Kathmandu and the valley


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Asia » Nepal » Kathmandu
October 5th 2009
Published: October 7th 2009
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Here we go again!! This time it will be slightly different teaming up with 3 other people but that doesn't mean it's not going to be as fun. Nepal...I just love the mountains and to be able to experience the Himalayas will be a dream come true. The tea houses, friendly locals and their traditional cuisine I am all looking forward to. Yeh its going to be peak season but hopefully it will be peaceful enough when I want it to be.

It's been a different experience living in the UK for the last 5 months post South America. Living in Chichester was a great way to experience the 'Real England' outside of London. The English countryside is so beautiful and living in the South Downs and near the beach was a nice change from the city. Inverness also ended up working out and has only warmed my heart more for the scottish people, they are true characters up north. I did miss the 'London Scene' and hanging out with my close mates but I will have time to do that next year after this trip.

I savoured my last two days in London by catching up with some mates in my favourite bar in Clapham North and then visiting the Borough Markets and having an awesome burger and a choc brownie from my favourite stand. Then it was off to the airport. I met Pauly enroute to Heathrow on the tube. The first leg to Abu Dhabi was fine and we were really looked after. The 7 hr layover was a bit of a drag but after walking around the terminal for the nth time and using the free internet it was time to board the next flight. The leg to Kathmandu was filled with rowdy Nepalese people who were having a good time much to the displeasure of the air hostesses.

Its funny what goes through your head after the baggage carousel has stopped and you still can't see your bag. Looks like my travel insurance might be utilised sooner rather than later. Luckily my bag was hidden around the corner...crisis averted. The cab ride into town made me feel at home with dogs chasing cars, mayhem traffic and little stores lining the dirty streets. Its good to be back in Asia. The familiar scent of incense filled the air and a cow was munching on some rubbish on the side of the road.

It was great to see Claire and Lisa, who as I thought had already sussed out our options which sounded right on the money. We are only going to do a 6 day trek though which is kinda disappointing, but it sounds like a nice walk and I can always come back to Nepal to do more trekking in the future. I just have to convince them that I am capable of guiding them. Just need some good maps and it should be fine. We are also trying to fit in a village stay near Pokhara, do some rafting and spend some time in Chitwan National Park. Sounds like we are going to get a good overall experience of Nepal.


Getting rid of the jet lag wasn't too bad. We arose fairly early to check out Kathmandu. It's so easy to get lost amongst the maze of shops and the winding streets with no real landmark to get your bearings. Still, with the girls extra day of orientation we managed to get to the Durbar square, which was filled with many temples and palaces. Incense was burning, prayers were being made and the hawkers had to be avoided to find some peace. I still couldn't help myself buy a really cool chess set: something that I had been looking for. It was crazy but weird on the streets: An old man pushing a babies pram filled with fresh vegetables kind of didn't look right. The butchers shops were really abboitoirs as well with blood dripping off the meat and the flies circling over the cuts to the side (I love meat but that makes it easier to just choose the veg curry I think).

Pauly and I visited the Swayambhunath Temple (Monkey Temple) in the afternoon which was a good 30 minute walk over the river and up a steep flight of stairs. Whilst the monkeys looked really healthy with nice coats and full stomachs the dogs on the streets were full of fleas and losing hair which was quite sad to see. It was great to stretch the legs climbing the stairs and dodging the traffic enroute. We met the girls and went to a Nepalese restaurant and ate some good vegie food including Veg curry, momo's (like Chinese Dumplings), chowmein and Thakali noodle soup. A nice rooftop bar in town playing some live reggae music was where we had a few cocktails to celebrate being here...a long time in planning so a nice feeling that it has already begun.



Already 3 days in and we are setting alarms for 7:45am: probably a sign of things to come. However, after two nights in the hectic city of Kathmandu we all felt ready to explore the surrounding valley. We hired a taxi for the hour journey through thick traffic to Bhaktapur. The road was under construction with a 6-lane highway apparently being built. Its so much cheaper travelling with 4 people. I know it's cheap here anyway but by filling up a car it's always a better bargain. Our taxi driver pulled up at the endtrance to Durbar Square and was trying to convince us that we needed him to take us to Nagarkot afterwards, but we had our minds set on the local bus so we politely declined his offer. The $10US entrance fee seemed kinda steep but we could see through the gate that it was going to be worth it. And it was. The 12th Century city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Durbar Square consists of The GOlden Gate, Golden Spout, Big Bell, Dog Barking Bell and 5 temples that were all in really good condition. The carvings in either wood, stone or metal were all very exquisite.

Venturing further into the city we came across Taumadhi Tole which included the 5 story pagoda Nyatapola temple. It has recently been restored by the Bhaktapur City Council and some shades of colour could still be seen in the statues and the rooftop. Tachupal Tole had a few more temples and a dance platform where I couldn't resist busting some moves. The temples were a mixture of bricks, wood and stone. Then came the wooden tie. Just across from the delicately crafted peacock window there was a souvenir stand selling wooden carved products including a wooden tie. It was decorated like a normal tie with the diagonal stripes and even had flexible joints so it would stay close to your body. Genius!! Pauly and I had to have one.

Bhaktapur was just a great town to people watch. Women doing the washing after bringing the water up from the well; mum's washing their childrens hair; cows and goats under close guard in the courtyard; grain being laid out on sheets in the sun to dry; and kids flying kites amidst low hanging power lines. And the kids all wanted their picutre taken, which I usually have reservations about doing. They just wanted to see their picture on the screen, whereupon they would burst into laughter.

Getting the bus to Nagarkot was a good idea. It only cost 25 rupees each (40cents) and we were jammed in with the locals, all listening to the gears crunch as we slowly made our way up the hill. People were sitting on the roof with their feet hanging over the edges of the bus. Our knees were jammed up against the seats in front and we were all nursing our packs on our knees. We were rewarded on arriving into Nagarkot to find a peaceful hilltop village surrounded by a deep valley, rolling green hills and mountains in the distance. Everyone was pretty chilled out. Wandering around the town in the afternoon we saw a funeral ceremony taking place where a fire was burning (wasn't 100% sure what was going on but it was a cremation of some type). The mist rolled in quickly after sunset and we all enjoyed a good nepalese feed whilst playing some cards under candlelight.



4:45am...well that's what I thought it was when there was knocking and giggling at our door. "We have some animal issues," said Lisa as Pauly and I both realised it was only 10:30pm. "We think there is a rat in our room, you have to come and check it out." Righto, being the men we thought we ought to do something. As we approached the suspicious plastic bag containing the rat we really couldn't hear anything inside of it. What were they talking about? Then we heard a tiny flutter and realised that it might have been a moth. Still, the girls were relieved after we removed it from the room.

Now came the real time of 4:45am and we were all half asleep as we began the 1hr hike uphill to the TV Tower to get a good view of the 7000m peaks. Our hotel advertised on its sign that we could see Mt Everest too. "No way," I said to the guy who brought us from the bus stop. "Yeh thats not true, we just say that cos the tourists like it." It was nice to stretch the legs and the lungs, with a few steep rises to test us out. We were one of the first people to arrive and although the sky was clear above our heads there was a fair bit of mist and cloud in the valley. And we didn't know where we were meant to be looking either.

After 20 minutes we finally saw the high peaks above the clouds in the valley. They appeared only for 10 minutes before the really heavy clouds rolled in. We were all happy to catch a glimpse but disappointed it wasn't great weather. Some ginger tea at a cafe nearby warmed everyone up before we walked back to Nagarkot. Military bases surrounded the road back and it was quite funny at the entrance to the Rangers division of the Nepalese Army: one man was doing sit ups, one was walking around with his M-16 whilst the other man was watering the flowers in the garden outside of the barbed wire fence. More troops were completing their morning training with a run up the hill.

Our rock hard beds suddenly looked awfully comfortable as our tired bodies laboured through the door at 8am. We all napped until 10:30am, had some breakfast and then waited for the bus back to Kathmandu. We waited for a while before the hotel guy said that we had missed it. Conveniently his best friend was there in a taxi where for a 'good price' he would take us back. Luckily at that moment the mini bus hurtled around the corner...problem solved.

I do love catching the local buses. It's a good way to see how they get around and also seeing their daily lives unfold in the small villages. The dirt road was awful and we were bouncing around everywhere but we were all having a good time. We took a different route back to Kathmandu and had a long descent into the valley below. The scenery was amazing: green rice paddies and multicoloured houses interspersed in the fields. We were delivering some food to some of the local villages as well. Harvest was under way in a few fields with the women interestingly enough doing most of the work under male supervision. Dogs patiently sat by their masters in the fields, protecting them and keeping them company at the same time. On the bus two little girls were sandwiched between Pauly and Lisa, bouncing around with every bump that we hit.

There was a Dutch mother/son on the bus as well and they were going to get off in the suburb of Kathmandu where the tiny Tibetan community of Bodhnath, where we were intending to go that afternoon. The Tibetan compound was circular with a giant stupa in the middle and monasteries interspersed throughout the surrounding neighbourhood. We tried to look at these but they were like fortresses with the main monasteries set way back from the street. We were all pretty tired as well so we headed back to our hostel for a bit of R & R. A final wander of the streets of Kathmandu in the afternoon followed by some more Nepalese food at our favourite restaurant was how we spent our last night. Next stop Pokhara and the montains will be getting closer.


Practicalities:

Kathmandu- stayed at Holyland Hostel. 450 Rupees for twin shared bathroom, 700 Rupees for twin with bathroom.
Kathmandy - Bhaktapur taxi was 700 Rupees
Entrance to Bhaktapur city was 750 Rupees
Bhaktapur - Nagarkot local bus was 25 Rupees each

Nagargot- stayed at Snowman Hotel. 600 Rupees for double bed room without a view. 800 Rupees for double bed with view.

Nagarkot - Kathmandu local bus we payed 75 rupees each but the price was really up to what the driver wanted.







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