17th Nov. - 10th December, Kathmandu (1337 metres)

Average temperature: high 18 to low 3 degrees
Places visited: Kathmandu City, Swayambhunath (Stupa), Bhaktapur, Nala, Banepa, Dhulikhel, Everest
Cycling distance: 78km
Crashes: 2
Yaks seen: Still none

We arrived in Kathmandu to find it very polluted and hectic, big difference to Pokhara's peaceful lakeside situation.

First job was to decide whether we were going to do the Everest Base Camp trek, however Vik was still suffering from a bad cold that turned into a sinus infection which would not be ideal to be trekking with. In the end we decided that it we wouldn't have time (as Vik took around a week to get better and the trek would take 3 weeks), so we thought we would invest our money into a flight around Everest instead.

The second thing to do was to get a flight to Bangkok as our 'RTW' ticket did not include this flight. Unfortunately we found that this wasn't as easy as just going to the agency (or Thai Airlines) and just booking the flight for the day we wanted. Oh, no, we had to put our name down and wait. We worked out that it was a kinda auction system as Thai Airlines have the monopoly on this route from Kathmandu. The more you pay for the ticket, the more likely you get the flight for the day you want. Although, they weren't so honest in the way they described this, disguising the different costs as differing levels of economy class. Eventually, after 3 days we got a call from the agency letting us know we had a flight for 10th December.

During our time in Kathmandu we first explored around the touristy area of Thamel where all the trekkers and tourists stay, as it is full of restaurants, shops and many other services. The streets are narrow and full of signs and advertising, it almost looks like a street you'd expect to find in Tokyo. It's full of bargains of jewellery, Tibetan crafts, trekking gear, DVDs and CDs, and books. The narrow lanes are also like racing tracks for the local taxi drivers and motorbikers which makes it very difficult to walk. You need eyes in the sides of your head as well as the back!

Our exploration also took us to the old city, which has beautiful dilapidated buildings that look medieval. The buildings all have elaborately carved windows that seem far too rich in features for just living accommodation. Kathmandu is a fascinating city that is really buzzing with atmosphere. The crazy driving, the butchers who show their wares (whole animals cut up) in the evening when it's colder, the fruit sellers on bikes, and the spice and nuts sellers on the reed rugs on the floor.

The main royal square is full of tiered temples, and is called Durbar (Palace) Square. This is extremely medieval looking and looked unreal, but it's a bit bizarre that transport is allowed through the World Heritage site. You can't escape the possibility of being run over! The temples have many carvings and in the struts (that support the roofs) of the buildings and some have erotic carvings that demonstrate the Karma Sutra.

One of the ideas we had for Kathmandu was to mountain bike around the valley. Our plan was to travel for 3 days from Kathmandu to Dhulikhel which is around 39kms away. Our 'Trek 4300' bikes were hired in Thamel for 700 rps per day (5.50GBP) which were the best bikes in Kathmandu (Vik's was brand spanking new). The route took us through the centre of Kathmandu's hectic roads which is a challenge in itself, as the saying goes 'if you can't beat them, join them', so we rode as the locals did, in a sporadic, chaotic manner which meant weaving through the tightest gaps possible across the entire road.

After we got out of the city we headed for the quieter (potholed) roads that took us through villages and countryside rather than the main highway.
Our first day took us to Bhaktapur which is the most beautiful medieval living cities we've ever seen, best of all it was traffic free! You can see so many people living their lives very similar to as their ancestors would have. Potters, woodcarvers and weavers all perform their daily work in the street, or with open doors. The farm animals, ducks, goats and chickens all walk around the tiny cobbled streets freely. The women wash their clothes in the elaborately carved communal stone baths, and the men play chess or cards.

Our guest house was in the centre of (Bhaktapur) Durbar Square, which had a 400 year old wood carved window - very lovely. We spoilt ourselves with a 'penthouse suite' with views of the mountains and the temples. See photos. We didn't have much choice of restaurants that evening, as there was no electricity across the city between 5:30 - 7:30, so we went to the only one with lights. It's common practice in Nepal to switch off the power for the entire country between these hours - when you wanna eat. It seems they alternate the regions on a weekly basis. We learnt about these power cuts the hard way as we use to be on the internet at this time!

On our second day our bums hurt so much that we didn't know how we would manage cycling on bumpy uphill roads roads/tracks. We actually made it to Dhulikhel quite quickly that morning, but later we couldn't walk very well (looked a bit constipated) as we were looking around the town.
This town wasn't as architecturally impressive or big to look around as it was more of a working Nerwari town than a tourist destination, so we went to the top of hill that's a well known view point for the Himalaya Range.

That evening, we had to wear coats and hats in the dining room as the temperature was around 6 degrees inside(slightly colder than Kathmandu). We ate by candle light, as we always seem to want to eat during the power cut. That night Vik slept in her clothes, as there was no heating, this is common in all guest houses in Nepal.

The next day we were to return to Kathmandu, which was a bit daunting as we were still suffering from soreness. Luckily, it was mostly downhill on the way back. Unfortunately this was also our downfall… literally! Some stupid taxi driver was doing a 20 point turn in the middle of the road without looking at the traffic. He pulled out at exactly the same time as we were to pass the car (safely). Carl hit the corner of the taxi and Vik couldn't stop in time and hit Carl, both ended up on the floor. Didn't get too hurt (Vik just grazed knee and bruised should a little, Carl got graze on shoulder), but we had a right go at the taxi driver who was completely dazed and confused by the whole situation (didn't realise he'd done anything wrong as Nepali's can't really drive very well). The rest of the journey was quite uneventful after this and we did the whole 39km in time for lunch in Kathmandu.

Now we just have the weekend left before leaving Nepal. Our last adventure will be to take an hour's flight to see Everest. Really looking forward to this and we have our fingers crossed that we will have good weather for it.