After breakfast, we walked out of the old city to a taxi stand in order to have better competition and bargaining power for our ride to Dakshinkali. We managed to get a price slightly lower than that asked for by the hotel’s taxi driver. The ride took about 45 minutes. Once we left the valley, […]

After five nights in Kathmandu, we still hadn’t walked around Durbar Square yet. The weather was dull but dry so we made our way there after dropping laundry off (NPR50 per kg) and having breakfast. The destruction at Durbar Square was really bad. Key stupas are gone; the wooden structures have fallen leaving leaving behind […]

Having experienced a taste of the monsoon yesterday afternoon, we decided to repeat our early start in case the afternoon was wet and gloomy. We taxied to Patan (Lalitpur) which we didn’t visit last time. The taxi dropped us at the north end of Durbar square and where the ticket kiosk wasn’t (it just happened […]

We set the alarm for 0615 and got going early for Pashupatinath, which we reached by taxi. We got dropped off before the stalls of trinkets and flowers which were aimed mainly at local devotees. We walked to the main temple area into which we weren’t admissible (but we knew that). We found our way […]

We woke at 0630 and were slow to get ourselves ready. After yesterday’s slow service at breakfast in the hotel, we decided to eat out. We found a garden courtyard not far away which served up the morning spread slightly more promptly. Nevertheless it was about 0830 by the time we set off for Bhaktapur. […]

Breakfast in the hotel ground-floor courtyard was painfully slow. We walked to Thamel thereafter. The shops were a mix of hiking apparel/gear, souvenirs and cafes. During the walk, we saw a few of vacant lots with signs of destruction. All but one could have been interpreted as normal construction or demolition in a third world […]