Patan
Patan is recognized as a Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City and is also known as Manigal. Patan is known for the rich cultural heritage and architecture that it has preserved throughout the years.
Patan was initially patterned after the shape of the Buddhist Dharma Chakra. The most historically and culturally significant part of the city is Patan Durbar Square, which is included in UNESCO's as one of the important monuments that make up the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site.
I'm a big fan of walking around old cities and getting lost in its streets. I like the feel of being in such an old place and looking at the way of life of people that probably did not change for the past decades if not hundreds of years.
Child Goddess
My friends and I took our sweet time just taking in the culture and the sights of Patan. The chaos in Thamel is also found in Patan. Street vendors, worshipers, handicrafts, trinkets, and all sorts of people wandered the streets of this old city.
*There is a fee of NPRs 500 to enter Patan.
Kathmandu Durbar Square
My friends and I had time to kill before we left Nepal, little did we know we were about to witness something historic.
I shot a short video of Aung San entering the square, pardon my shaky hand:
We did not know that Aung San Suu Kyi would be in Nepal, let alone in the same place we were heading to. We were baffled by the number of police and media personnel in the streets leading to Kathmandu Durbar Square. We found the square and saw a huge sign welcoming Burma's icon of democracy. There was a frenzy of people gathering at the square just to hear or get a glimpse of Aung San Suu Kyi. We stayed a while just to get a feel of what was happening.
When the excitement died down, Kathmandu Durbar Square was quite impressive (but not as impressive as Bhaktapur or Patan). The square was surrounded by vestiges of the great Newar artists of Nepal. The distinct architecture and carvings on the structures were impressive.
The palaces of the Shah and Malla kings are also found in Kathmandu Durbar Square.
My friend taking a picture with some of the local kids who wanted to buy ice cream.
Students who posed for a picture while we were wandering around the square.
Kathmandu never runs out of shops like this one. All the chaos and narrow streets of Kathmandu were quite charming in an old world kind of way.
