A look at the village: Close to capital, yet untouched

Today we went to Bungamati to observe the functioning Bungamati Tele-center. Newar based ancient village is just 10 KM from Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, and is one of the tourist attractions. The birth place of Rato Machindranath, Bungamati, shows that technology takes time to reach community, despite so close to the capital. The pitched, smooth road, spectacular views made our travel quite ease and didn't even give us a hint of village-like. Once inside Bungamati, the whole scenario changed - the houses, the people, the alleys, ducks running around, children, naïve environment.

Women, mostly aged, are the work force of the village, at least that's what I got from my first look. Even the tele-center operator is a woman, though a young one. I hardly saw young people. There's a UNESCO supported community learning center at Rato Machindranath Bahal. Another adjacent village, Khokana, is so close that I didn't know when I crossed it. There's a famous Karya Binayek, another popular picnic spot is also lovers point. We even felt that we reached there at wrong hour, it was 3. We didn't see anything nasty. I don't understand if these young boys and girls are modernized, but definitely not in right way.

The views from small hill, close to Karyabinayak, is also magnificent. I wonder how on earth didn't come here before. I am thinking of cycling there someday soon. Remember if you are in Kathmandu, this is definitely not-to-be-missed place.

Some photos around Bungamati through google.