My travels across the Himalayas started and ended in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. From Kathmandu I took a plane to Lhasa in Tibet. I spent almost three weeks driving across the mountains from Lhasa and back to Kathmandu. It gave me lots of time to really appreciate the mountains, but also time to learn about both countries, the history and the people who live here. I have done a post long time ago with photos of the Himalayan landscape, including Mt. Everest. Now I focus on street photography and the people of the Himalayas.
Kathmandu is charming, but chaotic and noisy. I spent two whole days, walking the streets, admiring the wooden houses with exquisite carvings. Apart from the architecture in the streets, the temples are also worth a visit.
Bodhnath is the largest stupa in Nepal and also one of the largest in the world. A Buddhist religious center for the tibetan refugees who arrived Nepal after the Chinese invation in 1959. It is also located where the old trade route between Kathmandu and Lhasa is located. The stupa is a popular place. Not only devotees, but many just come to sit here.
Another amazing temple is located in walking distance from Bodhnath - the Pashupatinath temple, by the Bagmati river, a tributary to river Ganges. This temple which is dedicated to Shiva, is the most important Hindu temple in Nepal. To me it seems as there were a lot of devotees here. Many locals come to bathe or wash their cloth in the river, just as in Varanasi. The cremation platforms and the pyres make us remember that this is also the place of the last voyage. Many elderly people come to stay here the last days or weeks before they die, because they want to be cremated on the banks of the river. Just like in Varanasi, India. In a way it reminded me very much of Varanasi.
The photos above were taken in Bhaktapur, located only a few kilometers from Kathmandu. Another major city that was once the capital of the Kathmandu Valley. The architecture is amazing. I really had the feeling of being in a medieval city!
Then the time has come toexplore Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Because its situated 4000 meters above sea level, the first two days was spend walking slowly around the old town to make sure that we would be sufficient acclamatized before we contiuned. Most of our time was spent in the area around Jokhang temple, which is the spirituel heart of Lhasa. It is also the holiest and most active of the temples of Tibet. It is believed that it can be dated back to 639 -647 AD. During all these years underwent many renovations, but the original layout is retained. It is still the same as when it was built, which makes it stand out from other Tibetan religious structures. The main difference is that the east-west orientation. It is believed that it faces east to honor Princess Bhrikutisom who was the wife of King Songtsen Gampo. He was the one who started the construction of Jokhang.
In front of the temple, there is a large, open space. A lot of people gather here. There are some who sell the Tibetan bean flags. That's probably what this lady is looking at. The old town around Jokhang has many narrow streets, street vendors, market and food sales. There is plenty to look at. Maybe the best way is to just sit on a bench.
After a few days in Lhasa, we drove west in order to drive across the mountains and return to Kathmandu. On our way we had to stop to overnight in several cities. Each one of them have important temples we had to take time to visit. These pictures are from the city of Gyantse. The city has the largest stupa in Tibet - Kumbum Stupa. This is a rather impressive building that was completed in 1440. Once upon a time, the entire complex consisted of 15 monasteries with several orders within Tibetan Buddhism. The stupa that stands here is almost 35 meters high. As you go up inside it, we passed many of the 77 chapels that together may have 100,000 images. Kumbum means 100,000. So I guess it's because of the number of images...
After we left the last major city, we were totally alone with the snowcapped mountains.
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