Setting off early morning from Varanasi the plan was simple, get a bus up to Sunauli where the border crossing is located, cross in the evening before getting a night bus over to Kathmandu. In reality this turned into a much longer bus journey I had hoped for, passing through the fields of India took most of the day on the government bus and by the time I had reached the border it was pretty late. So i cut my losses and stayed in a small guest-house just before the border.
I was up early in the morning though, and with a few stamps of a passport and a few American dollars handed over for a visa I was stamped in to Nepal.
So another day of travel was ahead of me before my destination, the journey was more hours than I would have hoped for, but this was no problem as there were infinite stops along the way to buy bags full of fruit or whatever snacks the locals were selling, and lunch stops for fresh noodles also a highlight of the long day. And there was also the scenery, which started off with fields of lush green, before crossing rivers and weaving through the bottoms of the mountains. By nightfall I had arrived in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
I was up early in the morning though, and with a few stamps of a passport and a few American dollars handed over for a visa I was stamped in to Nepal.
So another day of travel was ahead of me before my destination, the journey was more hours than I would have hoped for, but this was no problem as there were infinite stops along the way to buy bags full of fruit or whatever snacks the locals were selling, and lunch stops for fresh noodles also a highlight of the long day. And there was also the scenery, which started off with fields of lush green, before crossing rivers and weaving through the bottoms of the mountains. By nightfall I had arrived in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
Have enjoying staying in the Thamel district of Kathmandu the past few days, which acts as the home to the majority of tourists. Here I have had the choice of not just Nepalese food, but also Indian, Chinese, Tibetan, etc, so its been great. There is all kinds of shops lining the little streets ranging from the trekking gear to arts and crafts, so its been good to wander round and take it in.
Yesterday I took a walk through the older part of town to see Durbar Sqaure, which is around the old palace and has many traditional buildings. Today I took the short walk west of town up to the Swayambhunath Stupa (more commonly known as ‘monkey temple’) to not only admire the temple but the view back over Kathmandu; luckily it was a nice clear day and the mountains were visible in the distance.
After a night and day bus back from Kathmandu I arrived back in Varanasi to hopefully get the train onto Mumbai and then finally Goa. Trains are pretty busy at the moment though, and getting a ticket can include some luck so having to wait until tomorrow to get a ticket I hope, then i should be on my way to Mumbai.
Here are some photos from around Kathmandu:
1 of the many colourful squares with various temples
Local deep frying some local sweets
These are from around Durbar Square, 1 of the main squares in Kathmandu. Below is the other Durbar Square located south of the city in Patan, then finally me outside the museum.
