kathmandu

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I arrived in Kathmandu feeling ok for having been in transit for about 18hours. A longer than expected stop over at K.L did dampen my spirits momentarily, but kudos to Air Malaysia for their great service, not a single complaint, except for that little delay in K.L where we had to get on and off the same plane, walk to a different gate, walk back to the same gate, back to another gate, then board through the same gate, go through the security section a second time and return to our seats. But no, serioulsy you were wonderful and that curry, best plane food I've ever had, seriously!

Speaking of airports, I've always though that an airport can tell you a lot about a city and Kathmandu TribuvanInternational airport was no exception. Wow! Welcome to Nepal. A nice enough airport, for the 80's. However, for the airport of the capital city let's just say it was a lot behind the times. Not that I expected anything else really, I guess it was just reconfirming what I had expected I was about to see !

From experience I knew that the taxi's were going to try and rip me off, they always do, and it's the perfect place to try...travellers arrive, generally tired and just wanting to get to their accomodation and rest. Now whilst I didn't think I was going to get a record price, I was hoping to pay fairly close to what the hostel website had told me (big hint for first time travellers, always check what you're supposed to pay before arriving, it can save you a lot and make you look like a seasoned pro!) At first they wanted ten dollars!! which doesn't sound a lot for a Western country but for here was ridiculous. I eventually pushed away ten or so men coming at me with 'good price' and agreed to 600RPs which was still 200 over what they say is acceptable but hey it's $2 so I let it slide. In an attempt for some extra money I got a free guide during my drive through the city to the area of Swayambhu (where my hostel was) how lovely. Unfortunately it only won him an extra 100 RPs, yes I was feeling generous, but he's lucky he got anything at all because the hard sell was starting to get old very fast! "I give you good tour price, I give you volunteer opportunity, I give you good rafting, I get you bus to Pokhara, I give you..." How about you give me some peace and quiet?!!! Haha oh the joys of the first few hours in a new country! It'll never cease to amaze me how every single part of you is overwhelmed. How every sense is awakened; the smells (not all good!) the sights, the sounds.....welcome back tooting horns! and the dust, I can't say I love the feeling of dust and soot on the skin but it definitely reminds you of where you are.

I finally made it to my hostel, a good 30minute walk from Thamel, tourist capital. It was nice to arrive, a wake up call almost. I was actually here. This was actually happening. I actually have no plans. Bliss.

I am so thankful for my choice of hostel, although ask me that after my first night's 'sleep' and I wouldn't have told you the same answer...not the best location for a hostel, it was like I was in the middle of a dog pound. Thank god I'm use to Tia and Mimi barking at home, because if not I would have found it overwhelming. So there were dogs, literally howling and barking all night, including 'Nigga' (yes that's her name and yes she's black) the hostel dog, in the room next to me!! So there were the dogs and then at 5am there was the holy sounds coming from the monastery next door, that I can handle. The gentle humming of the monks, the gongs, trumpets, the smell of incense, yes I could wake up to this every morning. But then came the monkeys. Hundreds of them from the nearby monkey temple, looking like they're from that movie 'outbreak'. Hands on the windows, peering in at me "let me in" they beg, not in a million years. It's almost like they wanted to highjack the place, cute? I wouldn't go that far. Red bums, yes. Loud, yes. Willing to steal anything and everything, yes. So it's safe to say I was well and truly awake and ready for the day by 7am. Good morning Kathmandu!

Ah yes now back to the hostel 'The Sparkling Turtle' (run by a Canadian guy called Akesh, yes he changed his name by depolt and walks around with a little traditional Nepali hat on his head) was great. I paid about $3 a night, got free breakfast, mostly warm showers and yummy food, cooked by the local Nepali cook's. Night one was a delicious 'Sunday roast' of Buffalo, with real gravy and vegetables, oh how I'd kill for that now. The second night I tucked into a Buffalo burger, equally as yummy. Breakfast wasn't your average toast and jam oh no it was your choice of; crepes, omlette or cereal. I chose an omlette with a lentil pancake, delicious.

It wasn't just the food and the fact the power went out at 5pm every night that made this hostel special. It was the people. As with most places I love on my travels, it's the people that make your experience, local and foreign. Now nearly everyone at this hostel was a solo traveller. Refreshingly, they all had the same mind set as me. How wonderful it is to meet people in the same 'space' as you and when they're solo too it's even better. It's also easy to say I loved it because I spent the next month with some of these people, people I will now call close friends, so thanks Sparkling Turtle!

I wandered into Thamel on day two, which if you haven't heard is crazy hectic. Streets in every direction going every which way, with no street signs and hardly any landmarks. Which simply means it's almost impossible to distinguish any street from the other 5 streets that are also an option. Even for me, someone who likes to claim they have a good sense of direction, it was hard. I'd like to see someone without that have a go! Rachel?!

I had gone into town with the intention of finding some trekking stores, I heard they were everywhere, but upon reflection the following day I was about one or two streets away from them. I browsed for an hour and then decided to return, thankfully finding (thanks to some other travellers) a great little bakery just near the hostel. The owner there has worked in Islington, London, in a cafe and makes a killer quiche ohhh and great muffins too. Yes my days revolve around food and no I'm not afraid to say it.

That evening I met up with some others who said they'd all booked/planned to leave the following day, and I was devastated. They all seemed really nice and yet I'd arrived a day too late to trek with them. There's no way I would have been able to get organised in one day. Never mind. There's plenty of other fish in the sea. So I went looking for a trekking office the next day, in the right area, and thankfully found one without too much of a hassle. He offered me tea and seemed to be thorough, which is always a good sign.



Unless you're booking from home it's really just pot luck which guide you get. The company can't really do anything more than offer you a guide. The lodges are all of pretty equal quality and the food just the same, obviously there's some lodges that will be closer to $6 a night rather than the $1 I was paying but really, it's a bed, in the mountains, in Nepal, how much better can yours be than mine? So I decided to pay for my own accomodation and food as I went, rather than pay for an all inclusive tour, which was a hot tip from another traveller. It did turn out to be cheaper, probably by $100 but then again I'm not a huge eater so I wasn't spending all that much on food. Insert eating biscuits and vegemite for lunch here.

After about an hour of 'soft sell' talk (he definitely wasn't as pushy as others I'd met) which included showing me past recommendations, postcards from past clients, photos from the 80's and the last months worth of trekking permit forms, I booked. I knew that I couldn't be bothered sitting through this again with another company so I bit the bullet, something I find very challenging when travelling, making that final decision. However it can also the greatest thing about travelling solo, it doesn't matter how long it takes you to decide because you're not putting anyone else out but yourself.

So I had booked, tomorrow I was to depart Kathmandu for 17 days trekking up to Gokyo Lakes, across Cho La Pass and to Mt Everest Base Camp and Kala Pattar, nothing like getting on with things!



It's been three months since I arrived in Kathmandu and what a wonderfully diverse three months I've had. I've just renewed my visa for another month and couldn't be happier.

I've since returned to Kathmandu at least four times, and stayed anywhere from between two and five days. I must admit Kathmandu has really grown on me, and whilst at first I thought i was hectic, I've almost grown to love it. I don't think I could live there, but I'm quite happy to call it a base for my stay here in Nepal. A big thanks to Alobar 1000 Hostel, for being my home away from home, the countless friends I've been fortunate enough to meet and reunite with in the big hectic city. To the beautiful people who've enjoyed countless cheap eats at Western Tandoori with me, enjoyed the spanish music at maya's bar, downed beers and coffee and tea. To those who supported me in making important shopping decisions 😉, discussed world problems and travellers diarrhoea, sweated prosfuself in the dorm room, or walked back saturated from another sudden downpour, thank you. Kathmandu, I'll be back one day to show friends and family, or more fellow tourists the best places to eat and drink and listen to music and shop. Thank you to those with a good memory, the beautiful family at W.T for always remembering my order or chana masala and plain naan, my rug man, jewellery maker, tailor, cushion cover creator, material man and music shop legend. The people of Kathmandu are just as friendly as those in the rural areas, if you just give them the time. Take down your guards, walk into a shop with a smile, sit down and enjoy a cup of tea. It's sure to be the most interesting hour of your day. Namaste!

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Photos

or2k salad, mmm
dreaming of this the whole trek...

river life
everything happens here, living, washing, rubbish dumping, pig feeding, dog breeding...

so many colour
meters of material being sold to locals. Now this is bulk buying