We drove down the the winding mountain road from Nagarkot passing numerous agricultural terraces for rice and wheat, depending in the season. Cheryl was not thrilled with all of the hairpin turns on a road that is in less than in good repair. Bhaktapur is the third city in the Kathmandu Valley, the other two are Kathmandu and Lalitpur. The urban growth has pretty much blurred the edges of the cities. Bhaktapur was the original capital of all of Nepal from the 8th century through the 15th century. Unlike Kathmandu it has retained its narrow streets and more laid back feel, as there are few cars or scooters. In fact the chief transport are rudimentary tractors where they continually pour water in the cooling system as there are no radiators. The Newari women dress traditionally in black and red and have tattoos on their ankles. Many of the buildings standing date back to the 17th century although there has been a lot of earthquake damage to many and although modernized they retain their original facades. There are squares dedicated to pottery making as well as many “meeting places” where men and women congregate to chat, play games or catch up on the news. Another interesting find amongst the thousands of little stalls were wooden carved neck ties. We also came across a toy shop selling water floats. We have no idea where they would be used. The center of the city is the Durbar Square which houses the tallest temple in Nepal, two palaces (one with a very ornate royal bath and 55 windows adorning the top floor) and a Hindu temple with a Golden Gate that is guarded by the police.
After our walk through the city we had lunch and then bade goodbye to our group as they depart for the States tomorrow. We have one more stop to go.
