Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I took the one less traveled

Robert Frost

 

As the early morning rain filtered in through the gaps of the surrounding buildings we jumped into a beat-up Suzuki Maruti for the short ride to our next destination, the medieval town of Bhaktapur. The smallest city and most densely populated used to be the site of the the capital of Nepal.

Today this walled town now forms a living-breathing UNESCO heritage site. Decades of stagnation and underdevelopment has been offset by investment from Germany but the flip side that its preserved medieval nature has been recognised by the UN.

Our first task was to run the gauntlet of taxi drivers and guides before reaching the gate and buying a pass to get in. If only we were Chinese!!

Using the directions sent to us by our guesthouse ,(and we needed them), we navigated our way to the Heart Of Bhaktapur Guest House. Set up in 2012 by a charitable home for disabled children, the guesthouse funnels all the profits back to the home (situated on the lower floors) and also provides employment opportunities to some of the children on reaching adulthood. Each of the 13 rooms was named after one of the original children the home helped out. We stayed in room 2 (Sapin’s room). It felt really good to stay in a great place like this that we asked to stay an additional night. The breakfast was also very good, omelettes and pancakes, and with a rooftop dining room was a great treat.

Unencumbered of our bags we struck out to explore this wonderful city the best way we know how. Yep you guessed it, a John Rose Walking Tour. With no motorised traffic this was much easier than Kathmandu. Highlights of the expedition were getting severely lost, following a trail of chicken blood, expensive lunch in Thakali Square and a host of temples and sights.

Where Tigers Play

We didn’t venture out at too late at night as there are no street lighting whatsoever. Karen was reminded of a. previous night in Hoi An with her friend Paula. The next day we set out on a bus trip to Dhulikel, a town further east that would allow us to catch a glimpse of the Himalayan Mountains as it is a little higher up – 1,550m above sea level. We jumped on a local bus on the highway and eventually worked out where to jump off. The buses are a lot more easier to navigate than in India.

Our destination was the viewpoint tower overlooking the town but on reaching the critical junction and ignoring all the signs we went left after John was assured that was the correct path to take.

What followed was a 2 hour detour through forgotten hamlets and villages and a chance encounter with a cafe owner who played drums in a System Of A Down tribute band. When we did get back on track the heavens opened. We managed to make it half way up the hill to the Buddha statue before turning back. John drew the ire of Karen by walking around in his socks on the soaking wet Buddha platform.

There was no hope of any improved view of the mountains so we were not too disappointed. Before leaving we had some cracking lunch in small restaurant. A pair of bottled waters, 2 portions of MoMos and chapattis for £1 total. Great value.

The bus back was packed (Saturday night and everyone heading to Kathmandu and its night life). Karen saw our stop and like a rugby center , she ducked and weaved to the door. John like a rugby pack got stuck amongst the crowd and only for the fact that we hadn’t paid our fare the bus would have left with one half of JKRoaming still on it.

Bhaktapur is a great place to stay and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The old town centre feels really off the grid and being lost in its labyrinth of laneways is not the worst feeling in the world.

Next up is the short trip back to Katmandu airport for the plane to Pokhara!