people.
The Bakery Cafe in Thamel -- Street side.
The Katmandu Kitchen, near the Narayanhiti Palace. Authentic and awesome Nepali cuisine. Try their set dinner -- 5 different starters (including momos), Roast wildboar, lamb and chicken dishes, rice and vegetables and lentils . . .yummy!
Statue of Yeti in the premises of the Royal Nepal Airlines office.
Statue of Yeti in silhouette in the premises of the Royal Nepal Airlines office.
Statue at the entrance of Katmandu's Durbar Square.
One of the structures in Katmandu's Durbar Square. The Durbar Square complex was the seat of the Malla kings of Katmandu. The complex was built around the late 15th and early 16th Century AD. After a Hanuman idol was put at its entrance in 1672, the palace complex came to be known as the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar. It is here that the king of Nepal is crowned.
One of the structures in Katmandu's Durbar Square.
A statue in Katmandu's Durbar Square.
One of the temple structures in Katmandu's Durbar Square. Notice the King and Queen watching the crowds from the window.
One of the structures in Katmandu's Durbar Square. For some reason entry was barred into this complex.
Bell tower -- Katmandu Durbar Square
An Ascetic. This guy followed us around Durbar Square asking us to click his picture. And when we did, he promptly demanded 20 rupees.
Gigantic idol of Taleju Bhawani in Katmandu's Durbar Square.
Katmandu's Durbar Square
Entrance of the Kumari Devi Temple in Katmandu's Durbar Square. The Kumari Devi is a young girl who hasn't yet achieved puberty. The reverence that Nepalis show to the devi has to be seen to be believed.
A close up of the entrance of the Kumari Devi Temple in Katmandu's Durbar Square.
The inner courtyard of the Kumari Devi Temple in Katmandu's Durbar Square.
A window inside the Kumari Devi Temple in Katmandu's Durbar Square. The Kumari Devi sits in this window for darshan.
Masks on sale in Durbar Square.
A tiny little cute store -- in Katmandu's Durbar Square.
Pashupatinath temple -- the entrance. Warning: Only Hindus allowed inside. And you cannot take anything made of leather or fur inside the temple complex.
Pashupatinath temple -- Ornate carving in gold and copper above the entrance.
The Gigantic Nandi outside the main temple at Pashupatinath
A view of the Pashupatinath temple.
Swayambhu -- Statue of Buddha (and two unknown others) at the foothills. The statues are over 60 feet tall.
Swayambhu -- Statue of Buddha at the foothills. The statues are over 60 feet tall.
A small stupa on the climb up towards the Swaymbhu Stupa. Notice the "Buddha Eyes" painted on the stupa. The "Buddha Eyes" are a feature of all the stupas in Nepal.
A piece of kitsch enroute to Swayambhu. This is a fountain. Streams of water emanate from the hand raised by the Buddha in blessing. This is supposed to symbolize his love. The jets fall on the globe in front of the statue causing it rotate. Love makes the world . . .
The climb to Swayambhu. Not as bad as it looks particularly if you have taken the precaution of buying a bagful of fresh strawberries at the foothills.
Statue at the entrance of the main complex of Swayambhu.
The Swayambhu Stupa.
Statue of Buddha in the main complex of Swaymbhu Stupa.
Inside one of the temples at Swaymbhu Stupa.
Masks and other curios on sale at Swaymbhu Stupa.
A view of the Katmandu Valley from the Swaymbhu Stupa.
Patan -- one of the ancient palace and temple complexes of Nepal.
Structures at Patan.
One of the structures at Patan.
Bell tower at Patan.
A temple at Patan.
Temple column at Patan. It's a feature of the old temples of Nepal. The statue at the top of the temple column is of the then reigning king.
Temple column at Patan.
Another temple column at Patan.
Entrance to a temple at Patan.
The elephant in silhouette.
Entrance to the museum at Patan.
Ganapati (Ganesh) idol on the walls of the museum at Patan.
Narasimha idol on the walls of the museum at Patan.
A statue on the roof of the museum at Patan.
Patan at dusk.
Masks and other curios on sale at Patan.
Lamps on sale (at 3 rupees per lamp) at the Boudhanath Stupa. We visited Boudhanath on Gautam Buddha's Birth Anniversary.
A view of the Boudhanath Stupa.
The Boudhanath Stupa.
Please don't indulge in immoral activities -- a notice at the Boudhanath Stupa.
Ceremonial bell at the Boudhanath Stupa.
A view from the Boudhanath Stupa.
Ripened wheat fields on the way to Bhaktapur.
Durbar Square -- Bhaktapur. Bhaktapur is a small town spread over 6.5 square miles.
One of the temples in Bhaktapur.
Durbar Square -- Bhaktapur.
A temple coloumn in Bhaktapur.
The original main entrance into Bhaktapur was guarded by these two lions.
Guarding Bhaktapur's temples.
Terracota temple, Bhaktapur.
The Golden Gate, Bhaktapur
Ornate doorway, Bhaktapur.
The narrow alleys of ancient Bhaktapur.
Gautam Buddha's Happy B'day Celebrations in Bhaktapur. A procession to commemorate the birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha.
Gautam Buddha's Happy B'day Celebrations in Bhaktapur. A procession to commemorate the birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha. This picture was taken opposite the Dattatreya temple in Bhaktapur.
The Dattatreya temple in Bhaktapur. Note the temple column. Warning: Only Hindus allowed inside and no leather goods allowed inside the temple.
Idol of a Narasimha in Bhaktapur.
Another idol of a Narasimha in Bhaktapur.
Shivling at Bhaktapur.
Thanka artist at work in Bhaktapur.
Bhaktapur's wildlife: Ducklings. These four escorted us from somewhere near the Dattatreya temple to the Shivling and back. Maybe there's some dog genes in them.
Curios for sale in Bhaktapur.
Terraced fields on the way to Nagarkot.
A view from Nagarkot. The weather was particularly cloudy when we reached Nagarkot and we could hardly catch a glance of the snow capped Himalayan Peaks from here. Someone mentioned that you can see the Everest from Nagarkot. Don't know if that's true.
A view from Nagarkot.
The astronomy observatory at Nagarkot.
Sunset at Nagarkot.
On the way to Pokhara. The road runs parallel to a river for most of the way. One of the most scenic drives, this one.
On the way to Pokhara. The road runs parallel to a river for most of the way. One of the most scenic drives this one. The green color of the water is due to the presence of limestone.
The road to Pokhara.
The road to Pokhara traverses over a suspension bridge.
At Sarangot. Waiting for the clouds to clear. From sarangkot one can see the morning sun's rays hit seven snow-cald Himalayan peaks including the Machhapuchhre (Literally: fish tail) - supposed to be a lovely sight. Unfortunately it rained heavily the morning we reached Sarangkot. This was at 4:30 AM in the morning.
Clouds move into the Sarangkot valley. More rain followed.
The skies clear for a bit at Sarangkot. That faint outline of a mountain peak seen in the distance is the Machhapuchhre.
The Seti river as seen from Sarangkot.
The Vindhyavasini temple at Pokhara. The goddess of this temple is believed to have come originally from the Vindhya mountain ranges in India. Hence the name.
The Vindhyavasini.
A receptacle for the "teerth" (holy water) with a Ganapati (Ganesh) Idol on it. At the Vindhyavasini temple.
The guards of the Vindhyavasini temple.
The Seti river Gorge -- Nepal's version of the Grand canyon. The fast flowing Seti river has carved a 100 feet deep and extremely narrow ravine throught the limestone cliffs of Pokhara.
The Seti river Gorge.
The Regional Museum of Pokhara. Quaint and very amateurishly mounted displays but it gives a wealth of information about Nepal, its culture, and its people. And it is a big draw for the schools around. When we visited the museum a school excursion had just reached the museum. The students were given a questionnaire to complete with information culled from the exhibits in the museum. I managed to convince one of the (pretty) teachers accompanying the students to give me the questionnaire as well. Needless to say, I scored very well :)
The Regional Museum of Pokhara.
One of the exhibits in the Regional Museum of Pokhara.
At the entrance to the Gupteshwar Mahadev. This is a cave formed by the Seti river. Its at two levels. The first one has a Shiva temple. Beyond the temple and further down the cave descends a further 100 meters before stopping short of the Seti river cascading down as a thunderous waterfall. Claustrophobic people can give this a miss. At places the cave is extremely narrow and u have to crawl to move further. And though there are lights around, it's still very dark and extremely hot and humid.
That narrow crack of sunlight is where you see the Seti river coming into the Gupteshwar Mahadev cave as a waterfall. Very beautiful sight.
Trickling water over the years has left its mark on the walls of the cave.
The entrance to Devi's Fall -- Nepal's Patal Ganga (Patale Chhango). Here the Seti river falls about a 100 feet undergorund and eventually reaches the Gupteshwar Mahadev Caves.
Around the waterfall. Since it was summer, the water levels weren't very high.
The Devi's fall. Patale chhango got its new name when a Nepalese girl called Devi who was frolicking in the water with her Swedish husband was swept away and underground. She, of course, died.
The Devi's fall.
Devi's fall -- the Ravine.
The Fewa (also written as Phewa) Lake, Pokhara. A lovely lake spread across 4.5 sq kms. The lake is watered by a stream called the Harpen Khola. Pokhara, situated on the south-east shore, is worth a visit only for this lake.
The Fewa Lake, Pokhara.
The Fewa Lake
The Fewa Lake -- a boat sailing in the distance.
Boats at the Fewa lake. You can hire a boat for an entire day for 400 Nepali rupees --- That's 250 Indian Rupees.
Boats at the Fewa lake.
Crossing the Fewa -- Local transport.
Egrets roosting on the banks of Fewa Lake.
Pokhara is bordered on one side by the Fewa Lake. This is a view of the other side.
The World Peace Stupa on the thickly forested hills on the opposite bank of Pokhara. The only way to reach this Stupa is after a grueling 2-3 hour (uphill) trek.
The Barahi Temple in the middle of Fewa Lake
The Barahi Temple
The Love-Kush Restaurant, Lakeside Pokhara. Best place to have humongous breakfasts and awesome fish (fresh from the Fewa Lake). Try their grilled fish and grilled fish with pepper and garlic sauce. Also their fish soup and French onion and cheese soup. Actually anything and everything on their menu. Most of their dishes have won awards in the Pokhara Street food festival. You can have a leisurely meal here while gazing at the placid waters of Lake Fewa across the road.
Pokhara Airport. Trivia: The airport manager here also doubles up as the airport's restaurant manager.
Pokhara Airport -- the Runway.
Our plane to Katmandu.
Nepal from a height of 20000 feet.
Sunset -- This was clicked from the flight somewhere near Kolkata
Sunset over Kolkata.
