And the rains came

Our first impression of Nepal was rain. The day before we crossed the border we descended over 2,000metres in just over an hour! As we passed through the clouds we realised just how wet the next couple of months are going to be. On the plus side it was warm again!





As we crossed over into Nepal we were informed that there had been a landslide and that we would have to carry our bags across it and change bus on the other side. It was pretty amazing how much of the mountain had given way – thankfully we weren’t underneath it at the time – but it was only after we had lugged all our belongings over that we stopped to appreciate the view!





We spent a couple of days recuperating in Dhulikhel at a lovely hotel set on the hillside with the Himalayas as our backdrop. Unfortunately the mist shrouded the view, but that didn’t stop us enjoying the chance to do absolutely nothing but sit on the balcony and read. We did take a walk down to a nearby Newari village, Parnauti, where I made a little friend who followed our group until we got back on the bus!

We arrived in Kathmandu in time to celebrate my birthday (and the last night of our Intrepid trip). I made the most of the good food, wine and of course fantastic shopping, much to Tim’s delight, which made the whole ‘quarter of a century’ ordeal very bearable.

Our week in Kathmandu has been a chance to prepare for India, get things sorted and recover from the exhausting time we spent in Tibet. We also took the opportunity to visit the Dashenkali temple to witness the sacrificial offerings to the bloodthirsty Hindu goddess, Kali. Twice a week, Hindus bring their male goats, chickens, sheep and pigs to have their throats slit and their heads chopped off! It was pretty gruesome but non-Hindus can only watch from above, so we didn’t get too close to the action.

We took a trip to the monkey temple to watch them pick each others’ nits, and wandered among the ancient temples of Durbar Square, where we sat and watched the world go by, met elaborately painted sadhus and were harassed by touts and tour guides!

Unfortunately the monsoon season makes trekking in the Himalayas dangerous and pointless as you can rarely see the peaks. So we’ve put off a visit to Pokhara and a trek through the Annapurna range for another holiday!