Kathmandu - The Side of Nepal They Don't Show You

what's the first thing that comes  to your mind when someone says Nepal?   I can't believe it! well for me it is  definitely the world's highest mountains   but as it turns out there's a whole  different side to this country   side full of shocking traditions, beautiful sights  and interesting discoveries yet believe it or not this little known part of Nepali culture doesn't hide itself in the high mountains of the North   nor in the tropical jungles of the South but  it's right in the center of it all so buckle up as today we will discover Kathmandu, the mysterious and historic Capital of Nepal this city- the main star of today's video - has stood  in its place for over 2 000 years. smile and wave   and with population more than one and a half million it is the biggest Metropole in the whole Himalayan Mountain Range but trust me if I say it is not  always easy to start discovering such a huge place   and so to get the better understanding of the city  we knew that we had to get a better look of it from above just came out of the municipality,  government office and sadly they don't allow me to fly a drone here. so we needed to come up with a different plan which brings us to the start of today's adventure and now we're just picking up a friend. Just when I was getting used to sitting out there in the Sun Am I getting in Here? yeah! this is Damon. a wonderful travel companion  and a member of our close travel family on Patreon   since his travel plans from Canada  aligned with ours we decided to join forces   and explore the magic of Kathmandu together and now coming back to the story like I said we needed to find a place that offers the best view of the city so it's morning with Damon here in Kathmandu and we're gonna take him to the airport but not because we're tired of him   there's actually something, something fun planned. we didn't plan it, so thank you Damon for this! it was slightly unusual arriving in an airport  without any luggage and just made it to the airport but let's be honest the flight itself was also quite different from what we had done before I hope it's the first and the last time that my  plane goes up and lands in the same place. in no time with a cup of average  tasting airport coffee in our hands   we were on our way to board a plane that  hopefully would offer us a better view of the city I am excited! Hmm.. I don't know yet as soon as we took flight, I felt like I knew this  city much more than I did before. somewhy seeing a place from above just helps me understand it better and the first thing that popped in my head after seeing Kathmandu from above was that this  city seems to be sitting in the bottom of a bowl although it's located on nearly 1400 meters of  elevation it is surrounded with mountains much higher than it from all four sides and only after getting high above the city we truly understood what it means for Kathmandu to be located in the Himalayas. we were just circling around Kathmandu a few rounds and I thought like why are we doing this but then from the window you see that some mountains are just so incredibly High that we need to gain so much height before we can even go towards them it's really quite the weird feeling  looking out of your plane window   and seeing mountains that Tower much higher  than airplanes fly and it might sound like a cliche but there still was something special about laying our eyes on Everest   the highest mountain in the world. well but most importantly now that we had seen Kathmandu from up high it was time to start exploring on ground level that was pretty cool Hey hey! Seems like we're in a really small compartment. we just grabbed a Kathmandu cab. yes!   Very old, 20 years. yeah? Old! and  now heading to the center while walking through the older and  central part of the city it quickly comes clear that this place is full of surprises Once I feel I need to go deeper into meditation and have a lot of free time I'm gonna come here  and learn how to do those intricate paintings we came here to ask about the painting class and  we had no idea that it takes five to seven days, six to eight hours a day to paint something like this. Just those bigger paintings on the walls they take two years to make and they use the real gold and natural colors to paint it so for example this one over there cost about 80 000 US dollars. incredible just the details here I can't believe what I'm seeing. you could say that around every corner, smaller and bigger palaces and temples could be found they're scattered all around Kathmandu and each of them has a story to tell one of such stories found us by total chance.  we were wandering in the famous Durbar Square   and suddenly decided to walk into one of the many  beautiful Courtyards to get away from the city noise but what we found there was something  I hadn't even dreamed about seeing by total accident we ended up in Kumari Palace and it's one of the like weirdest places sort of that I've ever seen Kumari in Nepali Hindu religion is a  young girl who is thought to be a living goddess   they are chosen for this position at a very  early age and are worshiped as manifestations of the Goddess Taleju and this until they reach Womanhood after which a next girl between the age of two and four is chosen to be a Kumari it felt humbling and weird at the same time and just so you know taking pictures or video of her was not allowed and this top window over there behind me is where we just saw Kumari, a small little girl who is thought to be goddess well in the short little time we had spent in Kathmandu we had already seen the world's highest mountain and a living goddess but our Journey Through the shocking parts of Nepali culture was far from over and next up we made our way to what is probably the most important place for many local Hindus this Temple they only let in people who are Hindu in their passport so we're not getting in but  we're trying to see if we can find a viewpoint Pashupatinath temple lies on the shores holy Bagmati River and this place is definitely not for the faint-hearted on every platform here you can see the wood have already been put there, there's gonna be a body burning in few hours so that's where Hindus cremate their dead. in local tradition if a dead family member is washed three times with the river water and then cremated on its Shores the endless cycle of reincarnation will be broken and a lost loved one can freely enter Nirvana to enjoy the eternal Bliss of afterlife on this side of the river there's bodies burning and then barely 10 meters 30 feet away are just groups of people having picnic one group over there, up there. they're just eating, they're doing their own things well whether or not you believe  in afterlife it's a fascinating place to see we literally spent hours here. oh wow, that's a big cow, there are more than 500 temples in the whole complex  and the area has such a different  atmosphere it's a different feeling seeing a body vanish Into Thin Air because it just reminds you that nothing is permanent that everything I wear everything I own that one day it's all gone so   maybe maybe I shouldn't stress about it that  much and in such manner Pashupatinath Temple almost forces everybody who visits this place to appreciate  their short lives just a little bit more   okay there actually was one thing that seemed  quite weird about this place what makes it funny for me is that like right next to the temple already in a restricted area you get a sunrise Bank, over there it's Nepal bank so you'll probably go and like ask the God for help and then come here and get the loan for your house. what do you guys think? do people really ask for God's blessing before visiting their bank or is there another reason for the offices to be located here yet what makes Kathmandu such an interesting  location is that it is one of those rare places where many religions and cultures Thrive side by side without conflict so beside Hindu Heritage there are also many Buddhist holy places most of them can be identified by the tall white stupas with golden tops then of course colorful prayer Flags and prayer wheels that by local belief send positive energy and  prayers into the universe every time they'd turn Prayers sent! one of such incredible Buddhist sacred  sites is called Swayambhu Mahachaitya Temple yes to pronounce this name correctly it took  me a good five minutes of practicing but to make it easier for foreigners like us to  remember it is sometimes just called the Kathmandu monkey temple and now we're heading to a famous monkey temple. let's see if the name speaks for itself. The ambience of this place is truly lovely. it's located on a small hill rising out from the Kathmandu Valley and therefore offers beautiful views on the city itself Unexpected! Look at that monkey go, somebody just half finished the lassi and he's just drinking it, enjoying it. nice  and sweet and milky but what makes this place Unforgettable is the beauty and Harmony that almost everyone who comes here experiences the name monkey temple is definitely Justified And of course there are thousand more things that make this city such a special and unique place   from The Hectic traffic that can literally drive a newcomer crazy and is mainly dominated by motorbikes to those endless messes of wires are like  the characteristic of Kathmandu this city just grew so fast that the supply of  power didn't catch up and so they kept putting new lines on there and  they didn't take the old ones away   so now there is just a big mess and those  ones are actually supporting the new lines so as you just saw there is so much more  in Nepal than just the famous mountains and even in the capital alone there are days worth  of activities and things to see and do but that's the last thing I just have to add that  although sites of this Capital are beautiful   then it's true value still lies in the  local people they are calm understanding and welcoming by Nature. believe it or not even after a clown like myself ripped down a few of their electrical cables by driving on a road that clearly was not meant for me I got no idea what to do. the locals stayed calm  and positive and instead of getting angry   they decided to help us and told us  not to worry about the wires apparently such things just happen here and I really hope that the family who was connected to those wires did not have to have their  dinner by a candlelight that evening friends thank you for watching and we hope to see you back on the channel in a little bit less than a week as next time we will attempt to walk what is known as one of the best long distance hikes in the whole world   until then take care and bye. I don't even  know what falling out of the sky anymore it's not rain because it hits  you differently and it's not snow because it doesn't stay on the ground.

Channel: Wild Viking Travels

Views: 139,305

Keywords: nepal, kathmandu, nepal vlog, kathmandu vlog, nepal travel, must see kathmandu, kathmandu travel guide, how to travel nepal, travel vlog, wild viking travels, foreigner in nepal, shocking nepal, nepali, nepali culture, nepali people, buddha air mountain flight, pashupatinath temple, Swayambhu Mahachaitya, kathmandu tour, must see nepal

Id: A8vzASBnvRc

Length: 15min 7sec (907 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 08 2023