Hi there! This is Carol, here to tell you about my amazing experience in Kathmandu Nepal. My adventure began the moment I hopped aboard the Silkair plane – that’s because we were treated like royalty in Business Class! The minute I sat down I was offered a nice cool drink, which was followed by snacks – biscuits, potato chips, pretzels, nuts! And if you think that’s cool, our breakfast came with a delicious starter followed by the mains. (check out the pic) The crew was lovely and attentive to my every need , at one point Captain Roy took a break from flying the plane (I’m told it’s safe!) to come and say hi to the winners and me . So a big ‘hello’ to Captain Roy and LS Jessica (who makes a mean cup of iced chocolate) , and Myat, thank you for taking such great care of us.

We arrived in Kathmandu very energized needless to say because we were so well fed on the plane. Jack – our Nepalese guide was already there to receive us and brought us to our hotel , the ‘Yak N Yeti’ to freshen up before heading out to a popular attraction, the Swayambhunath shrine.

The Swayambhunath shrine. is located on a mountain, 15 minutes away from our hotel by van. What struck me immediately upon entering the premise was the presence of rows and rows of colourful flags. I learned from Jack that these are known as prayer flags and they are usually a colorful panel or rectangular cloth often found strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas to bless the surrounding countryside. Traditionally, prayer flags come in sets of five, one in each of five colors. The five colors represent the elements, and the Five Pure Lights. They are arranged from left to right in a specific order and different elements are associated with different colors for specific traditions and purposes: Blue (symbolizing sky/space), White (symbolizing air/wind) , Red (symbolizing fire), Green (symbolizing water) and Yellow (symbolizing earth).
The iconic attraction of this site is the Swayambhunath Stupa - A golden spire crowning a conical wooded hill, it is the most ancient and enigmatic of all the holy shrines in Kathmandu valley. Its lofty white dome and glittering golden spire are visible for many miles and from all sides of the valley. It is said to have been around since the 14th century!!An appreciation of the stupa is best gained by proceeding round it in a clockwise direction. As people walk round the prayer wheels fixed to the balustrade are set in motion, so multiplying the prayers a thousand times. Here you can also find many Buddha statues in a variety of positions and I learnt that each position bears significance , for example: if the hand of is touching the earth, it conveys the solidness of the ground in a metaphor for the stability of true Buddhist faith.

Next, we headed to Durbar square in the heart of the old city. It is characterized by the presence of numerous temples and shrines some dating as far back as the 12th century! Most of them however are no longer in use and are today, popular meeting places for the locals. Temples were built to honour the different gods and deities, and there is even a temple known as the Kamasutra temple! I wonder what went on in there back in the day..! We also got a chance to visit the Kumari Ghar which is where the living goddess Kumari resides. We were told by Jack that if we were fortunate we’d catch a glimpse of her, and guess what, we were in luck! After waiting for about 15 minutes, the 4 year old peeked her head out to have a look at some of us gathered below her window before darting off again.

Dinner that evening was at a local restaurant and I was excited to see what Nepalese food tasted like and turns out, it’s not unlike the local Indian food we get here , they even have prata. One thing I really enjoyed though was ‘MOMO’ which is actually a dumpling or wanton. In fact ‘momo’ is so popular amongst the locals they serve it in most restaurants. A family meal of 50 (!?!?!) pieces of momo goes for about 12 Singapore dollars, not too bad eh? You can have it steamed, panfried or deepfired, with chicken, mutton or buffalo filling.

Day 2 in Kathmandu saw us heading up to Nagarkot mountains about 30 km away from the city. This is a truly beautiful place located 2195m above sea level. It is renowned for its sunrise view of the Himalaya including Mount Everest as well as other snow-capped peaks of the Himalayan range of eastern Nepal. Nagarkot also offers a panoramic view of the Kathmandu Valley. There was a sense of ‘other worldliness’ here , I felt so at peace with nature and my surroundings and that resulted in quite a few ‘OMmm” moments. We also managed to do some trekking which was especially nice to do in the cooler temperatures (13-18 degree Celsius). Needless to say I also went camera crazy taking heaps of pictures of all the breathtaking views!

Day 3 and we headed down the mountain, back to the city for some shopping in the Thamel area. It is quite the shoppers paradise especially if you’re into the bohemian look. Nepal is also known for their tea so I made sure I grabbed some for the folks back home.

All too soon it was time for us to wrap up our trip the next day. I felt like there was still more that I wanted to do and see in Nepal. It is an amazing land whose people are warm and friendly. And despite coming from multicultural Singapore, I found the co-existence of 2 large ethnic groups (Indo Aryan and Indo Mongolian) to be greatly intriguing! Nepal is just one of those places you have to visit at least once in your lifetime for its breathtaking views of mountains and valleys and cultural diversity (there are over 100 ethnic groups!), So, if you like a little bit of adventure, this might just be your cup of tea, and remember to leave the high heels at home!

Thanks for reading and allowing me to share my journey with you.
Much love,
Carol