Nepal - Day 4

The fourth day we went on an even longer walk to a famous Buddhist Stupa. On the way there a protest came marching down the street led by a line of policemen in riot gear and followed by students, some waving red flags and shouting. A little further on there was a burning tire in the middle of the road and a student standing near by with another red flag. I thought of the red banner of the Parisian barricades, but of course it was nothing so turbulent as that.





At last we reached the Stupa, which was centred in a square of tall, narrow buildings. The Stupa consisted of several levels of white stone, surmounted by a dome, surmounted by a conical tower with eyes drawn on it. From the top of this tower prayer flags were draped down to the bottom. The white stonewall surrounding this structure was lined with niches in which were set prayer wheels. These are cylindrical pieces of metal on an axel, which you spin with your hand, and which have sacred Hindu verses written on them.





The square surrounded the temple was well maintained and contained arts and crafts stalls, cafes, and a few more temples. One was a vibrantly painted Buddhist temple, which we walked through.





After we had done a circuit of the square it began to grow hot so we went to find ourselves a café. To my delight there was a ham sandwich on the menu. When you haven’t had a ham sandwich in five months, it begins to seem like a delicacy. I was quite excited, but alas equally disappointed. The sandwich was literally just two pieces of bread with some friend ham between and I had to salvage it with ketchup and a few pieces of lettuce that were on my plate.

We began walking home and it was very hot. I don’t generally burn very much, even in hot climates, but I was salmon pink after that little trek.