PICS: PEREGRINE FRISSELL
Life moves at a different pace in the sleepy town on the hill overlooking Kathmandu Valley. It is literally on the boundary between the hectic city and the bucolic farming villages to the south.
Chobar is so near, but get up here and within sight of Kathmandu you are in a different world. Cross the Ring Road from Jawalakhel and walk over the 100-year-old cast iron footbridge over the Bagmati, up the steep stone steps through a pine forest to the settlement on the ridge.
Nearby Kirtipur is similarly located, but Chobar is less densely-populated and has the air of a place that history and geography have passed by. While Kirtipur gets its fame from the fierce resistance its inhabitants put up to the invading army of Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1770, Chobar is famous for the mythical story of Manjushree cutting the ridge in half to drain the lake that was once Kathmandu. The gorge with its rapids may not have its once-pristine quality, but is still dramatic.
The town takes up a good portion of the crest of the hill, and if you continue to ascend you’ll find its famous temple on which devotees have nailed metal plates and bowls to its walls to thank the deity for prayers answered.
Like everything else in Kathmandu, Chobar was also rocked by the 25 April earthquake and its aftershocks. The damage is minimal: one house near the entrance to the temple has half fallen, there are angled beams supporting the walls of the temple and many homes have cracks. For most locals, however, life moves along at the same slow pace it did before.
Elderly men sit drinking tea near a new gumba that is under construction, the women are in the shade singing hymns. On a clear day you can see the whole Valley spread out below, the snow mountains beyond and even Mt Everest if there are no clouds.
Most young men have moved out for work. The families here say they only go into town once a week if they have to. The air is better up on the hill, and things are quieter too, there are dragonflies, wild flowers and expansive cloudscapes.
Chobar is a perfect half-day walk or bicycle ride for Kathmandu residents. Enjoy being so near and yet so far.
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