A busy week in Kathmandu

It's been a lovely week in Kathmandu.  I've discovered a clean, friendly city filled with bustling life and endless temples and shrines.  Walking the back streets whiled away several hours and enlightened me to a really lovely place.

Sheltering from the heat.

The bustling back streets of Kathmandu.

Rickshaws at the ready!

Colourful beads for sale.

Sunset over Kathmandu.

I've visited some of the main Buddhist temples and seen beautiful views of the valley that Kathmandu is nestled into.  I had a local guide and took a walk up  into the Shivapuri National Park on the north side of the city.  We climbed to a hidden monastery where 25 Buddhist monks live and work.  Sadly, the spectacular views that I had expected to see where blocked by cloud, but on the way down through the forest, glimpses of the vast city and lush green hills were awarded to me.

The Bhudda temple

Views across the city.

Preparing food for the pigeons.

As I had several days in the city I decided to venture out a little and booked a 2 day white water rafting trip along the Trisuli River.  I had already had the pleasure of admiring the scenery from the bus on the drive from Chitwan to Kathmandu but the perspective is always different when you look up rather than down.  The river cuts through a deep valley of steep, terraced mountains and hills.  Along the path of the river are many little villages on both sides that are linked by suspension bridges.  Locals cross to go to school, deliver supplies and watch tourists on the river!!


The journey to the river was on a tourist bus from the city and we were trundling along nicely until we came to a complete stop.  Turns out that a truck had hit a tourist bus and nothing could happen until the police arrived.  Everyone from the various pieces of transport was stood in the middle of the road throwing in their ideas and comments.  It took about an hour for the police to arrive and then everything cleared surprisingly quickly.  The whitewater was quite mild compared to previous trips that I have done, but the breathtaking beauty of the area and observing the local life made the trip worth while.  We stayed over night on the edge of the river in lovely little tents and ate fantastic home cooked food.  In the morning we rafted again a little further down the river to the exit point.

Our camp for the night.

Views from the bridge across the river.

Relaxing at lunch on the rafting trip.

I had to get a local bus back to Kathmandu and with no obvious stop, the rafting guides just flagged it down and told me to get on!  It was certainly an eventful ride to say the least.  The road is very windy and extremely busy as it is a main highway.  Lets just say that there were several occasions where I was grabbing the seat with my eyes shut!  I was unfortunately sat next to a man that can only be described as crazy and who insisted on talking to me by shouting in my ear.  His English was good so I couldn't even plead that I didn't understand what he was saying.  We stopped at a cafe for the driver to have a break and a very lovely lady told me to move and sit anywhere I liked, so I did and the second half of the journey was much more pleasant.


Getting off the bus in the right place was always going to be interesting.  Another man on the bus spoke a little English and asked me where I wanted to go.  I showed him on my map and he then told me when to get off.  I was extremely thankful as without him, who knows where I would have ended up!!  I needed a taxi to get back to the hotel and once again, luckily there was one little taxi man in a shop along the road from where I had got off the bus.  Certainly an interesting journey home anyway!


My next trip starts today so I'm switching hotels (although I'd rather stay at this lovely one) and meeting the new group tonight.  It's full this time with 12 people which will seem a lot after travelling with 4 and then 7 people for the previous 2 trips.


I'm excited about seeing more of this fabulous country.