Namaste (greetings) from Kathmandu! I arrived two days ago after first arguing with the staff at Heathrow who thought they couldn't take me because I didn't have a return ticket - "Look I have an Indian visa, so I don't intend to stay in Nepal indefinitely, and anyway why did you sell me a one-way ticket if you weren't going to let me use it?" They gave in, and I had no hassle at all actually entering Nepal apart from all the form filling and submitting a countless number of passport photos, of which I still need more for trekking permits and visa extensions.

I made the mistake of sitting on the wrong side of the plane, but I still got a reasonable view of the snow capped Himalayan peaks as we crossed Nepal. Even cruising at 11,600m the mountaintops looked like they were almost alongside us. Amazing sight, and the closest I've been to them so far.

Yesterday was my first day of exploring Kathmandu. It is very much as the image conjured up in its name. Burning incense everywhere, narrow streets which are part of ancient trading routes and fascinating temples, particularly Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple) where I stayed till the sun set over the Kathmandu Valley, watching fork-tailed Pariah kites circling the skies and monkeys leaping through the nearby trees and dashing between bemused tourists.

The food is very interesting, but you generally have to like it spicy. The air however very polluted, and it's busier and noisier than I expected. It was also the height of the Dasain festival yesterday where goats and buffalo are sacrificed on the streets, and their blood poured onto passing cars to bless them with safe travelling. Nice! I didn't see any of that, as there was crowds all around these events which made it impossible to see what was going on anyway. The Nepalese don't generally eat a lot of meat, but there will be goat on most menus for the next few weeks.

It's also hotter than I anticipated. It's been getting to 32°C at midday but locals tell me that the temperature will start to drop considerably over the next few weeks. I think I did right starting in the foothills of the Himalayas before descending to India, as it must be ten degrees hotter down there at the moment. I will wait until it cools down a bit, and in the meantime head off to do some trekking. Still looking for companions to do this with, as it is such a remote area that trekking alone is probably not advisable.

I've been having a hard time uploading photographs, but have finally managed to get a few of them on here. So, don't expect too many - it is just far too time consuming. In fact communications here are more difficult than I expected. I am managing to use hotmail, but international SMS text messages are banned, so anyone expecting a text from me is going to be waiting a long time. I guess this is life in a third world country barely emerge from civil war (well, it was more of a civil fist fight than a war from what I could see).