Advertisement
Published: October 12th 2006
Becky in the rain
Just like home....Up again at 5 am - seems to be getting more difficult to get up with each day that passes!!
Got on a 'private' minibus that stopped many times to pick people up along the way (and for the driver to talk to all and sundry! Never trust a man in a bandana). Much cleaner and more civilised than the trip yesterday - bags were on the roof so we could relax and not have to worry. The bus seemed to have been oversold, so there was much discussion about seats and moving around of people and a few folks had to stand. There aren't many westerners about - most people seem to arrive to Kathmandu by air, which seems like a good choice after yesterdays journey!
The journey was more interesting than yesterday and the scenery has become more mountainous. Was supposed to take 8 hrs but took about 9.5 hrs, but you just have to go with the flow and enjoy the ride. The bus stopped for lunch on the way - very civilised, but not sure about the cockroaches in the squat toilets - one of those time when it's better to be a boy and
Monkey Temple
(in the rain!) away from them!!
Arrived into Kathmandu to the Tibet Guest House in Thamel - what a great place! Really luxurious after all our recent stops - a bit pricey but worth the money if you can afford it. After a quick freshen up, we met with the group that we'll be trekking with - 3 American's, 2 Aussies and 3 Brits, with a good mix of boys, girls and personalities! The Aussie and Brit sense of humour is very similar, so much fun should be had.
Went to a good restaurant for dinner (Rum Doodle) - was a bit expensive but was good to have some western food after curry 3 times a day. Had to write our names and a message on a big foot that will be put up on the wall, so check it out if you go there! The whole of Thamel is very western and commercialised after India, but is good to relax a bit and is less manic than we've been used to.
After not enough sleep (we thought this was supposed to be a holiday?) and too much beer, we all met for a day of sightseeing around the religous
Monkeys on electric wires
(look at the wiring no IEEE here!!) places of Kathmandu. We felt like real tourists in a group of people and felt like we stuck out a lot more than being just the two of us, but it was good to have others to deflect the hawkers.
Went to the Swayanabath temple (Monkey temple) which is on top of a hill - you have to climb loads of steps to get up there. It was really interesting to see the Stupa and also to see Hinduism and Buddhism co-existing quite happily together. Something other religions could learn to do!
Had a good look around the whole city - is raining very hard so hope that it stops soon or else we're going to get very soggy on the trek. Ended up all buying umbrella's - is just like being at home!
After India Kathmandu is very chilled, although the rest of the group thought that it was really crazy there - guess that it's all relative to what you're used to.
Re-packed our bags this evening and have now left all non-essential items at the Tibet Guest House (free of charge), to make our bags a bit lighter for the trek. Have decided
to hire a porter to carry one of the bags to make it a bit easier on ourselves. We're both looking forward to doing something active as feel like we've been on a massive bender in India (too much curry and beer!).
Advertisement
Tot: 0.114s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 12; qc: 76; dbt: 0.0827s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Monkey M
non-member comment
A temple for me?
A temple all to myself - how generous. Maybe one day I'll get to see it! Sounds like the pair of you are having a great time - really enjoying the blog.