Tengo un lio de dioses, budas, mantras, shivas y kalis en la cabeza que no se muy bien si algun dia conseguire entenderlo todo.
La vuelta de Pokhara en avioneta fue para Raquel la media hora mas larga de su vida, no es de extraniar, si tenemos en cuenta el estado en el que parecia estar el objeto volador en cuestion. En cualquier caso, al no pasar de los 3000 metros de altitud, fuimos de nuevo, testigos de unas vistas espectaculares de todo el valle de Kathmandu.
La ciudad de Kathmandu y mas concretamente el popular barrio de Thamel es donde se concentra casi toda la actividad comercial y turistica de la ciudad. Por las manianas se puede ver a las mujeres hindues llevando todo tipo de ofrendas a los dioses, que estos bendeciran para que luego ellas entreguen la pequenia parte que les es devuelta, a los miembros de sus familias, mientras comerciantes nepalíes, que son una fuente inagotable de todo tipo de productos, lo mismo te ofrecen balsamo de tigre, que opio, hachis, o cualquier imitacion de mochilas y anoraks de The North Face. Paseos por las dos calles principales del barrio, observando a los turistas forrados de gore-tex ultimar los detalles para las largas horas de trekking que les esperan.
Los pocos o muchos turistas que no venimos a escalar ni a hacer trekking, nos pasamos las horas de compra regateando sin parar. Yo personalmente estoy un poco harta de tener que regatear hasta para comprar un paquete de chicles, pero aqui asi es como funciona. A la vuelta a Espania si alguien me ve intentando regatearle una cerveza al sastre que por favor me de un toque de atencion.
Una de las caracteristicas de kathmandu es que en menos de 80 km se pasan de los 400 a los 8000 metros de altitud, y es que por algo aqui en Nepal se encuentra la cima del mundo, el monte Everest.
La primera visita del dia ha sido a Pashupatinath, el templo hindu mas importante de Nepal, atiborrado de monos y atravesado por el sagrado rio Basmati que desemboca en el mas sagrado de todos los rios, el Ganges. Aqui se realizan cremaciones a diario, y el espectaculo es dantesco. En este templo se cremaron a unos 10 miembros de la familia real despues de la masacre de 2001. 
Hay una parte reservada para las cremaciones reales y otra para el pueblo llano, en la que casi siempre hay una cremacion llevandose a cabo. Nosotros fuimos testigos de tres en tan solo media hora. Hijos que lloran a sus padres, padres que lloran a sus hijos, y en medio de ese dolor hombres que bucean en el rio tras arrojar las cenizas de los cadaveres, buscando monedas y objetos de valor que previamente los familiares han colocado en sus cuerpos, como pago de su entrada a la otra vida que ellos dicen que hay.
Aqui tambien se encuentran los "hombres santos" que han dejado todo en la vida para dedicarse a la meditacion, aunque en realidad son unos caraduras que viven del cuento, pero son curiosos de ver, como este de la imagen.
De aqui nos fuimos a la ciudad de Bhaktapur, que es en su mayor parte peatonal, 
paseamos por el barrio de los alfareros, por varias plazas cargadas de templos y con 
mucha historia entre sus muros que Krisna, nuestro improvisado guia se encargo de explicarnos, y que soy incapaz de reproducir por escrito, porque mi cerebro no fue capaz de asimilar tanta informacion en tan poco tiempo. Nuestra excursion termino con una visita a Boudanh, donde se encuentra la segunda mayor stupa del mundo, que guarda en su interior (dicen) un hueso de Buda, y donde hay un templo de monjes tibetanos, en el que fuimos bendecidos por uno de ellos.
paseamos por el barrio de los alfareros, por varias plazas cargadas de templos y con 
mucha historia entre sus muros que Krisna, nuestro improvisado guia se encargo de explicarnos, y que soy incapaz de reproducir por escrito, porque mi cerebro no fue capaz de asimilar tanta informacion en tan poco tiempo. Nuestra excursion termino con una visita a Boudanh, donde se encuentra la segunda mayor stupa del mundo, que guarda en su interior (dicen) un hueso de Buda, y donde hay un templo de monjes tibetanos, en el que fuimos bendecidos por uno de ellos.
Hoy hemos visitado el templo de los monos, y esta ha sido nuestra ultima visita. 
Raquel ya se ha marchado, Jose parte maniana hacia Tailandia y yo tengo un vuelo a Vanarasi. antes de terminar esta entrada, quiero hacer una mencion especial a Jose 
(al que os presento en la foto charlando con el monje que nos dio su bendicion) y su super camara de fotos, ya que algunas de las mejores fotos que hoy veis en este blog han sido tomadas por el.
Too many gods, budas, mantras, shivas and kalis for my brain to process.
The return way from Pokhara by light aircraft was for Raquel the longest half an hur of her life, no wonder, after seeing the poor state in which the flying object seemed to be. In any case, as it only flies up to 3000 metres, we witness magnificent views of the Kathmandu valley once again. The city of Kathmandu and particularly the popular Thamel area, concentrates nearly all the business and tourist activity of the city. In the morning Hindu women carry all kind of offering to the Gods, which once blessed will be partly return to the members of their families. At the same time, nepali dealers, which are an endless source of all kind of products, offer tourists tiger balm, opium, hash, or any imitation of backpacks or anoraks of The North Face you can think of. Walks in the two main roads of Thamel, looking at tourists covered in gore-tex going over the last minute details for the long hours of trekking ahead.
The few or many tourist that are not here to go trekking or climbing, spend hours bargain with the local shopkeepers. Personally I'm really tired and bored of having to bargain even to buy a pack of chewing gums, but this is how it works here. If any of you see me trying to bargain the price of a beer when I go back to Spain, pls stop me immediately.
One of Kathmandu's features is that in less than 80 km you go from 400 to 8000 metres high, for some reason this is where the top of the world is, the Everest.Our first visit was to Pashupatinath, Nepal's most important hindu temple, packed with monkeys and crossed by the sacred Basmati river, which flows into the most sacred river of India, the Ganges. This temple is famous for its daily cremations. The sight is shocking. 10 members of the Royal family were cremated here after the massacre in 2001. There is a private area for Royal cremations and a different one for the common people. There is always a cremation going on. We witnessed three of them in just 30 minutes.
Children crying for their dead parents, parents crying for their dead children, and in the middle of all that pain, men diving in the river searching for the money and valuables that family members put in the dead bodies as payment to the other life they say there is. The so called 'Holy Men" also live here, apparently they have given up everything in life to devote themselves to meditation, but in fact they are just a bunch of opportunistics that live off other people, like the one in the picture.
We then went to Bhaktapur. Most roads are only for pedestrians which makes it easy and quiet to visit. We walked along the pottery area, several squares full of temples and history, which Krisna, our improvised guide patiently explained. I'm afraid I cannot write it down as my brain couldn't assimilate such amount of information in so little time. Our trip ended with a visit to Boudanh, where you can see the second largest stupa in the world, which contains (they say) a bone of Buda, and where there is also a Tibetan temple where we were blessed by a monk.
We've been to the Monkey Temple today, and this has been our last visit. Raquel is already gone, Jose is off to Thailand tomorrow and I've got a flight to Varanasi. Before I finish this entry I want to mention that some of the best pictures you can see in this entry were taken by Jose, in the picture with the monk.
The return way from Pokhara by light aircraft was for Raquel the longest half an hur of her life, no wonder, after seeing the poor state in which the flying object seemed to be. In any case, as it only flies up to 3000 metres, we witness magnificent views of the Kathmandu valley once again. The city of Kathmandu and particularly the popular Thamel area, concentrates nearly all the business and tourist activity of the city. In the morning Hindu women carry all kind of offering to the Gods, which once blessed will be partly return to the members of their families. At the same time, nepali dealers, which are an endless source of all kind of products, offer tourists tiger balm, opium, hash, or any imitation of backpacks or anoraks of The North Face you can think of. Walks in the two main roads of Thamel, looking at tourists covered in gore-tex going over the last minute details for the long hours of trekking ahead.
The few or many tourist that are not here to go trekking or climbing, spend hours bargain with the local shopkeepers. Personally I'm really tired and bored of having to bargain even to buy a pack of chewing gums, but this is how it works here. If any of you see me trying to bargain the price of a beer when I go back to Spain, pls stop me immediately.
One of Kathmandu's features is that in less than 80 km you go from 400 to 8000 metres high, for some reason this is where the top of the world is, the Everest.Our first visit was to Pashupatinath, Nepal's most important hindu temple, packed with monkeys and crossed by the sacred Basmati river, which flows into the most sacred river of India, the Ganges. This temple is famous for its daily cremations. The sight is shocking. 10 members of the Royal family were cremated here after the massacre in 2001. There is a private area for Royal cremations and a different one for the common people. There is always a cremation going on. We witnessed three of them in just 30 minutes.
Children crying for their dead parents, parents crying for their dead children, and in the middle of all that pain, men diving in the river searching for the money and valuables that family members put in the dead bodies as payment to the other life they say there is. The so called 'Holy Men" also live here, apparently they have given up everything in life to devote themselves to meditation, but in fact they are just a bunch of opportunistics that live off other people, like the one in the picture.
We then went to Bhaktapur. Most roads are only for pedestrians which makes it easy and quiet to visit. We walked along the pottery area, several squares full of temples and history, which Krisna, our improvised guide patiently explained. I'm afraid I cannot write it down as my brain couldn't assimilate such amount of information in so little time. Our trip ended with a visit to Boudanh, where you can see the second largest stupa in the world, which contains (they say) a bone of Buda, and where there is also a Tibetan temple where we were blessed by a monk.
We've been to the Monkey Temple today, and this has been our last visit. Raquel is already gone, Jose is off to Thailand tomorrow and I've got a flight to Varanasi. Before I finish this entry I want to mention that some of the best pictures you can see in this entry were taken by Jose, in the picture with the monk.
1 comentario:
Ánimo Marieta, You are the best!!!
besos y achuchones
Marcos
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