Nepal 1 - Kathmandu & Bhaktapur

18 Oct:
Flew from Melbourne at 1.10am to Singapore and slept for a few hours. Had three hours in Singapore where I squeezed in a reflexogy and neck massage. Silkair flight to Kathmandu was uneventful.

Arrived in Kathmandu at midday on the same day (18/10). Didn't have the USD$40 required for a tourist visa but was allowed outside to an ATM. Jen was waiting and had a lovely hello with her. Found the ATM but it didn't work. Luckily Jen had USD$50 on her so I used that. Had to go and queue up all over again and was the last person on my flight to get through.

Jen had a car waiting and we drove straight to Bhaktapur - a gorgeous medieval town which has been restored with German funding. It really is one of the most beautiful places I've been with narrow winding streets - intricately carved windows and balconies with wood/lattice work and resting platforms where the men play cards and talk their day away. Rice drying on big plastic mats all over the squares and roads - life being lived all around.

We checked into our hotel, Newa Guest House, and our room, 501, had a terrace overlooking one of the main squares and temples. Jen told me that most tourists go back to Kathmandu and rarely stay the night so I was excited to have this place to ourselves. We wandered all day - just checking out all the sites and sounds. Bhaktapur is famour for its kurd which Jen and I got right amongst. Delicious! We spent most of the time hunting around for kurd vendors. We also stopped at a hole in the wall (you can only tell a locals restaurant is a restaurant by the curtain handing over the front door and the amazing smells coming from inside) and had a lentil pancake for a snack - yummy!

The Peacock Window was visited (amazing detail) and we also went to Potters Square (lots of pots!).

All good - just wandering and taking it all in. Had momo's at another hold in the wall for dinner which were seriously spicy...

Then took a walk around the square. We were mesmerised by a group of men just sitting round singing/chanting/playing instruments on one of the platforms against a temple. All in all, a really great day and fantastic introduction to Nepal. Have never fallen asleep faster. Woke up during the night to the occasional bell being rung for a blessing, dog fight and, at one point, a rather heated human fight!

19 Oct:
Next morning we had a leisurely brekky (with kurd!) and then wandered again until 11am. Arjun, our drive (how decadent does that sound!!), picked us up and took us straight to Pashu Pati where they cremate the dead. There's a lower caste (poorer people) area and higher caste. The royal family were cremated there after they were massacred by one of their family members on a family picnic in 1991. The bodies are burnt on wooden pyres where are on brick platforms on the edge of the Bagmati River. After the bodies have totally burnt down they are tipped into the river (where there are often kids jumping in to find gold fillings). The river is absolutely filthy with rubbish everywhere. We saw a young child getting wrapped up and blessed before being burnt. It's incredible how matter of fact they are about it - I guess it helps to know that, as Hindus, they're going on to a better place/being reborn.

The burning pyres are surrounded by temples on one side and sadhus (holy men) are all around. Some are Indian and not real but an equal number are real. Walked through the temples and bought some fairy floss from a street vendor so I could get a photo of him. The photo is pretty shit and I wondered whether it was worth it when we wandered up a hill and, at the top, there was a monkey in a tree - it made a bee line for me (and it moved like greased lightning I'll have you know) and stole my fairy floss. Well, more accurately, I threw my fairy floss on the ground and hid behind Jen. I was very happy for that monkey with massive fangs to have my fairy floss.

Saw a small herd of deer in the appropriately named Deer Park, got blessed by a Sadhus who then expected some rupees (yeah, cos what girl wouldn't want pomegranate seeds in their fringe?) and passed the leprosy gang. Had never seen anyone with leprosy before - it was quite a shock. Those poor, poor people.

Crossed over to the other side of the river and looked over the fence in to the Hindu temple. Quite an amazing area with a home for the homeless/desolate and a building housing people who are going to die which is located right behind/next to the high caste cremation area. Nice. There was also an area which had little exhibits to show the different festivals. We spent a couple of hours just wandering around taking it all in.

Next step was Boudda Stupa which is the largest Tibetan buddhist chorten in the world. It's 2000 years old and used to be on the trade route from Kathmandu to Tibet. A wonderfully peaceful place with this massive white 'mound' - tibetan eyes at the four points around the top and prayer flags flying all over. Prayer wheels all around the base and shops surrounding the perimeter. We had a great time checking it out and then had a late lunchat a great little Tibetan/Chinese hole in the wall. Delicious chicken with yummy mushrooms - even though I really didn't plan on eating any meat in Nepal. Also a yummy kelp and noodle soup (yeah cos Nepal is SO close to the sea) and a tofu with green veg. Yum!

Had a stroll around the Stupa again (going with the traffic, of course) before heading back in to hectic Kathmandu and away from the peace of the Stupa.

Arjun drove us into Thamel and to the Kathmandu Guesthouse right in the heart of Thamel. Himalaya Encounters, who Intrepid bought part of a year or so ago, are located on the grounds of the guesthouse. Jen, who I worked with at Intrepid, had been working there that week - helping do some design work and setting up an image library. One of the owners Tony, an Englishman, started the company with Niraj's father who has since died and Niraj has taken over. Niraj, and Dil (one of his key staff members) had organised Jen and my entire trip - with mates rates.

We downloaded photos and gave them all the details they needed for our trekking permit. Then went to get Jen's bag from where she had been staying. Jen had been in Nepal volunteering at an orphanage run by an Australian girl for a couple of months which she just loved - me coming over what at the end of her 3 months in Nepal.

We then bought some supplies for the trek - a duffel bag for the stuff we wanted the porter to carry, a poncho, a sleeping bag liner, snacks for the treck - trail mix and some mini Mars Bars to keep me going. Then Jen & I headed to New Orleans Cafe where a great Nepali band play on Sunday night (we got lucky). Had something light for dinner (but can't for the life of remember what). Had a few beers and watched the band - Niraj met us for a beer later on and then we headed back to the hotel at around 10.30pm.