Nepal. Swayambhunath

After the trek, arriving in Kathmandu, we decided to spend a week exploring the valley's sights. On the first day, we were busy choosing and buying clothes that would be comfortable and not too hot for the rest of our journey, as the cold mountains were now behind us. The next day, we set out to discover the Buddhist temple complex - Swayambhunath...

The distance from our hotel to the hill where the complex is located allowed us to cover it without the help of transportation. So, after breakfast, we set off through the interesting streets of Kathmandu, observing the daily life of the locals living in the capital.

On the way to the Buddhist shrines, at one of the intersections, I somehow struck up a conversation with a local resident who was heading in a similar direction. It turned out that he is a Buddhist teacher at a monastery near Swayambhunath. He kindly joined us, explaining the customs and tenets of Buddhism, guiding us through the temples we encountered along the way, and explaining a lot. Thus, we walked as if we had a guide. The temples we encountered had many interesting details, but the most unusual thing was that they combined two religions - Hinduism and Buddhism, thereby uniting people of different faiths and showing how entirely different worlds can coexist peacefully. Comparing this to followers of other religious directions, who cannot reconcile with the diversity of the world and human consciousness, fervently proving the truth of only their beliefs, it seems that things are somehow smarter here... Therefore, there is a soulful peace in the temples, and that’s why we feel so comfortable here...

The Buddhist teacher, who had become a true guide for us, showed many interesting things and shared a bit about his life. It turned out that he teaches a huge number of orphans brought to the monastery from the most disadvantaged regions of Nepal, supported by various charitable foundations. He has also visited many countries on Buddhist missions and has attended receptions with the Dalai Lama several times...

Climbing to the main stupa, we immersed ourselves in a world of colorful prayer flags, drums, and various sculptures serving as protection from all evil...

At the very top of the small hill is the most colorful and vibrant part of the complex - the Buddhist stupa...

Around the stupa are prayer wheels engraved with prayers, which we "launched into the cosmos" more than once...

And not just us...

Near the stupa is also a shrine for Hindus (a golden temple)...

Traditionally, we also bought a postcard of Swayambhunath...

Inside one of the temples, the image of a deity was crowned with photographs of the Dalai Lama...

There are plenty of souvenirs here as well. Nepalese are great masters of metal and woodwork...

The temple complex is also known as the "Monkey Temple," and people love to feed the monkeys here...

From the observation deck, there is a beautiful view of the Kathmandu Valley with its numerous houses and the distant mountains. And the familiar smog from India, which shrouds the sky in a white veil...

The many windows and balconies, typical of all Nepalese buildings, from afar create the impression that all the buildings in the city are unfinished... They look like birdhouses...