Guided tour

Was awoken by noisy neighbours, think about 6ish! Nodded off and got up apprx 8am. Woke up to a power cut! There is a system out here where planned cuts ensure continued supply in all areas, if not the power would be going off at all times of he day. It would be chaos.

Finally managed to have a shave, no light in the bathroom, challenging to say the least.

Got all my camera gear ready and met Ramsharam at 11 am. He introduced e to my guide, Gan. He is a teacher normally but is a registered tourist guide. Very nice guy and very knowledge able.
We set of to Durbar Square, a world heritage sight. Masses of Hindu temples as well as people. This is where the living goddess, Kumari, resides. She is selected at 4 years of age and remains a goddess until puberty. Then they select another. She is always hidden except at certain festivals. No men are allowed to see her, apart from her teacher.
As always plenty of people trying to sell things, even the Sadhu (holy man) wants you to pay to have his picture taken. These are guys who give up materialistic things in the name of religion, yet you have to pay to take their photo???????
Gan gave me a full briefing about the Hindu religion. They have a god for everything.
They are fanatical about their worship, espcially at this moment as we are in the middle of Diwalli and Tihar, their 2 most religious festivals.
Everywhere is being decorated with garlands of flowers, very colourful.
Sacred cows were everywhere, being fed by people who struggle to feed themselves.
We spent a good 2 hours there, the temples are truly stunning, very large and very old. They date back to 1300 BC. Some have been damaged by earthquakes as well as Muslim invaders, but all have been restored.
After that we drove, well crawled really, through the traffic to a Bhuddist temple at Bouddhanath.
It is called a stupa, which means dome. It was truly magnificent,it is like a little village, shops around the outside, no cars and plenty of monks!!
It was so calming, very different from Durbar Square.
The paintings and murals are stunning, very intricate and colourful.
You can walk around the outside of the stupa but not inside.
We visited a shop that sells Tibetan religious artifacts. The owner's daughter is one of Gan's pupils.
This shop have been in the family for 3 generations. He even had a store in New York where he was fortunate to meet the Dalai Lama. A big honour for a bhuddist!
He and his wife made me feel very welcome, they were very charming people.

We then got our driver to take us to a Hindu temple at Pashupatinath.
This is by a river and is a site where they burn the corpses.
It is amassive place dedicated to the god Shiva. She is all powerful in the Hindu religion.
We met a Sadhu whose pennance is to never sit down for 14 years. He sleeps standing up, resting on a cradle hanging from the roof. He has about 4 disciples who prepare all his food. He eats mainly fruit.
Also we saw a cremation, the body was wrapped in a white sheet, covered in a bright coloured cloth and decorated with red flowers. It is taken to the river and the gods are asked to accept the spirit.
Then it is place on the pyre and burned. This corpse was a police officer and had a guard of honour to pay their respects.
There were lots of monkeys here, also a god, playing havoc and pinching food! Very entertaining.
We got back to the hotel approx 5.30, just as it got dark.

There was another planned power cut at 6pm till 9pm.I went for a walk around Thamel, came back to the hotel, and had a meal. I mailed Sandra to let her know I am safe and see how her first day back at work went. Everything was ok, although we are missing each other.

A really full and interesting day, made by Gan and his knowledge.

Let's see what tomorrow brings! Sue should arrive from Dheli approx 4.30pm.