Patan
After a few days in Pokhara, we take a taxi to Patan, or Lalitpur, the city of beauty. It is one of the royal cities, not far from Kathmandu. The Durbar Square features a number of beautiful temples in Newari architecture. The square also provides access to the museum, the former royal palace. The old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples are built in the pagoda style and richly decorated with refined wood carvings. You can find a mixture of Buddhism and Hinduism in Patan.

Bhaktapur
Bhaktapur is the other royal city. Here, the New Year’s festivities are not over yet.
Groups of musicians with drums and cymbals, sometimes with flutes, walk throughout the city. The music is played loudly, and by late afternoon my ears are ringing.

But the music isn’t everything; on the first day of the new year, a large tree trunk has been erected. It has to be pulled down after a week of festivities. A grand spectacle. Another spectacle is the battle between two heavy wooden chariots, pulled along by ropes. The whole city is participating.

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