Heartbreaking devastation at Bhaktapur

As we had a free day before buying and packing relief items for Langtang Region, we decided to take Simon and Bu Yao Lian to the beautiful old town of Bhaktapur and to check out the earthquake damage.  We paid our admission fee, the Chinese boys got in for 500r, but being from outside SAR region I was required to pay 1500r.  This was fine by me, as Bhaktapur is really needing a lot of money since the earthquake has cause so much damage.

We walked through the gate and started to see immediate destruction to many of the temples, with the Vatsala Temple completely gone, but the first thing that I really wanted to do was go back to Pagoda Guest House and check to see if the female owner was ok.  We stayed there for a night or two at the beginning of 2014 and both Ming Ming and I found her to be very friendly and lovely to talk to.  As we got close to Durbar Square I was able to see that Pagoda Guest House was undamaged  and within a couple of minutes I was chatting to the female owner.  I explained that I was over to help Ashik and his team deliver aid and build schools, and she seemed really appreciative for our efforts.  I took the card of the hotel and said that I would quite possibly go back and stay for a night before I leave.

Another reason to feel positive was that the main Pagoda on Durbar Square was in tact and had survived the quake, with little damage.  I was under the impression that this pagoda was no longer there, having collapsed when the ground started shaking on April 25th, but I was happy to be wrong about this.  This was a good start to our visit to the city, but that good start was short lived.  Looking down the side streets just off the square, you could see considerable destruction, and one street in particular was almost blocked off with rubble.  The dust in the air was so thick that I needed to use my Respro Gold mask to protect myself, and any thoughts about filming in that street for the Yew Cheng International School kids were abandoned due to the poor quality of the air.

The old Momo restaurant Ming Ming and I went to a lot was blocked off by rubble and there was pretty much destruction in most parts of the city, although not all of the city itself was damaged.  It was very sad to see all of these beautiful ancient buildings with huge cracks, many of which will required to be pulled down and restored, which is what the Nepalese Government are planning to do.  All that history wiped out in seconds, it’s both a scary and sorrowful thought.

We filmed a few ‘thank you’ videos, but the mood was quite low when we decided to leave the square at around 4:30pm.  On the way home, Ashik suggested that we try to enjoy ourselves as in three days we had seen a lot of destruction and depressing sites, so we decided to head to Purple Haze, a famous rock bar in Thamel after dinner.

It was a great night, with some amazing music and was particularly special when Nepalese songs were played and the Nepalese went mad with dancing and sing.  Those guys go mental for their own songs, it was really great to see and took my mind off of the sadness of Bhaktapur.  I thought that we would stay for a couple of drinks, but one thing led to another and we ended up staying until about 12:30am and getting royally drunk.  A very fun night, with lots of great music, including AC/DC.

Again, it was a day of highs and lows, but at least it ended on a high.  Today we are packing for our Langtang relief trip, and I am looking forward to this immensely.  Not only are we going to help out a village in Langtang region but it’ll give me a chance to bond more with Ashik’s team who seem like a really really lovely bunch of people.  It’s going to be a very productive trip, but I just hope that the roads are in good condition as Nepal has lots of hills with big drops, and I am incredibly afraid of heights.