Swayambhunath is an elaborate complex of temples, shrines, and a stupa overlooking Kathmandu. It’s one of the oldest religious sites in Nepal.

It’s also a mouthful to say, and I’m glad blogs are a written form of communication and not a spoke one.

I bargain with a taxi driver in Thamel who drops me off at the base of eastern entrance and agrees to pick me up in 90 minutes. In retrospect it was silly to lock myself into a time frame, as there are taxis everywhere, but this driver is desperate for business. I think I pay him $2 each way for the 10 minute ride down narrow alleyways.

I begin climbing the long set of stairs to the top.

There are monkeys!! It may not come as a surprise that this area is also referred to as the Monkey Temple.

This staircase is no joke. I have to stop every other minute to catch my breath.

There’s an impressive view of Kathmandu from the top.

Prayer wheels line the giant stupa. Visitors walk clockwise, turning each wheel with a swipe of the hand. According to Buddhist tradition, spinning the wheels has the same effect as reciting each prayer aloud. This strikes me as lazy, but also fortuitous if you happen to be a mute.

(Forgive my painful stabs at humor.)

Buddha’s eyes and eyebrows are painted on each side of the stupa. The squiggle that looks like a nose is actually the symbol for unity.

See that monkey chilling on the stupa? These guys are everywhere.

I walk over to the next part of the complex. There are more monkeys and shrines.

I head back up to the main stupa for sunset.

A few more shots before I tear myself away…

I’ll wrap up this post with a confession: I did not visit (or even learn about until just recently) a site in Kathmandu that is even more popular than Swayambhunath… a place called Boudhanath that looks like this:

(image via)

That sound you hear is my hand hitting my forehead in a face palm. D’oh! This is where more research — or even just a proactive attitude in chatting up fellow tourists about what to see and do — would come in handy. But I spend a lot of my time in Kathmandu trying out new restaurants and editing photos from my Everest Base Camp trek, plus catching up on sleep in a futile attempt to stave off a cold. The trade-off is that I skimp on some tourist sites and I am paying the price now as I research info for these posts.

It’s settled: I’ll just have to go back someday.