ASIANOVERLAND.NET SYDNEY TO LONDON DAY 88: NYALAM TOWN TO KATHMANDU, NEPAL

The trek down the Himalayas from the Tibet border to the Kathmandu Valley is wonderful, with towering mountains on top of an increasingly luscious and fertile valley. Along the way, a Nepalese man spotted the ski jacket I was wearing and bought it off me, saying I wouldn’t have any use for it the further downhill we walked, whereas he lived near the Tibet border and would make good use of it over winter.

Our walk was made all the more pleasant towards the bottom of the Kathmandu Valley, when some Nepalese sherpas offered to carry our backpacks and luggage for us!! Luxury!! It’s not every day that an Australian National University Australian Rules football jumper is worn trekking down the Himalayas from Tibet to Kathmandu!!

Kathmandu is the capital and most populous city of Nepal, in the Kathmandu Valley at an altitude of 1,400 metres. Kathmandu is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world, founded in 2nd century CE. Archaeological excavations found a statue in Maligaon that was dated to 185 AD;  and a two thousand years old brick with an inscription in Brahmi script in Dhando Chaitya. Stone inscriptions at heritage sites are primary sources of the history of Nepal.

The Kathmandu valley was historically called the "Nepal Mandala" and the home of the Newar people, an urban civilization living in the Himalayan foothills.

The earliest Western reference to Kathmandu is from the Portuguese Jesuit, Father Joao Cabral, who travelled through the Kathmandu Valley in 1628 on the way from Tibet to India, and was received by the King of Kathmandu at "Cadmendu", the capital of Nepal kingdom.

Kathmandu was the royal capital of the Kingdom of Nepal formed in 1768, and hosts palaces, mansions, and gardens of the Nepalese aristocracy. Kathmandu is and has been for many years the centre of Nepal's history, art, culture, and economy. It has a multi-ethnic population with a Hindu and Buddhist majority. Religious and cultural festivities form a major part of the lives of people living in Kathmandu.

The ancient history of Kathmandu is described in its traditional myths and legends. When Lord Krishna came to Nepal, he drained the water of the flooded Kathmandu Valley by cutting the edge of Chobhar hill. Lord Krishna brought some Gopals along with him and made Bhuktaman the king of Nepal.

On Top Deck overlands, we usually cross paths with other Top Deckers at major destinations like Kathmandu, Delhi, Kashmir, Aqaba, Amman, Jerusalem, Istanbul and Venice, and share stories and party with our fellow crew like blood brothers and sisters.

When we finally arrived in Kathmandu from Tibet in 1985, we caught up with some fellow Top Deck crew, including Raui and Eric, who were about to start a Kathmandu to London overland (pictured).  

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