Swayambhu

On the next day we went to the main Buddhist temple in Kathmandu - Swayambhu. It is located on the top of a hill in the outskirts of the city. Tourists have named it the Monkey Hill as it is full with these animals.

A prayer made in Swayambhu is believed to have thousand times greater strength than one made anywhere else. And truly the places holds some magic - it is very calm and peaceful on the top of the hill.

The temple, however, is no exception to the general trend of pollution all around the city. Although women were cleaning the rock plates comprising the floor of the temple, the hillside was spoiled with rubbish. A holy man, praying at one of the smaller temples, had donations of flowers, rice and food all around him, some of it  rotted, black and circled by flies. A serving boy cleaned the space around the praying man by brushing the donations in a pile and throwing this pile five steps farther from the man. There a bunch of pigeons and stray dogs ate the most of it, while the cleaning women took care of the rest.

The Monkey Hill and the temple is not only full of monkeys but also of dogs with various illnesses. From the very start we learned better to make a wide circle around every one of them. Besides the dogs also numerous beggars spot the Hill. Some of them lay quietly on their blankets, others stir whenever they see a tourist coming their way.

The most interesting part of the journey, however, was the part of getting back home. The Ring Road that encircles the city passes by the Monkey Hill as well. Buses for 15-20 rupees would take us anywhere from here, but the trick is to find the right bus. There are no numbers or destinations written on the buses, at least not in understandable letters. Each bus has a boy that collects the money and shouts out the destinations, but for our unaccustomed ears he could shoot whatever he liked and we wouldn't have understood anything.

The only thing left to do was approach every single bus passing by and shooting the destination of our home - Baluwatar. For fifteen minutes the best response we got was a shake of head or a "No!" The others just stared at us like seeing people for the first time. Disheartened by our fruitless attempts we approached a nearby policeman and asked how to get back home. 

At once the police officer led us to a bus that just seconds ago had passed by after declining to get us to Baluwatar. The officer asked the boy of the bus to get us to Baluwatar and without a word he shook his head in agreement. We thanked the officer and got into the bus with a little more understanding of how things are working here.

Later I understood the problem - numerous buses were going our way, but they were driving the road that passes through Panipokhari not Baluwatar. Now we are shooting Panipokhari and getting home every time without much problems.