Despite James's love of trying to find the right direction by just using his nose, even he admitted defeat with this one and asked the bus driver which way we needed to go to the main square - we knew our guest house was around there…

After paying the obligatory $15 per person to enter the old part of the city and armed with a map (of sorts), we wandered through the quiet streets in the general direction of the Durbar square. Quite amazingly, we found our guest house quite quickly! We were offered the choice of 2 rooms, one with a private bathroom, the other with a shared bathroom downstairs….we opted for the private bathroom unsurprisingly! It had a nice little balcony as well that faced out to the main square - although because of the earthquake the temple opposite us was not looking it's best. Still it was good to sit out and people watch!

We sorted ourselves out and went out for a cuppa and a snack - we found Pani Puri! I was super happy, and it was very cheap - we'll take lunch for 25p any day! James only had a few, but seemed to quite enjoy them. Our tummies satisfied, we headed back to our room to figure out the next part of our journey; Delhi and Agra. It seemed to take forever, but eventually we settled on a hostel chain called Zostel (they have them in the main 'tourist' spots in India). The one in Delhi was basically right across from the train station (handy as we wanted to get the early morning train) and the one in Agra had amazing reviews!

We had a lazy start the next morning and typically ended up wandering out in the midday sun! Armed with the map, we headed out to explore the sights of Bhaktapur. Again, it was sad to see the destruction caused by the earthquake; we could only imagine how spectacular some of those temples would have been. To escape the heat for a little bit, we stopped for a pot of chai on a covered roof terrace and whiled away some time people watching and recharging our batteries. We didn't seem to find too much to explore in the town, but it was nice to walk around and feel the chilled atmosphere - something we'd become quite accustomed to! We stopped in for a lunch of buffalo momos - wow, they were awesome! James didn't really notice them though as he was too busy watching the football with the waiter!! I'll give him that though, he's been somewhat cut off from football; well watching it on TV anyway!

As we were flying to Delhi the next day, we needed to do some rearranging of bags, so the big re-pack started! James managed to sort his bag out in about 5 minutes…me on the other hand took about an hour to get everything 'just right'…why? I don't know…it's not going to last! We are both earmarking things that we don't actually need in our bags, I don't think it's long before we sent a parcel back.

While James was clearing out his day pack, he came across his emergency stashed pants. He gave them a sniff (they were clean and unused)…then came an offer I would generally flat out refuse…."Podge, give them a sniff, they're clean!"….As soon as I took a whiff my eyes immediately filled with tears of joy - they smelt of home!! Ahhhhhh, such a comforting smell!

They have been stashed back in the day pack for sniffing at a later date when either of us are feeling homesick…

Our time in Bhaktapur and in fact Nepal was at an end. Crazy to think we only spent 2 weeks there, but it was a great introduction to the country and to travelling. Although we did not manage to achieve everything we wanted, we will, without a doubt, be returning to this beautiful country again someday. We also urge everyone to go to Nepal! Now more than ever, they need tourists to come in and spend their money so that people can start to rebuild their lives. In the 2 weeks we were there, we met a few people that were all doing their bit to help; Christian, the young chap from Petersfield (!) hoping to start a kickstarter fund for a little village which was completely destroyed and to where Government money is not getting through. And Kate (from Hertfordshire! - a right little home counties gathering!) who is working with an NGO to deconstruct damaged houses and clear the land so that the locals can start rebuilding. We are going to help by spreading the word that Nepal is open and waiting for people to visit. They are some of the friendliest people we've met and we can't wait to return!