There are other places than just Thamel in Kathmandu Valley and a friend and I took a day to check out what one of the others, Patan, had to offer. The highlight of Patan is the Durbar Square and the Patan Museum, but the walk from Thamel, which takes around two hours if you are stopping to look at monkeys and temples on the way, is just as interesting. We got to see another, more local side of the city. Children playing on the streets, markets on the side walks and men sewing clothes in the sunshine makes it a very fun experience!

 

After a while, we came across a temple affected by the 2015 earthquake. The beautiful statue of Shiva was still standing but the main temple was turned to just a pile of bricks. There was some reconstruction so hopefully it will soon be back to its former glory. On the other side of the street there were monkeys playing withe each other. Climbing around on the electrical cords and jumping from pole to pole.

At last we arrived at the Durbar Square, the square is filled with temples and governmental buildings from the 1600s and onwards. The three storey tall wooden buildings, with intricate wooden cutouts of both the Hindu and Buddha gods makes it clear that this has been a place full of art and culture for many centuries. In the museum, one can see even more sculptures. These are made in metal and shines in the dim light. Also, the museum demonstrates unity of the two religions, both Buddha and Durga is to be seen. There was also a display of traditional instruments and, in the evening, a concert!

 

 

The concert featured explanations of the instruments and beautiful Nepali traditional music. The melodies can remind you of Norwegian traditional music, but also traditional music from india. The instruments feature the tabla drums and the sarangati (looks like a fiddle). A lady was singing beautifully with her smiling band mates and the crowd seemed to know all the songs.

 

 

 

-Sigurd-