NEPAL:

Home to Kathmandu:

Arrived Delhi 11:00hrs local time, flight 20:00hrs to Kathmandu, delayed until 22:00hrs. If you know you will have a wait then stay in the Arrivals Hall for a time(more salubrious than what's available outside). Forget about going into Delhi(not worth the hassle and its about 10 miles away). Visitors lounge available across the road from arrivals hall (you can watch Indian movies), costs 15 rupees for 6 hrs and free for the last 3 hrs before your flight, food and drink available. We spent most of our time there. Left luggage place across the carpark outside if you require it, will also change money into Nepalese rupees - gave the standard rate. Kathmandu airport is a world apart from anything else we had previously experienced - baggage retrieval was chaos and when we went outside they were crowds waiting to tout for our taxi business. They just descended on us, all very polite and friendly though. Arrived at hotel about 01:00hrs after a mad taxi dash on unlit roads, down a one way street the wrong way and to a hotel that didn't have a record of our booking. All sorted out in the morning

Kathmandu:

Durbur Square

One of the markets

Part of Durbur Square

Nyatapola Temple,Bhaktapur

We loved it! Noisy, traffic bedlum with cars, motorbikes, scooters, bikes, rickshaws and people all trying to move along the narrow streets (there are no pavements on these streets) around the Thamel district (in our view the best area to stop). Shopkeepers, stall holders and street guys touting for your business and the taste of diesel fumes in the back of your throat. A mass of humanity. Lots of good cheap places to eat and drink and all levels of accommodation up to good quality 'westernised' hotels. As long as you don't have sensitive ears you will love it. We spent 3 full days here...lots to see...the temples in Durbar Square, Swayambunath Stupa, markets and also the outlying older towns of Patan and Bhaktapur. You could easily spend a week in Kathmandu. You will always get hassled from touts..we found it worthwhile to hire one as a guide when visiting the temples as it avoided further hassle.

Having some food or a drink at the Festival Fare restaurant gives a superb view over Kathmandu and specifically the market shown on this photograph. Spent many interesting hours just wandering the narrow streets taking in the sights and sounds such as:

- bloke carrying huge wardrobe on his back across Durbur Square

- one street with a row of low buildings all occupied by dentist, trade spilling out onto the street

- 3 lads standing in the middle of an intersection chatting away and acting like a mini-roundabout for the traffic

- bloke sat on rickshaw holding a large pane of glass(carefully) as he was being taken to who knows where

- lady washing her hair in water fountain, kids going to school in their matching uniforms

- street stalls, pavement sellers everywhere and also plenty of monkeys, goats and cows wandering around

We also paid a visit to Bhaktapur, short taxi drive away. There are lots more temples here than in Kathmandu and altogether it is a quieter place in comparison. There is an small admission charge to the main area. The Nayatapola Temple there(see picture) is at 30 metres high and with 5 levels, the highest temple in the Kathmandu valley.

Kathmandu to Pokhara:

Left Kathmandu after 2 full very enjoyable days on a 7 hr scenic bus ride. You could travel very cheap on a local bus (even on the top if you want), but we used the tourist bus run by Greenline Coaches, cost about 10 US dollars each and included a snack at a halfway stop. Be prepared for some crazy overtaking and seeing lots of broken down lorries and the remains of previous accidents along the way. Some good views on the way, especially when you drop down into the valley.