Bakthapur
It was about a 45 minute drive from Dulikhel on the same road we came in. The car dropped us off just outside the old city centre of Bakhtapur. The driver waited for us, so we could leave all our luggage in the car and we had two hours for sightseeing. Bakhtapur was the capital of Nepal until the 15th century. The old town centre of the city, which is also part of the Unesco World Heritage site, apparently contains the best preserved temples in Nepal. Bakthapur has a Durbar Square similar to Kathmandu which is a seemingly random conglomeration of temples, palaces and pagodas. (Durbar Square is a generic term in Nepal for a public square in front of a royal palace.)
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This is Taumadhi Square. The five-story Nyataponla Temple (build in 1702) is the tallest pagoga in Nepal. We could climb up to the third level for a great view over the beautiful square below and the city with the mountains in the background.
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We had coffee in the little cafe located in the second floor of a pagoda overlooking Taumadhi square, and watched a long line of women getting fresh water from a truck below us. Afterwards we walked over to pottery square, which was exactly what the name suggests, a big square where they still make pottery using traditional techniques, surrounded by lots of shops selling the local pottery.
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On the way back we passed a few more pagodas and temples, many of which had very explicit erotic carvings. One small pagoda is particularly famous for its erotic carvings of various animals doing it.
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 Even the Elephants are doing it in missionary position here. |
Afterwards the drive into Kathmandu took only about half an hour. We were staying at the very grand Hyatt Regency, which is a bit outside of the city in the North-East, but not too far away from the airport. From our room we had a view of the Boudhanath Stupa. We spent the rest of the afternoon having a couple of Everest beers by the pool and then had a very nice Nepalese dinner in the hotel restaurant.
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