Himalayas Magazine – June 2019

would pounce on unwary travellers offering

red tika powder as a blessing. Further out

of town on a hilltop, Swayambhunath, the

Monkey Temple, was a quiet walk across the

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where clumps of tall bamboo trees swayed in

the breeze. (8) & (9) The once important and

historic settlement of Kirtipur was rarely

visited by travellers, although we visited by

bicycle in 1984. (10)

Just before the coronation of King Birendra

in the spring of 1975, the hippies were evicted

from Durbar Square and Freak Street, and

sent to further oblivion across India. (11)

(11A or 11A) By the end of the seventies the

travellers had moved to Thamel, a semi-rural

area with some large houses and open

areas. Prior to this, the area of Thamel

and Chetrapati was believed to have been

inhabited by bad spirits. (12)

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into the Kathmandu Guest House with a

truckload of cleanshaven travellers from

London; the journey took 12 weeks. (13)

The narrow lane from Narsingh Chowk

hosted small houses, a tumbledown temple

and a high wall hiding a garden (now

shops); it continued around past the KGH

and the Tukuche Peak Hotel below more

walls and gardens. The Asia Hotel in

Jyatha was another choice. As for eating,

we had very limited options. There were

two Tibetan places, the Ashta Mangal and

VALLEY OF THE GREEN-EYED YELLOW IDOL

50 | TRAVEL HIMALAYA SPRING 2019 http://www.himalayamagazine.com