The Garden of Dreams and the Monkey Temple

We are back in Nepal! My 6th time and Andrew's 7th.

We only had a couple days in Kathmandu before heading to Pokhara, where we will be paragliding for two weeks, so we went to our favourite places . . . the Garden of Dreams and the Monkey Temple (more formally known as Swayambhunath). And the monkeys are considered holy because "Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom and learning ... was supposed to leave his hair short but he made it grow long and head lice grew. It is said that the head lice transformed into these monkeys."

Other favourite things . . . fresh lemon soda, banana lassi, prayer flags, and very friendly people that make Nepal what it is.

Fresh lemon soda at the Garden of Dreams

This sign outside a restaurant gave us a laugh! Anyone who's had to choke down dal bhat for weeks on end on a climbing expedition can relate! 

Any electricians in the crowd that would like to tackle this mess?
It's like this on every street corner! 

Just a couple of the many monkeys on the long flight of steps leading up to the entrance of the temple.

Only half way there!

Prayer wheels

Construction work

Waiting to business to pick up

Climbing up to string a new line of prayer flags.

In the Garden of Dreams

Andrew and I found another tranquil little gem amongst the chaos of Kathmandu. Having walked by a large walled area many times on previous visits, we wondered how on earth we could have missed it.

Originally designed and built in 1920, the Garden of Dreams suffered more than 30 years of neglect before seven years of restoration work and extensive renovations. It was opened to the pubic in 2008. Hence, why it didn’t come to our attention until this trip.

The gardens are beautiful and colourful. There are several small seating areas and it seemed as if you could almost always find a quiet place to relax. You can hear noise from the busy street outside the high walls but inside there were few people. 

The Garden of Dreams was originally the private garden of Field Marshal Kaiser Sumsher Rana who won the land from his father (then the Prime Minister of Nepal) in a card game. It’s only about half its original size, having been taken over by the sprawl of the Thamel tourist district and coming very close to being completely demolished before a last-minute save from the wrecking ball. 

We enjoyed a quiet morning here and then came back later for supper and to enjoy the evening lighting. Andrew got some nice night-time photos.

The pavilion that now holds the Kaiser Cafe. We had both morning tea and supper here.

A shaded seating area and water feature with koi.

One of several small seating areas.

The tiered grassy area is used for seating during special events.

This little elephant was originally placed at one end of the pond in the photo above.
During restoration he was moved to be closer to his mom.

Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and abundance.

Design in the walkway.

Our other little oasis . . . the garden and seating area at the Nirvana Garden Hotel.