Welcome to Bhaktapur 

An Ancient City

      About once a week to get us out of the office, we try to see something in the city.  We hire a taxi for the day and off we go.  This time it was Bhaktapur, an ancient city dating back to the early 8^th century that is about a 20 minute drive from where we live.  We went along with the other senior missionary couple, Mike and Betty Wasuita.  (Betty is a cousin of Lyle Taggart who we have known for years from Idaho Falls.  It is a small world.)  From the 12^th to 15^th century it was the capital of all Nepal and then after that until the 18^th century, the people of Bhaktapur considered it a sovereign country of its own and surrounded it with boundary walls with access through several city gates.  Now it is the home of about 100,000 peasants and a few craftsmen, business owners and public employees.  We wandered around among the people and enjoyed looking at the ancient temples and the shops.  It is a classic example of how many people live here in Nepal.  Enjoy.

The “Golden Gate” as you enter the Queen’s bathhouse. 

Her bath is surrounded by a stone cobra which encompasses the pool.  They believed the cobra would protect the queen.

Hindu temple.  I love how the stairs are lined with statues.  I am sure they all have significance but I don’t know what they are.  Here in Bhaktapur there are both Hindu and Buddhist temples.  Buddhist stupas always have big eyes on them staring at you.  Large Hindu temples look more like pagodas.

In the picture above look at the child sitting on the elephant.  She had such a cute face, but she is a little beggar child looking for money.  Most of you will think we are cruel, but we don’t hand out money to these children.  They need to be in school.  In fact it is a Nepali law that children go to school.  Giving her money only keeps her out on the streets when she should be in school.  This is one of the hardest things we do – walk away from a child who wants money. 

April 15^th was the Nepali New Year with a countrywide celebration.  We toured several days after their New Year but the remnants of the celebration were still there.  They have a gigantic wooden chariot that they pull through the city.  Dad is standing by it. 

The kids in the picture above have made good use of the chariot by using the ropes that were used to pull it to make a swing.  You don’t see playground equipment around.  Kids use whatever they have to play.

The men are carrying some type of Hindu structure through the streets.  There is incense burning and they stop periodically at shrines.  Hindus take their religion very seriously.  Most men and women have red marks below their hairline made of something – ground up flowers and paint and I don’t know what else. It is a daily rite for some and they wear it all day. 

Village Life in Bhaktapur: 

Into the village we went to see what they had in their shops.  Nepali people are great gardeners.  They sell their produce on the street and most people buy their produce this way.  You would think I would lose weight here since we are on foot most of the time, but alas, that is not true.  We westerners have trouble with the Nepali fresh fruits and vegetables and since I am on my second round of medicine from a bad “something”, we eat almost no fruits and vegetables unless they have a heavy peel. We even stay away from them at restaurants.  Our diet is mostly rice and beans and a little meat and a lot of eggs and bread.  And we were told that Coke kills everything (it does not and I can attest to that) so we drink soda rather than water when we are out unless we can find bottled water. 

All types of birds are in those woven cages.  You can buy whatever you want.  When they cook chicken they just take a cleaver and cut it up bones and all.  Then they cook it.  When you eat it, you have to pick through the bones in the meat.  It is just how they do it.  Since power is a problem here most Nepalese do not have ovens.  They use their propane stoves to fry everything.  There are no casseroles or lasagne or baked goods unless you buy it.  One way we treat people when they come to our apartment is with a homemade cookie or sweet bread or cinnamon roll.  We have an oven but I can only use it when the power is on.  So I measure out my ingredients and wait for the power to come on, quickly mix it together, and get it baked.  My oven is super small so I can only bake 6 cookies at a time.  It takes a while to get a batch of cookies baked.

Carrying things through the market.

Many Nepali live in very tiny apartments in structures like this.  It is common after an arranged marriage that the bride and groom move in with his parents.  The families get larger with every marriage and they work together to do the work necessary to provide for their big family units.

  

Bartering for a necklace that Betty wanted.  White faces mean double the price.  They are not mean about it – just realistic. White faces have more money and can afford to pay more. See the man with the stick to the right side of us.  He hobbles around using that stick to walk.  He is also a beggar.  He needs one of our LDSC wheelchairs, but I suspect that he wouldn’t get as much money if he were in one. 

Dad and I love the children.  They are beautiful and from the earliest age, they are taught to be very respectful and say “nameste” which means hello and goodbye.

Dad is a goof ball and he loves to find some unsuspecting child and play “peek-a-boo.”  Sounds simple, but we don’t know the Nepali translation for peek-a-boo so Dad has to just use his imagination to get them to play.  This little girl was afraid at first and hid among the hats.

But it wasn’t long and he had her fully into the game.  Isn’t she beautiful?

I hope you enjoyed the quick tour.  We have had a busy month.  We have written 5 new projects and we are waiting approval for 2 of them.  We have visited the READ Nepal which is a leprosy clinic. Leprosy is still a problem here in Nepal.  We have had groups of young people in our home for dinner to help them grow stronger.  And of course, we have done a lot of walking to get groceries, to go to  church,  and to visit a sewing center that LDSC has helped to get going.  I wish I could explain the wide range of emotions we have for this country.  Truthfully there are some very hard things that cause us some anxiety.  But the Nepali people more than make up for those concerns.  I would never want to change how kind and helpful they are.  We learn more from them about being the kind of people Christ would want us to be than we do to help them.  I believe we are the ones being blessed.  Someday when Christ comes again – and He will – we hope we can exhibit the same kind of Christ-like personalities these wonderful people have to Him.  Some of our “Adventure in Nepal” has been to take a good look at who we are.  Being on a humanitarian mission has provided the backdrop for such a self-evaluation.  It provides a real motivation to keep looking for ways to provide service to such a needy country.  We love you all!