Weekend Sightseeing

This weekend has been pretty busy. I was down at the refuge for the baby's first birthday party which was great. It was a gorgeous day and the usual festivities - singing, dancing, good food - were complemented by a huge birthday cake. Two of my colleagues and I gave a rousing rendition of Stand By Me to much applause. Well, some applause.
In the afternoon a few of us met at Patan Durbar Square for an art exhibition, entitled (some may say predictably) Separating Myth From Reality: The Status of Women. Patan Durbar Square is beautiful and we had mint tea on a rooftop terrace. In the evening I went with a couple of friends to a new cocktail bar/restaurant and finally tried some buffalo (which pretty much tasted of beef to me).
Today I have been on a trip up to Monkey Temple and then on up to Iyanga Narayar (another temple). These were great walks and I was so glad to be out and about even if we didn't leave the valley. We were walking in the hills which surround the valley and looking down on Kathmandu itself - the photo's probably don't do it justice again but it was a wonderful view. Monkey temple is a pain to get to though because there are about a million steps and it seems never-ending when you are on them. But there were frequent breaks to photograph the monkeys, there were some adorable monkey babies but I don't think I got good shots of them. At the top there are various temples, shrines and monastries -it's surprisingly busy - along with lots of traders.
After a break for lunch we continued with part two and discovered a huge Buddhist shrine not far away - there are three enourmous figures in gold (Buddha is in the middle) on the side of the hill. Our final destination (a Hindu shrine) was a bit disappointing in comparison but the walk was lovely. I'll post some photos now.