New Road, Kathmandu

The heart of the Kathmandu shopping district between Thamel and Freak Street is Ganga Path, also known as New Road. Stretching down a long swath of the main street and filling in the alley ways is an intense concentration of stores and street vendors drawing the fancies of what seems like millions of shoppers on any given day. The wares range from flashy, modern electronics gadgets to traditional handcrafted relics (or at least that's what they tell the tourists). During special festival seasons the district is packed so tightly with shoppers and motorcars that it's easy to imagine drowning under the rushing currents of the traffic and washing up far away on a deserted side street.

The atmosphere is hectic and colorful, with hardly a moment to stop and soak in the over stimulation. Amazingly this uproar of activity all takes place next to the historic and holy center of the old kingdom at the Kathmandu Durbar Square, which is a concentration of the most magnificent temples and remnants of the archaic architecture. The buildings with intricately carved wood bide their time over the centuries as the vendors hawk their Hindu and Tibetan trinkets and shoppers keenly haggle the already frugal prices.

The stately landmarks in this old section of town are over 500 years old and bear the marks of being a fervent Hindu kingdom. The palaces and holy monuments bear homage to Hindu deities and past royalty. The royal palace, the Hanuman Dhoka, is complemented with a statue of the Hindu monkey god that is its namesake. It also houses a stunning likeness of Narasimha, the beast incarnation of Vishnu, battling a demon, and another incarnation as Jagannath, the Lord of the Universe.

The most intriguing divine apparition is the house of the living goddess Kumari. A pure young girl who shows uncanny composure under a stressful litany of trials is chosen to be the deity to serve in special ceremonial capacities until she reaches puberty, when a new girl is chosen. The oldest and most intimately involved structure with the origins of the city is the Kasthamandap, which is shows its age with its hunched, eroded wooden frame. Its name, which translates to house of wood, is the basis for the name Kathmandu. The legend is that the large house was constructed from one enormous tree. It is a humble but stalwart attendant to the royal courtyard.