Monkey Temple

Watch the Tibetan Prayer Wheels Turning. Inside are many prayers written on paper and every time someone turns the wheels, the prayers are active. With prayer wheels all around the temple, it's easy to walk and spin so many prayer wheels and make so many prayers that climbing the hundreds of steps seems worth it.

Monkeys

The Stupa

After the climb, relief!

So today was an adventure in navigating this city. I put it off, borrowed a good map, had directions explained to me twice, and promptly got lost! It’s not all my fault. Streets may have names, but no street signs. I once had a good sense of direction, but these narrow streets tend to confuse one. (How many excuses is that?) Dodging cows, motorbikes, taxis, street vendors, pot holes, and tourists can make one dizzy. And every part of Thamel looks pretty much the same. (Rationalizations over.) Still, what the German/Italian couple living  near me described as half a day I made into a full day jaunt. Pretty good, I’d say, if you’re trying to stretch out your vacation. I also looked at my e-ticket, and I’m not leaving tomorrow, as I thought, but the day after. So that’s a surprise and a sure sign I’ve lost track of calendar time!

Swoyambu is usually called the Monkey Temple because it is swarming with holy monkeys (see photos). It is one of the most revered pilgrimages for Newari Buddhists and Tibetan Buddhists. I climbed about 400 steps to get to the top! Lucky thing I didn’t go trekking, as most foreigners do, because I might not have made it up the  thousands of foot climb to Anapurna Base Camp, though in the early stages of planning I toyed with the idea. I had a great view of the whole city, the Kathmandu Valley. As I was climbing (slowly) I thought I heard gunshots in the distance, but it turned out to only be thunder. When I looked east, I saw low, black clouds rolling in. I considered turning tail, but my first full day in Pokhara, when I walked eight hours in the rain, taught me that I won’t melt when wet. My shoes look atrocious, but I continued climbing.