Silk Route

Day 16 - Mon 31 Mar 08

Kathmandu

Up at about 08:00 to see if we can stay another night. But that all depends on if others checkout. I'd like some certainty, so I leave Phil in bed and head out to see if I can find some better accommodation.

Nirvana Hotel

The good news is that I do! The Nirvana, it's $30 a night, but the room has a balcony and a much better bathroom. We eventually de-camp from the first hotel at about 10:00. The rest of the morning is spent dozing as I don't really want to leave Phil alone when he's not feeling that good.

Durbar Square Ticket

In the afternoon Phil has recovered enough to take a walk down to Durbar square, we pay our 200R entrance fee and climb one of the pyramidal temples to watch the world go by. There's a lot to see! Pedestrians, bikes, scooters and tiny suzuki cars all jostle each other for road space. The horn is used a lot - even the rickshaw drivers have horns!

The streets are all dirt, so when it rains here they must just turn to mush. The streets also seem to serve as a rubbish dump, with cows and dogs searching through the detritus.

I spotted a bag shop that offers to copy any bag, so I've given him my favourite travel bag, it will be interesting to see what he generates. He even said that it would be done by 17:00! Feeling rather tired now, so head back to the hotel via Gold street (where all the shops sell gold) and Dentist street.

There are loads of little (and not so little) temples and stupas all over the place.

Popped out at 17:00 to see if my bag had been done, but because of a power cut it had been delayed, so I'm going to try again tomorrow morning. Supper was at the hotel and the food was okay. Spotted another single traveller so asked her if she'd like to join us. She's on a 21 day hiking tour starting tomorrow. Rather her than me. In bed by 22:00!