After a hearty breakfast in Mum’s Home, we struck out on a mission to find Ratna Park. Named after Queen Ratna, the wife of King Mahendra, it was built for the children. Next to the park we were assured (by our Lonely Planet Book) that we could pick up a mini van with the locals to Patan (Emphasis on the Mini part of van!). John’s navigational skills directed us to the sea of packed mini vans and after several asks we found one that was Patan bound. We jumped in only to be squashed by about 20 others. What did we expect for 22 rupees each.

After surviving the the mini van trip we walked through crowded market streets and found our way to the gates of Patan.

Technically it’s a separate city from that of Kathmandu, the Bagmati River appearing to be the border between them but substantial urban growth has joined them up. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Nepal and an epicenter of culture within the Kathmandu Valley. Founded in 299 CE by King Varadeva, its Newar name is ‘Yala’ while the Sanskrit version ‘Patan’ has taken hold more. It flourished under the Malla Kings between the 12th and 18th centuries and they were the ones who built the key site – the Durbar Square, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The gates meant only one thing… A hefty charge for foreigners to enter.

After purchasing the foreigner tickets, the guides were on the prowl, and the usual question was asked “Where are you from?” We now take it in turns to answer Scotland or Ireland-two countries is far too confusing! It was Karen’s turn to answer, the response she got in return was not what she expected…”I studied at Ayr college for 2 years in Ayrshire, do you know it? ” Gob smacked Karen explained that Ayr was her home town.

Soon we had a new friend, Arun and the tight Scot couldn’t refuse his guide services after he talked about Dam park and Dumfries- pronounced Dum- frys. He was from Ayr after all. Arun was proud to show us his out of date and battered RBS bank card- no wonder he was smiling, he got his money out just in time…

Guided Tour

In fairness Arun took us on a great tour of the Patan’s spectacular Durbar Square– arguably the finest collection of temples and palaces in the whole of Nepal. He explained lots about the different gods and why people come to feed the statues with sweets and other offerings. Essentially If you give you will receive a blessing. Another interesting fact is that you can tell which temples are the Shiva temples because they have a bull outside, as the bull is the vehicle of Shiva.

There was another statue, atop the King Yoganarendra Malla column, with a metal bird on a cobra. Legend has it that as long as the bird remains the King’s descendants would remain in power.

After the tour we went exploring in the local shops for a small wedding present to take to Cambodia. We imagined a lovely wooden box with intricate carvings. Unfortunately the old bashed boxed with chipped gold plating a little craftsman was trying to flog as new for $23 was not going to cut it.

After that we ambled around and saw some of the famous four Ashoka Stupas that mark the four corners of Patan. The Lagan Thura (South), the Teta Thura (East), the Pucho Thura (West) and the Ibahi Thura in the North corner.

At about 1.30pm luncheon was taken.We decided not to fall for a tourist trap and went off the beaten track, near the UN area and found some really good Malaysian food. Yummy and a welcome change from Momos.

Patan done now time to squash ourselves back into a mini van for the trip back to the crazy city of Kathmandu.