Today Caitlin, Kirsten, Amy and I ventured further afield than we've been since coming to Laxmi Bazaar. We went to Manakamana, a famous temple at the top of a mountain. It is one of the most important temples in this part of Nepal, and is believed that the goddess Bhagwati, an incarnation of Parvati, has the power to grant wishes made there. It is somewhere that most Hindus was to visit at least once in their lives, apparently particularly newlyweds wishing for a son!
The day started slowly due to the water and money issues I talked about in the previous post, so we didn't end up leaving the house until about 10, a full hour and a half after we had planned. Luckily we caught the bus quickly, and had an uneventful trip down to Abu Khaireni, the junction town where the road to Gorkha meets the main highway. From there we caught another bus that dropped us off at the bottom of the mountain where Manakamana is. (when I say mountain, I really mean big hill compared to the Himalayas).
To get up to the town of Manakamana, where the temple is, it is either a 5-hour hike or a 10-minute trip by cable car (gondola at home). Given that it was already 11:30, we opted for the cable-car, as we needed to get home that same day in order to go to school on Sunday. As Saturday is the only full day off here, the place was packed, and the line at the bottom was LONG! We waited 3.5 hours before finally getting on the cable-car. Thankfully we brought a packed lunch with us, although the site of the four of us munching away on egg-salad sandwiches (something I'm going to re-consider liking when I get home, although that will probably go along the lines of peanut butter soup) was endlessly amusing to the Nepalis all around us. In Nepal most people eat two meals of dal bhat and curry per day, in the morning and evening. Therefore it was not only what we were eating, sandwiches not being common here, but the very fact that we were eating in the middle of the day that was amusing. At least we feel we provided some entertainment during the long wait - one person actually took a picture of us eating!
It was a relief to finally get onto the cable-car. I was the only one from the four of us who had been on one before, so it was amusing to see everyone's faces when it started moving, and swayed a little. I was more pre-occupied with how nice they are to ride without skis in the way of the view and only 6 people inside! Its Austrian-built and exactly like the gondolas on ski hills, just without the bracket on the outside to hold skis. It was definitely the first time on one for the Nepali woman sitting next to me, who had a death grip on my arm the entire time!
After such a long wait, the 10 mins up the mountain flew by, and we were finally there. It is clear that visitors to the temple are the main trade in Manakamana. The road from the top of the cable-car to the temple itself is lined with stalls selling necklaces, bracelets, snacks, photos, cheap toys and everything else you can think of. There are also countless hotels and guest houses for whoever wants to stay overnight (what I would suggest doing if anyone reading this ever goes, that way you will have much more time there, instead of spending so much time in lines).
The temple itself is the typical small square building (roughly 15'x15') with a 2-tier sloping roof. It is situated in a large square, which also has 2 places for small fires (fire is sacred in Hinduism) and 2 rows of priests giving tikas. The temples is surrounded by bells, which are rung after saying a prayer to send that prayer to the gods. It is forbidden to wear leather in the temple, so there was also a building along the outside of the square dedicated to holding shoes while people go inside to pray.
I mentioned earlier that people go to Manakamana to make wishes. In order to do so you must sacrifice an animal, usually a chicken or a goat. There are even 2 special cars on the gondola for the animals to be taken up, and carcasses brought down. While we were waiting in line we saw countless goats and chickens being taken up, and many bloody bags with legs sticking out coming back down. Hopefully lots of people's wishes came true!
By the time we actually got to the town it was almost 3:30, and there was another long line to get inside, so instead we wandered around the town a little more (it gets dark around 6, and we wanted to be on the bus from Abu Khaireni back towards Gorkha by then) before heading back down the mountain.
Getting a bus home took a while, and by the time we walked in the door it was almost 8. It was a long day, but tons of fun. It was especially nice to really get away from home and go somewhere. We felt like tourists again!
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