So I eventually left Kathmandu, where the staff in the Shree Tibet guesthouse thought I had taken up residence and headed for Bhaktapur, which as another former kingdom of Nepal is again famous for its Durbar Square. It would bloody need to be impressive as an entry permit costs $25, but it was worth it, the temples are spectacular and the small town has a really nice feel to it. It's a real day tripper place so during the day the main squares are swarming with tourists and whilst I was there a big groups of Chinese with even bigger camera lenses taking photos of everything that moved particularly locals- who were (rightly so) far from impressed. But as the sun sets and the bus loads leave the real beauty of the place can be seen. As most people finish work the square becomes a hive of activity for locals meeting up, old men sitting crossed legged smoking on the temple steps, women bargaining for last minute bits of vegetables and kids playing. I don't know if it was a special occasion or what but one of the nights I was crossing the square on my home there was a group of old men, all in their traditional hats, sitting outside a temple, surrounded by candles chanting- really atmospheric!

The few days I'd been there I'd watched the progress of the construction of a huge chariot that would be used in the upcoming Bisket Jatra festival, which sounds a bit scary. It's in honour of one of their fearsome gods of war- Bhairab. As far as I can gather it involves a lot of banging of war drums, shouting in preparation of war, throngs of men moving angrily through the street before tug of war in the square and some gruesome sacrifices- doesn't sound like my cup of tea- much more up for a bit of music and merry making myself!

I stayed in Ganesh guesthouse, it had a real hostel atmosphere and the owner was lovely and provided local brew most evenings. His wife taught me how to make momos which was cool ( I am now an expert). They had quite a few long term guests; a French couple that had been there at least a month and an American guy doing some volunteering close by, so every evening there was something going on in the guesthouse which was great as the town completely closes and is in pitch black by about 9pm.

So after a few lovely days in tranquil Bhaktapur I decided to get on my way again. To get to Pokhara I had to return to Kathmandu to get a bus and the French couple were off to a weekly farmers market there so I decided to hop on the bus with them and check it out. Now this relatively short hop on the local microbus should've been pretty smooth- however I ended up in the backseat with an old man and his goat next to me. The goat had to go under the seat so I usually forgot he was there until he licked my feet, but apparently he did not like the hustle and bustle when we arrived in manic Kathmandu, so freaked out and pissed all over the show of course not missing my feet- lovely!

The farmers market was like an oasis, full of croissants, proper bread, olives and hummus and a whole array of other western food. The setting was lovely too- in the gardens of a fairly fancy hotel, which was awash with ex pat families with young kids. So I had some lunch and kicked back for a while before setting of on the longer bus journey to Pokhara- hopefully goat free!