Facebook nostalgia for Old Nepal, which has us Like-ing countless images of rustic Nepal, all mud brick houses, undulating rice paddies and gleaming mountains, appeals mostly because of its contrast to the bristling present. But the more you yearn for Old Nepal, the more depressing the New Nepal of concrete and steel appears to be (quite apart from socio-political considerations). Unless coupled with some vision of the future, dragging the present into the past is a futile endeavour.
For the inveterate pastoralists, though, Old Nepal is still out there in bits and pieces. Thanks to the ever-burgeoning network of microbuses (and roads for your Treks or Enfields) it's just around the corner. When I was a child heading from Maharajgunj to St.Xavier's Godavari, the intervening urban and rural spaces were simply landmarks that dragged me closer to boarding school misery. Yesterday, bussing it down to Chapagaon and walking through the rice paddies and brick factories of Southern Lalitpur, I was struck once more by how easy it is to access our recent past, and appreciate more than just the heritage of Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur and lately, Kirtipur.
Even the smaller settlements are changing rapidly, but there's still plenty to see in a day's walk in southern Lalitpur. Chapagaon itself is charming, and it's worth getting off before the bus stop for the 17th-century temple of Bajra Barahi (located in a woodland teeming with Saturday picnickers). Even if it's just to snicker at (and then earnestly take photos of) the erotic struts of the two temples just off the road. Head east from Bajra Barahi, and a dusty, unfrequented road dips into terraced fields somewhat marred by the brick kilns that obscure the views that must have meant so much to the Godavari Village Resort half an hour down the road.
From Taukhel, on the road leading to Godavari, we asked our way up to Bisankhu Narayan, a curious cleft in a rock draped with antique chain mail. A boulder just below the shrine challenges those with slim bodies and uncluttered consciences to slip through - I'm happy to say I passed, through. We were rewarded by the sight of a half-dozen Kalij pheasants fluttering through the Phulchowki foothills.
