Biker Babes in Bhaktapur

When in Nepal, do as the Nepalis do... hop on the back of a motorbike and honk your way through traffic until you reach your destination. Ours was the ancient city of Bakhtapur, a living heritage displaying the vibrant depth of Newari culture. The city is rich in architecture, paintings, carving, masonry, bronze casting, jewelry and pottery.

We arrived on motorbikes, thanks to our Nepali pals, and after shaking off the many touts who wanted to be our guides, we explored the town on our own. We came upon many Lonely Planet "recommended places" to visit but soon found ourselves in a paper making factory that was quite fascinating.
The paper was made by a painstakingly tedious procedure... from scooping the pulp and sometimes dying it, to the cutting, hand gluing, stitching and silk screening of each card. We were convinced to come see the factory, above the famous peacock window, but then not only enjoyed the visit, we managed to drop a few rupees on beautiful handmade cards. The tour peaked when he took us up to the 7+ storey of the house to see the view of the entire Bhaktapur area.

We then were treated to the local version of potter's square where we received a full demonstration of how to make a little bowl in 16 seconds. Truly remarkable! The potter's wheel he used was an old truck tire that he made spin using a long stick. Then, after applying a big blob of clay he made bowl after bowl after bowl.

After a delicious lunch we were back on the bikes for the thrilling ride home!