Kicking it in Kathmandu

Just before we head off on our trek to Everest Base Camp, I wanted to do a review of our time in Nepal and Kathmandu.

Nepal was the first time that we entered a country with no local currency (bad bad bad), no lonely planet or map (not necessarily bad, but can be very handy) and no idea on how to get from our bus drop off point to the city (smells like an expensive, rip off taxi ride ahead for us). Luckily for us, the Nepalese people are incredibly friendly and helpful and we were befriended by two guys who were on leave from the army during our bus ride to Kathmandu. Thankfully they negotiated a taxi for us (before jumping in for the ride) and got us into the city in one piece.

Kathmandu was also the first time that we took part in Couchsurfing - a fantastic online service that you can use to meet people anywhere in the world and find a free couch (or bed) to sleep for the night. More than that, it allows you to meet and live with locals and really get a better taste of local culture. Many thanks to Arjun and his family for welcoming us into their house and introducing us to their city of Kathmandu. Hello to Patrick and Robert, fellow couchsurfers, who we met and hung out with during our time at Arjun's.

We gave ourselves a little over a week to chill out (literally) in Kathmandu before heading off our trek. This time was to adapt to the climate (whose genius idea was it to go to Nepal in the middle of winter???), get over any tummy bugs and do last minute organising for the trek. This week also gave us the chance to explore the fascinating city of Kathmandu.

It is not easy to describe Kathmandu. In part it is dirty and smelly like India with piles of rubbish on street corners that only seem to be swept away once or twice a week. The noise reminds me of Vietnam, with drivers using their horns very liberally. There are streets that have been turned into tourist hell with eager touts and shop after shop of crap you really don't need. Yet, if you look beneath all of this, there is a city that is very easy to fall in love with. The people are friendly and mostly genuine in their offers of help, the food is simple but great and there is a really nice laid back atmosphere where it is perfectly acceptable to while away the afternoon over numerous cups of tasty Chai. All of this with a backdrop of the snow-capped Himalayas makes for a romantic, if not rustic, city to explore.

In our week here we have visited numerous temples, stupas and monuments (there seems to be one round every corner). One of the more moving visits was to Pashupatinath, a Hindu temple located on the shore of the Bagmati river and one the most widely used place of cremation for the deceased in Nepal. During our short visit we saw a number of ceremonies take place on the riverside with the bodies cremated under colourful pillars decorated with flowers and ferns. In the upcoming week, hundreds will come to this site to bathe in the river downstream from the temple which is considered holy.

I think that's enough for now. On Sunday we will fly from Kathmandu to Lukla, where we will start the trek to Everest Base Camp. At this point I think the balance is 60% excitement and 40% fear. Fingers crossed all goes well and you will hopefully hear from us in 2 weeks time. Take care and think warm thoughts for us :)

//Kate