Silk Route

Day 17 - Tue 1 Apr 08

Kathmandu

Up for an expensive breakfast at the hotel, which was tea, juice, toast and croissant. Then it was off to collect my duplicated bag, and I must admit that he's done a excellent job, even down to the pen holders in the front pocket. If I was to grip about one thing it would be the zips, they seem rather stiff but I'm hopeful they may ease with use. So all in all I'm very happy, and all for 16USD!

Kathmandu street scene, Nepal

We've decided to send some stuff back to the UK to lighten our load (like the guide book for China), so we sort that out and head to the post office, and eventually find the parcel section around the back. Had to show what we were sending to the Customs guy, he then placed the items in a cardboard box which he cut to shape and sealed with tape. This was then passed onwards to two ladies who made up a custom cloth sack to cover the cardboard box. This was sown up and the parcel passed back to me to add the address using a thick black marker pen. Next came the guy who sealed all the sown edges with sealing wax. Then it was into another room to actually add a 'stamp' and send it on it's way - all of that set us back about 15 USD.

Basantapur ticket

After all that excitement it was around the corner to pay 299R to climb up the 213 steps of the Basantapur Tower. Good views of the entire city.

In the afternoon decided to go up to see the Monkey Temple. Conveniently our taxi driver drops us at the furthest point from the entrance, but that did mean that we got in the back way and didn't pay the entrance fee. As we got to the top of the hill the thunderstorm that had been brewing all day finally let loose, and the heavens opened.

We stuck to out for a good bit, but eventually decided to make a run for it down the steps! Got soaked to the skin. Needless to say the taxi back to the hotel was a bit more expensive than the previous one.

Out for a pizza in the evening and on the way back spotted the guy who goes around shutting the power off to different parts of the city at different times. He had two assistants, one to hold the ladder and the other one to shine the torch. They are organised enough to have a timetable of when the power cuts occur.

You're no one in Kathmandu unless you have your own generator!