To make the day interesting, I had to start it in a place the boys would look forward to.
The Swayambhunath, easily remembered as The Monkey Temple, was an easy choice among the places to go to I checked from Izzy’s Top Five Things To Do In Nepal and Hallie’s Kathmandu, Nepal: Swayambhunath. They were kind enough to give me their links when I asked about places to go to in Nepal. No brainer, I know my children were excited to see the monkeys!!!!
And they weren’t disappointed! It was monkeys galore the moment we stepped into the foot of Swayambhunath.
Well, it wasn’t popularly called “Monkey Temple” for nothing.
We didn’t take the steep steps going up the temple. Instead, our guide Shree of Kathmandu Adventures decided that we drive up to the other entrance. Kathmandu Adventures was highly recommended by BoboandChichi’s A Complete Guide of What To Do in Kathmandu. It was a great decision! The gradual steps going up and the monkeys entertained them as we took our time going up. Shree and Dumbar made it an interesting time the moment we got in. They were given coins for their wishes:-).
Going up shows a display of stupa of different sizes…
The top showcases arts and a good variety of hues!
This lady was engrossed with the making of thangka and I got to have great admiration for her undisturbed concentration. Thangka is a precious art piece and I will treasure ours!
Everywhere is alive with colors! My younger son wanted to buy a mother and child figure of monkeys as his souvenir. It took us awhile to convince him we can buy the same at another place for a lesser price.
This temple was badly damaged during the 2015 earthquake. Renovations are still ongoing and look like it will still take some time to be finished. But there are brick buildings that are just very charming!
For tourists, the Swayambhunath is a great place to see the city of Kathmandu. The city is right down there to admire and to wonder about.
But for Buddhists and Hindu believers, this remains as one of their most important places of worship. Lighted candle offerings and prayer wheels are dominant expressions of their religiosity.
My second son enjoyed rolling the prayer wheel.
The Swayambhunath is a must-go-to place when you visit Kathmandu. Aside from the amazing arts, colors and sounds it offers, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has sturdily survived the big 2015 earthquake.
My family can attest that it is an easy and enjoyable trip to make. Make sure you get Shree of Kathmandu Adventures for he does know how to adjust the trip to suit the moods of the little ones!
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Isn’t it great that we, as bloggers, rely on each other to guide other bloggers in new destinations. While natural to want to wander somewhere new ( and later to write about it) there is a certain sense of prior knowledge and expectations when you had 2-3 other people visit the same city/sight before you. I’m happy that your family had a great time in Nepal!
I’m thankful for bloggers!!! We get insights that are not written by tourism boards. And we get practical tips, too.:-)
Awww, thank you for the shout-out Wendy! How kind! I am so glad you got to enjoy Kathmandu so fully. Really wish I had purchased a thangka drawing but I visited Nepal during my backpacking trip and alas, there was no room at the time to bring one home with me but I did end up with prayer flags. And you are so right, Nepal is alive with so much color!
I love the colors and the sounds:-)… I had the thangka framed here in Itaewon and I’m getting it tomorrow so hubby and I are excited~~~
What a cool place for your family to experience together, Wendy! Seems like your trip to Nepal turned out to be a great time. I also love that you included links from our blogging community 🙂 I love doing the same whenever I can! Also, the thangka art seems so cool. What a great souvenir.
It was a good vacation, thank you:-)… I’d like to write more about it and I need to sit down more often for it.
Aw, thanks for the link love! I’m glad you guys made it up there and enjoyed it. Such amazing spots in Kathmandu and so beautiful and sacred. I enjoyed every day I had there and it sounded like you guys did too.
[…] UNESCO World Heritage Site is the Swayambhunath, or the Monkey Temple. It is a haven for monkeys. They are all around playing, jumping, and living […]
Thanks for sharing this Ms wendy Ang Dami talagang pwedeng puntahan sa Nepal Ang gaganda at very memorable po gusto ko talaga din makita yung Swayambhunath at mag sindi n kandila para mag alay Ng dasal🥰