Family Trip to Nepal - Part 1
Our family trip to this beautiful
country Nepal was a DIY travel, we didn't hire any guides or travel agents to
make any kind of arrangements for the journey except read few recommendations of
the visitors and bloggers on the places of interest. In fact those were all
very useful and toughened my decision on the
DIY travel while the others were reluctant about it.
First, as the trip planner, I had works to do after denying the idea of getting a guide or a travel package. Not only did I think the trip
would be more expensive that way , I also felt that we basically would have to
follow their routine, see their places of interest, eat in the restaurants they
choose and sleep in the hotels they arrange. Not only that, we might also have
to wake up and sleep as per their timing. Moreover, most of the packages around
that time was a pilgrim package. I am sure the travel packages are really good,
but with due respect to the travel agents, it was simply not meant for us when
we had this combination in the group. My 75 years old grandmother cannot/
shouldn't wake up at 4 AM and return at 12 mid night and my not so little sister
wouldn't want to complete her entire trip visiting temples. So, I simply
thought there was no freedom.
The other reason was simply
because I love making travel plans very much. Also because I had done this kind
of DIY travel earlier and simply had no problems, instead had made perfect
holidays and got applauded for.
Therefore, the most important
task as a trip planner was to have a clear idea of the intention of the visit, the
time period of the trip, everyone's interest, etc. While the elders were
basically on a spiritual mode, the youngest wanted some shopping and
entertainment plus sightseeing included. It was indeed our first trip as a complete
family to a different country apart from India, so it had to be special and
everyone had to be happy, very happy :) and that was my main purpose.
I love travelling and most importantly getting to travel with family was everything. Nothing could ever beat this, so I had to make this trip the best one.
Day 1:
We
started our journey to Kathmandu, Nepal on January 5, 2018 from Paro, Bhutan. It
was around 45 - 50 minutes flight. Since our flight was a morning flight, we
reached Kathmandu at around 12:00 noon. We stayed in Hotel Ngudrup which is
about 15 mins walk from the Boudhanath Stupa (referred to as Boudha hereafter). We had made the hotel booking from Bhutan
and it was so easy, we called the hotel manager through we chat (we chat ID:
nima209 - in case you need to make a booking ;) ) and the booking was made, ta
- da.
The hotel is a mid standard hotel which had all the necessities we needed, affordable, had hot water facilities for shower,
clean but not very warm beds (we could hire heaters but most of them were let out), wifi facilities, peaceful and
safe surrounding, transportation arrangements for airport and other travels and
most importantly a good & spacious common kitchen and dining where we could
use it for Rs. 150 per use. The hotel also offered free breakfast. At least we
could have hot water and tea or cook our kind of food whenever we needed esp.
with elderly people in the group. The hotel also has rooms with private
kitchens but these rooms were mostly occupied by the pilgrims who come to visit
and circumambulate Boudha.
We had the same plan too, we wanted to visit the stupa whenever we could.
Moreover, my sister and I wanted to circumambulate the stupa 108 times -
The '108 circumambulation' thing is such a big talk and is super trending in
Bhutan these days and I always wanted to do it. And I am so glad I could start
mine from Boudha, for my sister it was her second - It was a wish come true for
the both of us. It took us about 2 mornings and 3-4 evenings (15-18 hours maybe
with some rest in between) to complete
the circumambulation.
OK!
back to the half of day 1, the hotel was about 30 minutes ride from the
airport, could have been a little less but the traffic was quite heavy since it
was mid day. The view was awesome, but
we couldn't quite enjoy it, because it was too dusty and everything looked too
blurred.
Note:
If you are planning to visit KTM specially during winter, make sure to carry a
mouth mask. The dust is too terrible and can get you really sick.
So
we reached the beautiful Hotel Ngudup around 1:00PM and quickly freshened up since
we were too hungry. We then walked towards Boudha. It is such a magical place,
too majestic, it was my third visit but it still left me awestruck. We decided
to enjoy the beauty relaxing and with a full stomach so we went to a
restaurant, Boudha Restaurant and Cafe which has the perfect view of this
magnificent stupa. The lunch was yummy
but quite expensive probably because of the location and the view. We
spend the afternoon/evening offering butter lamps, prostrating and
circumambulating the stupa and also talking pictures along with some ten
thousand plus other pilgrims. The power of the place is just so extra ordinary,
a huge sense of peace, satisfaction and happiness ran through my veins, my
fellow travelers also expressed the same feelings. The day was totally well
spent. We came back to the hotel, cooked and ate together happily :).
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| Breathtaking view of the stupa from Boudha Restaurant and Cafe |
The
second day was very fulfilling, as in, we could visit three different temples
and also do some kind of sightseeing around the city. We hired a 8 seated Hiace
Bus for the day. We started around 8:30AM from the
hotel after having a good free breakfast our hotel offered. Our first
destination of the day was the Pashupatinath Temple, but we didn't go there
directly, we first visited the Guhyeshwari Temple (took us about 15 minutes from the hotel) which
was at the banks of river Bagmati. It appeared like the temple was badly damaged
by the 2013 earthquake in Nepal and looked like the repairs were yet to be done.
Only one temple of the
goddess called Guhyeshwari
was open. There were a lot of monkeys who even snatched the fruit offerings we
had in our hands. Our driver then drove us to the main Pashupatinath Temple which was less
than 10 minutes away.
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| Guhyeshwari Temple at the bank of river Bagmati |
Our
next destination was the Budhanilkantha Temple. The temple is situated at the northern
end of the Kathmandu valley and took us about 30 mins to get there from
Pashupatinath. The main statute of the temple was the large reclining floating
statue of Lord Vishnu which is said to be considered as the largest stone carved statue
in Nepal. There was a fence that
surrounded the statue. Like in the other temples, there was a long queue of pilgrims
entering the fence, offering milk, flowers and coins in the pond and praying.
We aren't allowed to take pictures of the statue from the inside but the
pictures we took from the outside wasn't that bad after all.
There
were so many little shops around the temple selling flower garlands, beads,
milk, in fact all puja items and also some ancient decorative pieces. On the
way back, We
had a nice thakali thali (a nepali set menu which comes with varieties of
meat/vegetables and pickles) for lunch. It was the best food we had eaten since
our arrival in Nepal.
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| The Floating statue of Lord Vishnu |
We then visited the Swayambhunath
Temple. Later we heard that in Buddhism it is believed that the two temples, Budhanilkantha
and Swoyambhu
should be visited in one day to earn greater merits and we just did
unknowingly. Predictably, there were more monkey pilgrims than humans in
Swayambhunath snatching our offerings, eatables from the kids, scarves and even
hand bags, no wonder it is also called the Monkey Temple. Swayambhunath is one
of the oldest Buddhist temples in Nepal and thousands of pilgrims visit the
temple every year. It is actually a kind of temple complex which includes
statues, temples and also steps that lead to the main stupa which stands on the
top. Since, we had our granny in our group, we chose to take the cab near the
stupa so that we didn't have to climb the long steps. The view of Kathmandu valley is spectacular from the stupa. We circumambulated the stupa and then lit
butter lamps.
 |
| That's my sister basically posing but on the background is the magnificent Swayambhunath stupa |
We
then did some kind of city sightseeing from the vehicle since we had some time
and in between we visited some Ganesha and Hanuman Temples which were located
in the heart of the city. We hurried to
a restaurant, grabbed a quick dinner and returned to the room to get ready for
the next long journey that awaited us. Mornings and nights
could be quite cold in KTM around this time, the wind was bone chilling, but
during the day, the sun is scotching hot, like it is not even winter. So, you
need to carry both warm and summer clothing.
Day
3:
Our next destination was
Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha which is also identified as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We started our journey around 5:30 in the morning mostly
to avoid traffic and also to cross the road maintenance area for which the road
remains closed after 10 in the morning till noon. We had hired a 9 seater Mahindra
vehicle for this trip since my friend's family joined us as well. The road was
quite bumpy at some places and it took us almost 12 hours to reach. We had to
stop for breakfast and lunch on the way, the restaurants on the roadsides were pretty
good and hygienic.
We arrived Lumbini around
5:30 in the evening and since we still had some time, we directly visited the
Maya Devi Temple Complex where Lord Buddha was born. The temple complex is one
of the most sacred places in Lumbini. First, we visited the temple, it was like
a raw museum, there were ruins of the palace - some huge bricks and rocks, the
exact place where Prince Siddhartha was born was bordered and covered with
glasses, so was the place where he took his first
seven steps.
We then visited the compound which has the age old holy bodhi
tree and the holy pond where Queen Maya Devi took a ritual dip before giving
birth to Prince Siddhartha. The complex also has the Ashoka Pillar which is a
stone pillar believed to be erected by King Ashoka after he visited the place,
as a mark of respect and decided to practice Buddhism.
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| The Holy Pond and the Maya Devi Temple and the Ashoka Pillar - back view |
We walked around the
complex, there was a beautiful garden where many people were seen walking and
there were many monuments and monasteries which were still under renovation.
That was all for the day.
For the night, we had booked a guesthouse of a temple through our lodge in
Kathmandu. We had a good Tibetan dinner and a great night's sleep in the
guesthouse of the monastery.
Day 4:
The next morning we
went to Kapilavastu which is about an hour drive from Lumbini. Kapilavastu is believed to be the palace of Prince Siddhartha who
lived there until he left the luxury at the age of 29 in search of
meanings and purpose. His parents, King Suddhodana and Queen Mayadevi are believed to
have lived there after Prince Siddhartha left. We visited the palace
complex, but all we can see now is the remains
and ruins of the palace and many other sacred monuments. The complex also had a
Ashoka Pillar proving the visit of King
Ashoka to the place.
 |
| The Ruins |
We met many little kids on the way,
aged between 5 to 9 who introduced themselves to us as the guides but however
ran away at the sight of the cops. After the cops were gone, they came back
again and started explaining and when asked about the hide and seek game, they
said if caught, they would be arrested by the cops for not holding a guide
license which they will not get until they are adults. We had a hearty laugh.
But these little kids were amazing, they spoke fairly good English and they
knew the history of the place quite well remembering all the names of the royal
family perfectly. It was incredible.
On the way we also visited both the
King and the Queen's tombs and also other places of historic importance, which
were mostly ruins. We did a bit of sightseeing too. There were small houses
with thatched roofs, kids playing outside in the dust, old people basking in
the sun and the adult lot fetching water, carrying firewood, chasing the
cattle, well, basically working. I assumed that people there were into farming
since there were a lot of empty paddy fields around.
Around 1PM, we started our
journey towards Kathmandu and reached around mid night.
