I was looking at this pic...No doubt it is newroad.. but one thing I am confused about is that in front of that tall building (Peanuts) there used to be Bhoogol park... I see some shops n some boards on its chaat in this pic. Is that park no more??????Anyone knows anythign about it?

thanks folks. ktm does seem to have 'developed' while i have been in 'lahoor'. so, there is a pakki road from sanepa that crosses bagmati river and goes toward pachali? still can't beleive it. will have to zoom throuh that road on mobike the next time i am in ktm. is kalo pul still in use? it is fun to walk on it for undulating feel it generates...

Jyapoo,

It seems like you have not returned to Nepal for at least a decade. As of the summer of 2004, the suspension bridge was still in use. The motorable bridge next to it was constructed around 1994 or 95. The road to Sanepa was blacktopped around the same time. La yeso janu paryo afno desh tira pani.

I can almst see my granpa's house in the map. :D

Ahile Aangan bhanne Indian restaurant/mithai pasal bhaeko building ma pahile Crystal Hotel thiyo. Does anyone know ahile tyo building ma ke cha, I mean any major operation there? Back in the early 80's, a good friend of my father used to hold some managerial position in Crystal. Sometimes we used to visit him there, ani mathi ko rooftop garden ma basera ali ali khainthyo. Tyaha view tower pani thiyo, Kathmandu ko ramailo scene dekhinthyo sabai tira. Unfortunately, he passed away at a pretty young age. It has been perhaps 22 or 23 years since then. Ahile pani New Road tira janda, khas gari Aangan pasda tyo bela ko samjhana aucha.

I don't know about u guys but I can visualize our house right there in the map.

Hey,
Are those new shops ? The park used to be all the way to the end of that block. and across used to be the Fire brigade. I guess they decided to commercialize the park huh ! yaasssai ta tyatro saaano park thiyo tyaslai pani tukra tukra garidiyacha. I gues it was part of doouqwasshiiiii fleecing the fuggin public property. Wonder who owns those stores or buildings. Hmmmmm.... If its still owned by the Govt. that fine(hope those squater are paying rent to Nepal govt.) if not then definately DAAL MEI KUCH KAALA HAI. he he

Chipledhunga,
Actually I have shuttled back and forth Ktm and US several times, but it has been not one decade but two that I last walked though the that suspension bridge. I imagine that with the advent of new motorable bridge, the surrounding area must have undergone drastic changes (more concrete jungle so to speak). Two decades ago it was sort of quiet and rustic area.

My next visit in ktm will surely include a tour of the area (Sanepa and Jhamsikhel) which will of course bring back cool childhood memories.

Jyapoo and all,

I am not trying to divert the topic across the Bagmati but being a resident of the southern side of the river (or what used to be a river), Jyapoo le jhikeko kura ma kehi thapna man lagyo.

As Jyapoo has rightly imagined, that area has certainly undergone drastic changes. Two decades ago Sanepa was mainly khetbari with a few concrete buildings and a few more older houses. The only paved road was the main road linking Kupondole and Pulchowk via the then Shanta Bhawan Hospital. There were only a handful of shops in the area. In what I like to call downtown Sanepa, there were:

Bhai Krishna Dai ko pasal (for the twice daily delivery of milk and Himali pauroti)
Naya Pasal aka Ram Dai ko pasal (the only store with a refrigerator)
Churautini ko pasal (run by a Muslim lady, sold bangles, ani Dashain ma changa kinne thau)

A little bit further towards Kupondole, there was Dalli ko pasal (named after the rather short owner, the only store selling kerosene) and an adjacent meat shop open only in mornings. I remember buying khasi ko masu for Rs 35 per kg in 1983.

There was one more store in front of the Shanta Bhawan Hospital and perhaps a couple more by Kalopul. Overall, Sanepa bhari 10 wota bhanda badhi pasal thienan hola, now there must be at least 70 or 80 pasals.

Taxis were reluctant to go to Sanepa after 6 pm.

I remember seeing farmers washing vegetables in the river below Kalopul, a very rustic looking area despite being right across the river from the bustling Teku area.

Most of Kathmandu and Kirtipur could be seen from our house. I also used to enjoy watching planes take off and land. I could hear the noise of vehicles from the ring road that was at least 6 or 700 meters (flying distance) away. Around 9 pm, I could distinctly recognize the sound of the blue Isuzu bus of Sajha, making the last run between Ratnapark and Kirtipur. That was from a distance of about a kilometre away.

Ahile ta kurai arkai cha. Jatatai gharai ghar, motorai motor.

Chiplebrole ni wentin-century ko kura garibakshyo. eh.. baru yesso bhauju sanga dulya belama khichya photo taasi-bakshe ta shaandaar hunthyo ni, ehe... 1983 re aba, damn!! Even Michael Jackson was black at that time. Ahile ho?

Kalanki bro,

Ho, kuro ta ali puranai paryo, Lokendra Bahadur Chand pahilo choti PM bhaeka thie Nepal ma. Yeta ka rastrapati Reagan ta biti nai sakay.

Aba tesari dulyaa photo afno ta chaina, baru bro ko hola ni sahuni ki chhori sanga Gangri ma momo khaeko, Kalanki ko pani tyanki chheu basibiyalo gareko etc..heru na ti phota haru hami pani.

Chipledhunga,
I remember that Chureutini ko pasal and the Muslim lady, the owner. I recall her shop was painted yellow outside with purple trim. Used to go to a store nearby to get himali bread. I loved the bread covers then which were used to warp books so taht they would last longer! those memories, man are so great. i lived near that kumari temple few blocks down from the muslim lady's shop. and there was a grocery shop a few blocks after corssing the kalo pul...and only reason i went to that particular shop was to get dal moth!

off point, this sebsite http://www.newsofnepal.com/bigpix.asp has a cool pix of a couple mobiking on a suspension bridge connecting two cities. such a cool pix...

Jyapoo,

Tyo Himali pauroti bechne pasal chahi Bhai Krishna Dai ko pasal ho. Pachi Ram Dai ko pasal le Nanglo pauroti bechna thalyo. Oh, ani around 1985 Ram Dai got his competitor, next to Bhai Krishna dai ko pasal. It was called "Thimile ko pasal" (apparently the owner must be Thimi ko Newar..I knew he was a Newar but..). While Ram Dai sold Coke products, Thimile sold Star Lemu :) Anyways, that was one of the few new stores that opened around that time.

Could not figure out kaha nira ho tyo Kumari temple. Sanepa chowk bata kata tira janay ho?

I did also see the picture you mentioned. Tyo chahi Sundarighat ko pool paryo. I often used to walk that route to the hill of Chobhar via Adinath ko mandir. Danda mathi bata valley ko ramro view dekhincha.

this bridge is refered in the post right. quite a view.

Awwwwww lovely

Is that Bridge over Bagmati near Chovar..I used to hang out there earlier...But these days it stinks there...Mahanagarpalika ko kripale, They made dumping site there...A$$holes!!!

chipledhunga,
you know the dhunge dhara on the right side of the gravel road (it is paved now). the temple is about 5 minutes walk down from the dhara heading to kalo pul. its a small temple, perhaps known only to the locals because it is not visible from the road. need to walk about 10-15 steps thru an ally to get to the temple. i am talking about the scenes 20 years ago. perhaps they might not exist now!

do you have a map of jhamsikhel/sanepa...it would be cool to post here.

back to new road....

there used to be a 'gudpak pasal' just past the new road gate, on the left side. wonder if it is still there. it was my favourite place to wait for school bus to arrive some 14 years ago.

Jyapoo,

Quite embarrassed to state that although I spent half of my life in that area, I had never heard about the temple. Tesmathi afoo le KG padheko thau ta tyahi temple nira paryo jasto cha. Talking about the dhungedhara, Dashain ma ping haleko hunthyo ni at the chautara right above it.

Going back to New Road, I guess you are talking about the Taaja Gundpaak Bhandar. It is still there, and seems to be doing good business. Whenever I was there, it was always crowded. I always buy some of their gundpaak and titaura before returning to the US.

new road ta aba Time square bhandha kami chaina , only difference we can't find JOB THERE ...........................

gori, you may actually find job there in new road, but perhaps not as good paying as in the west!

chipledhunga, yes that is the gudpak shop i was trying to refer to. glad it is still there. i don't know why, but i did not stop by this store during my ktm lvisit ast sept.

back to sanepa. yeah, there used to be swing set up on the garden just up the dhunge dhara during dasain/tihar. i think this open space had some benches to sit as well. also a large benyan tree. not sure if it had peeple tree as benyan and peepl go together at most places. the newar's house by the dhunge dhara always gave off stinking smell of jandh (fermented rice wine). the smell also came from his buffalos dung, eek! Remember that, chipledhunga? did you name yourself after the dhunge dhara? i remember the dara was quite chipl0 (slippery). i remember falling down several times while showring in that dhara! what a coincidence, eh?

do you know if the dhunge dhara still gives water? or has it dried up? i hope not. btw, i went to amar sishu niketan and walking to from that school has always been cool memories that i fondly hold. there are actually severarl ways to get to school from where i lived. those narrow unpaved gallies (allies) including paved, but quaint roads then.

feel free to add further....

Jyapoo,

Ke ke sochcha manche le mero nickname ko baray ma pani :) Most people think that I am from Pokhara ko Chipledhunga. One person asked me if I am from Slippery Rock, PA.

As far as I know, there is still a trickle of water coming from the dhungedhara. Ani ghar ko dhara ma paani na aera dhungedhara ma nuhaunu pareko ho? I certainly remember the peculiar smell at the galli (may be no longer than 20 meters) between the dhungedhara and main road. There were at least a couple of tailors operating there as well. Dalli ko pasal ra masu pasal jana shortcut parthyo malai tyo galli :)

On a more serious note, there is a barricade with barbed wires in front of the police station now. In late 2001 or early 2002, the Maoists supposedly detonated a pressure cooker bomb there, but luckily there was no casualty or damage. Well..Sanepa can't be exempt from the harsh reality.