Kathmandu

Things didn’t augur well when our transport was delayed 30 minutes. Once the van arrived we were quickly loaded up and off we set for a bumpy, diesel-smelling, tiring but intriguing trip to Kathmandu. We retraced our route back to the main road, paid fees at a couple of places, filled up with petrol and other than that had just one brief stop along the way. Rob and I were suffering with sore tummies and everyone grew quieter as the hours wore on.

We slowly climbed up higher and higher along the Narayan River gorge, the road narrow and extremely busy with lorries and buses with people or goats loaded on top of the latter. On some occasions nearing the Kathmandu Valley we came to a complete halt for several minutes, but we only had one near head-on - our driver was very good! 

The countryside we passed through was quite beautiful, but how the people who live in basic little dwellings squeezed in between the road and river make a living is beyond me. The far hillsides were steep and jungly if not terraced for crops. Water was plentiful with lots of clean looking streams tumbling down from the slopes. Plenty of landslides as well – it must be such a tough existence.

6 hours later we were threading our way through the ever-narrowing streets of Kathmandu until we reached our guesthouse in the heart of the Thamel area - very touristy and full of restaurants, ATMs, internet and fascinating shops.

In town we tried a few ATMS – they didn’t have any money in them!! We finally managed to find a generous ATM and took out 60,000 Nepali rupees. We rested until it was time to go out for a birthday dinner at Rumdoodles. Very cool and funky, good food but we couldn’t do justice to a shared pizza, managed to down a pina colada. Prices are higher here, with a 10% service charge and a 13% tax added on to everything. Raj organized a birthday cake and we all wrote on a big “foot’ for the birthday boy, Graham, which he loved. A lovely evening all round.  We left the young ones to go to a nightclub and we headed home for a good night’s sleep.

We all went out to a place called Mike’s for a delicious breakfast, then went sightseeing to 3 World heritage sites.

Pashupatinath temple is one of the most sacred Hindu shrines in the world – many sadhus (holy men) make a pilgrimage to it from India. The 400ad old area is vast and includes the banks of the holy Bugmati river as it joins the Ganges in India. We saw cremations taking place on the river bank. The architecture was impressive.

Next site was Boudhanath Stupa, 36 metres high and in the middle of Nepal’s Tibetan population. It had prayer wheels all the way around the base and up on top. There are dozens of Buddhist monasteries around it. 

Finally, we went to Swayambunath, or monkey temple – but not so many monkeys as beggars and vendors everywhere. Climbing just 65 steps nearly killed me – not sure I will survive the trek! This is another of Nepal’s holiest Buddhist sites with a stunning view over the Kathmandu Valley.

We walked all the way back to town in the heat – it seemed to take forever – stopping outside Durbar Square, a complex of palaces, courtyards and temples once the seat of the Malla Kings. Built between 12^th and 18^th centuries, it is a protected UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s the social, religious and urban focal point of the city. Raj bought us momos from a street stall – buffalo meat dumplings in a sauce with coriander – excellent.

 My back was sore and all day I felt I couldn’t breathe and Rob not great in the middle of the day, but he had a better appetite than me – I really only nibbled at our farewell dinner where we said our goodbyes. One of the local vendors here at the hotel accosted Rob on our way back to our room, he had heard Rob was going to go trekking in the mountains and he said he revered him for it. Interesting. And so to bed, completely exhausted again.