Bhaktapur & Durbar Square

On the way back from Nagarkot we stopped at Bhaktapur, the ancient capital of Nepal. Lots of old buildings, temples, and statues.

"let sleeping dogs lie"

Bhaktapur also has some crafts. This is pottery square.



This morning, we walked over to Durbar Square (the one in Kathmandu - there are more Durbar squares other places, including in Bhaktapur) The thing I remembered about Durbar Square was all the pigeons, and sure enough they were there in abundance.

We usually try to escape all the locals pushing to be your "guide" at these kinds of places. But at Durbar Square one latched onto us right away. He didn't try to negotiate a price so we let him talk for a bit. Finally we said "How much?". "Whatever you want to give me is fine" he said. We knew that probably wouldn't be the case, but what the heck, he was reasonably informative. When we finished he said "Some other people gave me 2000 rupees." Considering at Bhaktapur our driver had said not to pay more than 150, this seemed a little steep. I offered him 500 and he was outraged and at first he wouldn't take it. Finally he did and stomped off grumbling. I felt a bit bad because obviously I could afford 2000 (about $20), but at the same time it doesn't seem like a good idea to encourage ripping off tourists. After he left an older shopkeeper said to us, "You got a good guide, hey," laughing,  "we call him Alcohol Guide." Sadly, I guess we know where his money goes.

See all 21 photos as a slideshow or overview