Last day in Nepal

We got off to a slow start, doing a few chores, walking 2 of the dogs, sitting round relaxing on the porch with cups of tea and biccies. Then Doug, Kate, Rob and I set off walking down the road, checking on the dog house Kate is helping to develop – and then Kumar the taxi man drove us to the area near the Boudhanath Stupa. We walked along some lovely paved roadways in the centre of the city and I bought Tibetan prayer flags and bundles of sandalwood incense. We went to the Stupa View restaurant for lunch where the food was good but comparatively expensive. We all enjoyed cold lime sodas before our meal as the day was hot, and it was delightful sitting out on a rooftop overlooking the Stupa.


We got some rice from the proprietor, then walked some back alleys to locate a street dog Kate is administering pills to twice a day. We found the mangy dog, a very sad little creature delighted to see Kate and the rice! From there we went back to a main road and got a taxi to the old area of Patan, Durbar Square. The ride was incredible, right across the city, very busy with the usual traffic and people. Patan was fantastic – old wooden and brick buildings built in the 16^th century in a sort of Japanese pagoda style. Ornately carved lintels and windows, doors and pillars adorned the complex of buildings. We spent an hour or so in the museum looking at the old treasures – mostly Buddhas and Gods, Bodhisatvas, some quite beautiful.

Another taxi ride took us to the Assan markets, which we wandered our way through, admiring all the stalls of spices, teas, vegetabless, fruit and everything else you could imagine. We headed to KC’s, one of the first western-style restaurants in Kathmandu where we had an inexpensive but tasty dinner and a few beers, sitting out on a rooftop garden. It would have been great except for a power cut – a common occurrence in the city – meant the noise of a generator had to be tolerated.

 Yet another wild and bumpy taxi ride in the dark but still busy streets took us back to Kopan.  A cup of tea then bed after a long, interesting and memorable day.