Exploring Kathmandu

September 20^th, 2026

Kathmandu, Nepal

Woke today at 7:00am.  Moved from bed to the chair and still feel asleep again till 8:00am.

Took a shower and dressed and then went upstairs for breakfast.

After eating a decent breakfast, I went down to the room to start getting things ready for today.

Pulled out the 360 camera and verified card and battery were good, and put the spare batteries on charging to top them off.

I also made sure the infrared camera was had good batteries and put my phone on the charger to top it up as well.

Then we sat and played around online for a bit till I heard from the tour manager that my car and guide would be at the hotel at 10:15.

I went downstairs at 10:00 to sit in the lobby.  Few other people sitting around.  The tour manager arrived and started to talk with one of the guys sitting nearby, he was the guide.

The car arrived a bit later and we got in and departed the hotel parking lot to drive to the first of four destinations today.

The traffic was a bit crazy already, and the narrow roads make getting around fun.  Was a slightly larger electric SUV as well, so bit tight in spots, but nice newer car with good AC, which we needed as the temperature was getting up there today, and air was a bit humid due to moisture in the surrounding hills.

We made our way west and started going up the hill side to reach the first stop of the day.

The Swayambhunath Temple was located up on a hill top overlooking the Kathmandu city and valley.

This very important Buddhist site dates back to at least the 3^rd century BCE, and is venerated by several Buddhist faiths, especially among the Tibetan Buddhists.

The main draw is the large Stupa, but several smaller stupas are located on the site, as well as temples and shrines.

There are a few families that stay in the area as monks and caretakers, though this is about half the original number that used to be onsite before the site was badly damaged in earthquakes over the last few decades.

Much has been restored and work continues on smaller areas of the site still.

There artisanship in some of the carvings and sculpture is amazing.

Parts of the structure still date back to 2000 years ago, but much of the site has been rebuilt in recent times as part of the restoration from the earthquake damage.

The site has several community dogs around it, and they pretty much just lay around all day.

Also contains a fair number of monkeys on the site, which are fun to watch as they climb sections of buildings, trees, and walls.   They have a swimming pool that was build just for them and some of the monkeys will climb up to nearby walls and roofs and then jump to the water 15-20 feet below.

Several vendors around the site selling simple trinkets that are connected with Buddhism in some way, or just unique art pieces.  Looked at a few cool statues, but no room to buy stuff like that.

I did find one spot selling the small collection of coins.  Found 2 sets, one with more recent coins, other much older.  As coins are not used much in daily life, and almost never see the Paisa (sub coin under the Rupee) coins, I thought this might be cool way to add some to my collection.

Vendor really tried to make out that these coins were really old, like 200+ years.   I doubted that (I later looked up a few and did find some going back about 150 years, so they are old), but still inquired about price.

He originally gave me price for each set which was way more than I was going to pay, then dropped price as a package deal, but still bit more than I wanted to give.

I offered about 60% of his asking price, and he really did not want to do that, so I then checked my wallet and offered a bit more, mainly as that was all I had on me in US cash since I was nearly out of local Rupee at this point.

He finally accepted the dollar offer, if I tossed in a few more rupee, which I agreed to.

All in I gave $46 for 36 coins, most in decent condition.  The exchange value is of course way below that, but from a collection standpoint I probably paid a fair market value based on some searching I did later in the day.

Shortly after I bought them, I met up with the guide again (He had let me wander around on my own for a bit after we had gone over the history and usage of the complex).

We exited back out the way we came, lots of steps and hilly roads, though we drove most of the way up, there is another route up that has 340+ steps to reach the same place.

We met up with the car and driver and left to reach our next destination a short distance away.

We pulled up and exited the car on the side of the road, then walked over and into the Hanumandhoka Durbar Square (also known as Kathmandu Durbar Square).

This complex of buildings includes many old temples put up by noted families and much of the former royal palace and administration offices.

Nepal was a monarchy for many centuries until events in 2001 started a slow dissolution of that type of government.

A member of the royal family went on a spree and killed much of the royal family.  One of the surviving members took the throne, but in 2008 abdicated the throne and the government changed in to a republic of elected officials.

The complex is now being restored and converted into a museum, though much work still needs to be completed.

Much of the palace is more recent in construction, a large part only being built in the early 1900s, but other sections date back to the late 1700s.

While walking around, we viewed some details on many of the temples, saw the insides of the former state courtyards, walked through a small section of the palace open to the public, and also entered the Kumari Ghar which is next to the old palace.

The Kumari Ghar is palace residence of the Living Goddess Kumari.  She is represented by a female child, chosen at a very young age from specific families from specific religion to serve as the Living Goddess until she reaches the age of puberty, at which time she retires the role and a new child is chosen.

Her duties include special appearances at festivals and religious functions.  On certain days, the goddess will appear in the window above the palace courtyard and visitors below can honor her presence.

We were there during the time of this appearance, so waited in the courtyard (which was very hot and stuffy as no breeze could blow through it, and packed with people) for a few minutes until the announcement of the appearance was given.

Then on the 3^rd floor of the building, a small girl, probably 4 years old, stood in formal attire at the window, staring mostly off into space, though I did see her look down briefly.  She appears only for about 30 seconds, while those below go quiet and put hands together in prayer, then many will start clapping as she departs.

On this day, a large group of school children were present and they were then led into the building, where I believe they get to meet or at least have a photo taken with the Goddess.  This ability is only for locals; no foreigners are allowed to go inside the building.

Once the appearance was over, people had to filter out the small narrow doorway, so the guide and I held back and bit and discussed the details on the architecture of the building until much of the crowd had dispersed.

When we finished seeing the rest of the complex, we met up with the car and driver and headed across town to the next stop, which is also where we will stop for lunch.

After a 20 minute drive, we arrived at the location of the Boudhanath Stupa.

This is one of the largest spherical stupas in the world, and one of the more important sites for the Tibetan Buddhist faith.

It is believed to have been built in the 5^th century, but could be older, and has been renovated and changed some over the centuries.

The large round structure is said to contain important relics inside, and is surrounded by a wall of buildings containing monasteries, shops and upper floor cafes and restaurants.

It was one of these places we stopped to eat at, located on the rooftop of the 4 story building.

This location gave a great spot to see the Stupa from a more elevated viewpoint.

I took a seat and ordered my lunch, the guide went elsewhere, not sure it he ate on his own, or went to a different place, as he seemed to know several people on the way in, so might have gone to spend some time with another local in the area.

I ordered Chicken Mo-Mos (steamed chicken dumplings with sauce), Dal Makhani (lentils and spice sauce) and had it served on rice.  Also tried a stuffed Naan bread (stuffed with cottage cheese).  Just had a coke and some water to drink.

As happened the other night, the portions were way larger than I expected, so ended up eating too much, and did not even finish the Naan.

When done, I paid my bill (2000 rupee, or about $13) and we left to go walk around the perimeter of the Stupa.  We talked about the history of the place, and its place in Tibetan Buddhist faith, and some about the surrounding town as well.

We then walked over to a nearby street to wait for the car.  Guide actually headed off and has me wait on the side of the road for a bit, and after about 5 minutes he returned and the car shortly after that arrived.

We quickly got into the car as he had to block traffic to stop and pick us up, and then headed over to the next, and final stop for the day.

We reached the Pashupatinath Temple after a few minutes and were dropped off along the road outside.

We walked a few blocks to reach the main entrance and then walked among the outer temple buildings to the river.

This temple complex covers 246 hectares and has hundreds of mini temples surrounding the main temple, which dates back to at least the 5^th century.

It is considered one of the holiest pilgrimage sites within the Hindu faith.

One of the more interesting aspects was the cremation ceremonies taking place along the river.

As in India, Nepal uses cremation as the main method of treating the body after a person’s death.

The body is burned on a special platform and when done washed into the river, which (in this case the Bagmati River, which does eventually join the Ganges in India).

There were several fires burning while we were there, and two more funeral ceremonies were just getting started with the deceased being still on the bamboo frame sitting on the side of the platform while the family gathered for the various rituals.

My guide explained how the whole process worked, the ceremonies, now various family members will follow certain things in the follow year after, the costs, and special handling that occur leading up to the fire itself.

I then had some time to wander among the nearby small temples and structures on the hillside, including a lot of steps.

There were lots of lazy dogs and active monkeys around this site as well.

Once we were done, we walked out along the river to meet the car.

At this point we then headed back into town and the hotel.

At the hotel I tipped the guide a small amount as I was nearly out of rupee, and then went up to my room to cool off and relax, my feet, legs, and back were a bit sore now.

I worked on a few things until the tour manager contacted me to meet up and discuss the next few days points.

He arrived at the hotel a bit later and we went up to the rooftop bar to have a drink and quickly go over things.

The guide for the bike ride will arrive sometime later in the day tomorrow and we will then get to go over the ride details and check out the bike as well.

We then talked about maybe doing a shorter trip tomorrow morning as well, but I was not sure yet if I wanted to go out again, or stay in the room.

I do need to check with hotel to see if they have laundry service and get my stuff cleaned so I can have a full set of clothing for the ride.

I will call him in the late morning if I decide too.

Once we finished talking, I went down to the room to grab my passport so I could go get some more local currency.

I also stopped at the front desk and extended my stay another day, since my original stay only included the days before the Tibet tour was to start, but as that was moved, those nights where cancelled.

As I am not leaving till Tuesday, I need a hotel for Monday night, so just as well stay where I am.

Once that was done, I then left to go check the rates at a few local money exchange shops as I had noticed today the shops along the places we visited were paying a bit more today.

I walked down the same street I saw the other day and the numbers were higher, but bit less than the shops in the other parts of town, but I did find the last shop was only .10 rupee per dollar less, so close enough.

I exchanged another $200, and then walked down to use the ATM as I wanted to see which was better option.

I pulled 10000 rupees from the ATM, paying a 500 rupee atm fee.

I then returned to the room to sort out the funds, and then did some checks and calculations and with the 100 rupee equivalent that my own bank also charged me, I was losing 600 rupees to the ATM, but doing the math, I only lost 200-300 rupee at the money exchange shops, so looks like the better option for now.

Once done with that, I then uploaded all the footage from today, and got things sorted, and also put batteries on the charger and the cell phone.

I am still feeling full from lunch, so going to just skip eating dinner tonight.

Now that I have this blog entry finished, I will get it uploaded and then either go to bed, or work on converting more 360 footage from the Arctic trip so I can get more videos done.

Catch ya down the road.