There are 7 in the group ranging in ages from 18 to 76 with our guide, Sanjeev from India.
Don, Joe and Anne checking out the street food...
We had one day in Kathmandu together where we had a local guide take us to some of the most famous temples...
Our guide who was very knowledgeable about the places we visited as well as the religions of Nepal.
I thought that Nepal was mainly Buddhist but in fact it is 80% Hindu so we visited both types of temples that day.
The first temple was called Swayambhunath or the Monkey Temple and in order to access it the devotees climbed 365 steps one for each day of the year where they could reflect on their lives.
It is located on a hillside just outside the city and gives a great viewpoint, notice the smog...
And of course there were monkeys everywhere...
And chanting monks...
Serious ones as well...
The temple was very busy with worshippers, some were lighting candles...
Praying....
Buddhist texts teach us that the practice of the prayer wheel has many spiritual, "magical," and practical benefits.Use of the prayer wheel is one of the easiest ways to purify past negative karma, nonvirtuous actions, defilements, and obstacles that prevent us from realizing our true self and becoming enlightened.
Turning the prayer wheels...
I thought I could use some of those benefits as well...
There were lots of families there...
Some holy men....
At all Buddhist shrines there are the watchful eyes of Buddha...
We also visited Bodhnath Stupa – the largest stupa in Nepal and the holiest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet. It's the centre of Tibetan culture in Kathmandu and rich in Buddhist symbolism. It was quite large and well kept. We were told it suffered significant damage in the earthquake of 2015 but had been rebuilt.
Even though it was crowded it felt very peaceful there with the prayer flags fluttering in the wind...
We went across the street to a temple to get a good view and a wedding procession passed by which seemed very much like the ones in India, only grander.
With a great band and much dancing...
There were lots of school children visiting as well...
We also learned about some of Buddha’s teachings through the Wheel of Life which is one of the most important paintings in Tibetan Buddhism. The initial drawing was design by Buddha himself. Buddha really encourage this painting to be painted outside every Buddhist temples and monastery.
The Bhavachakra, the Wheel of Life is a mandala - a complex picture representing the Buddhist view of the universe. To Buddhists, existence is a cycle of life, death, rebirth and suffering that they seek to escape altogether. These mandalas are also an art form that is painted all over Nepal which we learned about when we stopped at a local Thankga art school...
Our final stop was at an Hindu temple site which had a large cremation site. Hindus cremate their dead and then deposit them in the rivers that lead to the mighty Ganges.
On the way in people meditating
It is not too clean here
It was disrespectful to take closeup pictures so this is the faraway shot.
The process is to burn the body on the platforms and then deposit the ashes into the river.
There were also lots of Holy Men here, men that supposedly renounce their worldly possessions to spend a religious life. I think some of them were pretending in order to get money from having their pictures taken which I didn’t pay...
There was also a lot of other activity around the temple....
Washing...
Buying flowers for the offerings...
The temple was quite large with lots of buildings...
Only Hindus were allowed in these temples but there was lots to see otherwise, a very interesting day! 
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