DESTINATION 5 – NEPAL

DAY 77 – Bangkok to Kathmandu!

6 hours on our Thai airways flight (our fav airline at mo, they are fab!), and lots of valium and gateaux for me later, we were finally descending into Kathmandu through the stunning Himalayan mountains, it was beautiful and we were very excited about our next destination, fingers crossed I can manage the hike though….

Landing at the airport was quite a different experience to others, we were just left on the runway to fend for ourselves whilst they found a bus, it was all rather mental to say the least which pretty much summed up the rest of our 'first day in Kathmandu' experience. The taxi ride to our hotel was just MENTAL to say the least!!!! Rammed in tiny Suzuki cars as taxis, smog, dirt, dust, no lanes, no directions, rammed back streets of people trying to go in 2 directions but just sitting there because there was only room for one car, cows, dogs, rickshaws, motorbikes all trying to get somewhere but not managing too and don’t even think they bother with give way at junctions or traffic lights, its every man to himself…. !!!! The best way to cope is to hold on and shut your eyes!!! Already though we knew we were going to totally LOVE this country, the experience was just amazing and the historic buildings and culture was awesome, our kind of country! Our ‘Hotel Nirvana’ when we finally arrived in one piece thank god was lovely, this was the start of our ‘Mountains and Plains’ Nepal/India trek we were booked on with Gecko’s and so far so good, this was luxury! I think deep down we were both looking forward to having a few weeks of someone else making all the decisions for us and of course I was very excited that my mum and Ian were coming to do the next month of our trip with us…of course Ads felt the same, ha ha!

Our hotel was in the manic area of Thamel, full of narrow crammed lanes of fake North Face shops, signs and restaurants for tourists, it had a real buzz to it, and we just wished we had money to buy all the hiking gear! We met our Nepalese guide Krish who was only in his twenties but a really lovely guy, softy spoken, unassuming and just like the many Nepalese people we were then to meet. He invited us to dinner to meet his family and we were really touched.

Next we wandered out to experience the extreme streets of Thamel whilst trying not to get run over by car, man or beast, the atmosphere was great but not sure how long we would cope with it for, thank god our hotel was peaceful! I phoned mum and was getting even more excited, they were arriving in exactly 24 hours time!! That eve we ate in a local restaurant (after being escorted by bank staff to use the ATM eeek!) on the top 10th floor which was cool, I had about 6 jacket potatoes whilst Ad had a local dish called ‘daht that bahl’, then followed by my 3RD gateaux of the day, I finally was getting over my ‘valium come down’ munchies! Strangely enough the place became quiet suddenly, probably due to the fact that in Kathmandu they only have electricity for certain periods as each area takes it in turns to have electricity!! As we went back to our room at only 8pm, I passed out fully clothed whilst Ads was in the bathroom getting ready for us to go out for a beer, needless to say it didn’t happen and 12 hours later I woke up!!

Day 78 – Durbar Square & walking tour to the river…

Still feeling tired we had breakfast at the hotel and porridge was on the menu and with real milk too, result! Sitting outside in the Oasis of the hotel gardens it was hard to imagine that it was TOTALLY mental outside only one street away! Trying to cross the so called roundabout at the end of our road was just mental again, 4 small rammed roads of rickshaws, hundreds of taxi’s, locals and animals all attempting to go in no particular direction around this roundabout and if you managed to move at all it was a miracle, the noise, the dirt, the heat, the bustle was a sensory overload we would never forget, this place was fantastic. After missing near death and finally getting across, we went down one of the narrow streets towards the square, the buildings had an old French colonial feel to them but old was not the word, ancient more like and how they were still standing I will never know! The whole place had so much character and history, every now and again we would see a small arch to the side and on climbing through come across the most beautiful huge courtyard with Buddha white temples in the middle, it reminded me so much of the ancient streets of Rome it was wonderful. The people looked tired and the strain of their hard lives was etched upon them but still they smiled, locals crowded praying around the small street side temples, old men of about 90 pushing overloaded bikes up the street or carrying towers of stuff upon their backs, how they managed we will never though, their strength was incredible especially amongst such poverty.










The square in stark contrast was really peaceful, the most beautiful pyramid type ancient temples, locals chilling on the steps, ladies washing in tin bowls, locals praying surrounding the temples with the most colourful flowers, powders, incense etc.. and cows just wandering around aimlessly, it was beautiful here. However the 30 degree heat, pollution and hunger soon got to me and feeling suddenly quite claustrophobic we dipped into a local Nepalese bakery with NO cakes! b*****! Feeling better after our local dish of yummy veggie momos we followed the southern walking tour in our book down to the river where you really got to see how locals live and didn’t pass one tourist!

We had now however started to experience one of the favourite past times of the local children…..WATER BOMBS!!! It was festival time soon and with that came this nightmare past time! You weren’t worried about getting mugged, you were more worried about getting bombed and soaked by 5 year olds!!! We were surprised to see most of these back street tall houses made with concrete but that didn’t mean the poverty was less, the dirt on the children showed that clearly…. Yet they still smiled! The old temples by the river were now being lived in and the most derelict falling down places had washing hanging off century old ruins, it was an incredible life. Crossing now a main road of overloaded rammed buses, tuk tuk attempt vehicles and crazy drivers we made the river which wasn’t exactly flowing, it was full of filth and sadly locals were there washing in it with animals, such a tough existence compared to Thailand was really evident in Nepal already…..

Thankfully a local kind lady walked by us for a while protecting us from the water bombs and soon we were back at our crazy roundabout at which we just stood in amazement again having absolutely no idea how we were going to get across it! We even thought about hiring a Rick-shaw to do about 10 metres!! 30 minutes later we finally crossed and after finding a much needed wifi café with hot chocolate and marshmallows(for me of course!) we hailed down the least battered of many battered tiny taxi’s and attempted to get to the airport for mum and Ian’s arrival. 30 minutes later after getting in we were still sitting at the roundabout!!! [




How we ever moved in the end I really don’t know and after a VERY hairy drive of sudden emergency stops, queues of 40 cars for petrol, poor visibility through the screen and generally praying for our lives we thankfully arrived in one piece with our poorly made ‘BETTS AND PARKER WELCOME’ sign at the airport. Amongst the chaos they finally arrived and wow what a feeling that was to be meeting them in crazy Kathmandu of all places ready to create life long memories together in this magical place and beautiful Himalayan mountains….it was quite an emotional moment for me and as expected, lots of tears and lots of hugs!

Thankfully Ian had booked Gecko to pick them up and the nice people turned up in a 4 wheel drive and said we could fit in, phew, no more minute Suzuki hell taxis! Warning mum and Ian of what was to come, mum beamed as she totally loved the chaos whilst Ian had a face I will never ever forget, he sat looking horrified, totally dumb founded, white and aghast at the traffic and lack of any order and was totally speechless for the entire journey!!!!! When he finally did let out a sound at the hotel, he said the journey had totally blew him away and that he’d never experienced anything like it, a feeling Ian says will stay etched in his mind forever, it was unbelievable. Ads and I didn’t like to tell them that it wasn’t even rush hour and that it was the safest and best journey we’d experienced in a vehicle in Nepal to date especially as this 4 wheel was 5 times the size of the usual taxi!! That eve we went out for a celebratory meal and the first of many Everest beers, it was so good to have them with us (say yes Adam!) and we were really excited about the adventures ahead!!


Day 79 - More exploring and coffee and cake ( well sort of!) with mum and Ian!

After more Porridge we set off on the 2 hour walking tour to the square to soak up more of the Kathmandu culture and show mum and Ian the sights. Passing many temples & shires, we climbed through one rather small arch to a beautiful temple inside where mum started playing with the kids much to their amusement trying to intercept their water bombs, whilst I got hit on the legs 4 times from very high heights! It was Saturday and the city was in full swing even more manic than yesterday! They seem to use their narrow streets and space along them to hold market stalls of everything and it was so fascinating to see all the coloured materials, bright coloured dyes, vegetables and smell all the spices whilst man and beast still rammed themselves down the same lane. Our walk was actually taking us on the ‘Old caravan route to Tibet’ which was pretty cool. Like yesterday old men and women carried the world on their shoulders, one guy had a massive filing cabinet on his back, just crazy!! I’m surprised in this mayhem that they use filing cabinets to bring order to their paper work!!





On reaching Durbar square we were all pretty exhausted so found a cool roof top restaurant over looking the square, ate momo’s and soaked up the atmosphere and breath taking mountain scenery from a distance….



Pinching ourselves that we were in Nepal doing yet another of our dreams with mum and Ian too was quite a surreal feeling. We then met a really nice guide we had spoken to the day before and had promised him that we would bring mum and Ian back to do a tour of the Palace with him. He was just lovely and had brilliant English as he had lived in England for a while where a couple had sponsored him to go there after meeting him as a guide in the square! It was really interesting to learn about the Hindu and Buddhist Culture, the Old Palace was stunning, attached to a newer 100 year old white part which had been designed and built by a British Architect. Ads and mum went up to the top of the Palace but the windows looked a tad small for me and I was still struggling from my illness and was tired. We then learnt more about the temples in the square and learned of the God of Alcohol (I think that’s what he said??!!) and fertility etc.. There were old ladies and men looking after the temples whom looked so dirty, tired and poor, it was quite sad to see and amazing how they dedicate their lives to these temples yet they have nothing…..



When we got back not feeling too good I went straight to bed and whilst I slept amongst the usual power cuts and ate in my room with my head torch, Ads, mum and Ian went to Krish’s families for dinner. They had a wonderful time and after a mad taxi journey arrived at the family home where they were given offerings of silk sashes and ate an amazing meal of chicken ******s, broccoli and rice and met Krish’s lovely sister also who was waiting for her degree result. The family didn’t have much but the kindness and generosity of them to invite us for dinner and into their home was a very special evening not to be forgotten. Hopefully Krish may make it to England one day through his study and we can return the favour! Arriving back to a black out a great evening was had by all and off course I was passed out asleep when Ads got back!!