Had to get up at 3am to get to the airport but somehow getting up before the sun is always easier when you know the next adventure is about to begin. The airport at that ludicrously early hour was off course very empty – except for our check-in desk. The queue was already very long and it consisted entirely of single Nepalese men all with a trolley containing a very small bag of personal belongings and a boxed, brand new TV. We’d recently read that there are 400 000 Nepalese workers in Malaysia and we now know what they save up to buy to take home!
Chief in charge of trying to get the whole check-in process run smoothly spotted us right at the back of the queue – the lack of TV must have been the give-away! We were told to go and get security tape stuff put around the bags that were to go in the hold. Off we toddled only to find we had to pay for this little luxury but we’ll forgive him since he then beckoned us to the front of the queue and the first class desk. It took ages to check-in as we discovered that at least one of our seats hadn’t been reserved even though we’d been issued tickets. Now, we had heard that Nepal Airlines are not the best or the most reliable, but I didn’t think airlines still issued more tickets than they had seats for! Luckily for us, we were added to the system and strolled off with boarding passes in hand, trying not to think of those still at the back of the queue.
Once at the gate we were ushered to one side to be told we’d be sitting in different seats – for the first time we were upgraded to business class. By this point we discovered we weren’t the only non-Nepalese on the flight and in fact all the Johnny Foreigners were bumped up to business class. I have to say we didn’t necessarily get any extra perks and in fact were issued with the previous day’s newspapers! Mind you the plane would have left Kathmandu the day before and I suspect there’s not much of a market in KL for The Kathmandu Post or The Himalayan Times written in English.
We weren’t presented with champagne breakfast or any booze at all but since it was 8am we weren’t too disheartened. I have to say it was great not having to queue for the loo although at one point Steve tried to get into the cockpit – wrong little boys room! The highlight of the flight was our first glimpse of the snow capped Himalayan peaks that are as dramatic and stunning as you expect. Before we would be able to get closer to the peaks we had immigration to deal with. In fact with being first off the plane and only a handful of foreigners in the airport we quickly got our visas and the lady behind the counter actually helped us to save money. We knew we were going to be there for 16 days and so would just miss out on the cheaper 15 day visa. However it turned out that if you were there for only 15 nights you didn’t have to buy the month long visa – result. Unfortunately we had to wait some time for our bags as they dealt with the TV’s first – it felt like we were on some sort of Generation Game!
Amazingly there was someone from the guesthouse to pick us up as promised and we were soon on our way. Got to the outskirts of Kathmandu reasonably quickly and then crawled through the narrow lanes to International Guesthouse. We were quickly checked in, bags organised and ready to explore. Even though Steve had been to Nepal he was looking forward to the holiday as we’d tried to make sure we visited mostly places he’d not been to before. Besides which, 11 years is plenty of time to forget all he saw and did, and of course places change. The main tourist area of Kathmandu is Thamel and the old streets were as narrow and bustling as I’d expected with loads of shops. With the streets being so narrow it doesn’t take that many people for it to feel crowded, and to add to the effect there are lots of cycles, bikes and rickshaws along with the odd car to enhance the mayhem. We actually managed to find a quiet side street and even better a local’s eatery – lucky for us it was lunch time. Might not have had a beer on the plane but we were ready to try our first Nepalese brew – Nepali Ice to help to wash down a plateful of momos (kind of ravioli meets India) and samosas. Cracking snacks but we stuck to Everest and San Miguel beer for the rest of the holiday.
By now it was time to do some serious sight-seeing so we set off for Durbar Square all the while taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the city. The square is full of lovely old buildings and it’s a shame it’s not pedestrianised. However you’re allowed to climb up the steps and sit outside the main temple enclaves in order to people watch and escape the hustle and bustle. The only way we could improve the colourful entertainment spectacle of lots of people, cows, sadhus, bikes, rickshaws and market stalls, was to watch it all from a roof-top restaurant. It was time to wander back to Thamel for something to eat before crashing out – we did get up very early don’t forget. Plus the next day we were doing our warm up trek.
Nagarkot – Changu Narayan
International Guesthouse’s included breakfast was very good and that nicely set up us for the day ahead. We fumbled in the dark when battering with a taxi driver to take us 30km from Kathmandu to Nagarkot at 1900m and closer to those peaks we’d spied from the plane. You’re supposed to be able to see the mountains from Kathmandu but the valley is way too polluted these days for that little treat. Anyway we finally hit on a fare that didn’t sound like too much of a rip-off and to be honest once we’d finished the steady climb up the beautiful valley we felt it had been Rs 1500/= (15 quid) well spent.
Nagarkot is a bit of a strange place off season – there are loads of tourist hotels but no tourists! We couldn’t even find somewhere with a kettle and a viewing terrace so set off on our trek back down the valley. The start of the walk was only about half an hour out of town as our Lonely Planet had promised, and at every turn we got magnificent views of the mountains backed by a perfect blue sky. It all looked just like you’ve ever seen on posters (they aren’t touched up) and really the Himalayas are a cliché in reality! I have to say I was very excited at seeing my first ever 7000m + mountains and now I’m determined to get in them sometime in the future. Not that we have any ambitions to climb Everest – we’re walkers not climbers!
The start of the walk was slow going as we couldn’t resist taking yet another photo. Obviously the mountains were dominating most of our attention but we were also wandering through some lovely villages and it was great getting an insight into how people live in that part of the world. The houses are much more robust and bigger than I expected, but I suppose they need to be strong to withstand the harsh winter conditions. We also realised that the ground floor is for the animals, people live on the first floor and the attic is for storing hay and other crops. Corn and various other crops are hung up or spread out to dry wherever there is a suitable spot. The domesticated animals of choice are goats, chickens, buffalo, cows and ducks with most households having a dog too.
The walk down the valley was fabulous and there was always someone to point us in the right direction when we hit a choice of paths. We found everyone to be relaxed and friendly and even the sellers at tourist sites and those running the tourist shops in Thamel were not in our faces. We had thought they might be with Nepal having seen a downturn in tourists over recent years and the fact that we were there out of season. The trail continued until it reached the road and we had a feeling it was going to take us longer than suggested in the guide which is most unusual for us. On checking the details once again, we realised that we were at the point where we should have started the trek following a 30 min bus ride down the valley – ah! Both managed to misread that part then! However, we had plenty of time and we were very glad we’d walked the top section as it turned out to be the part of the trek we enjoyed the most. There was still another hour and a half to go before we reached Changu and we were starting to feel peckish. For once we’d decided not to be pikey and take a picnic – typical!
By this point we’d lost all views of the mountains, as we were walking through a pine forest, so we pressed on. Once in Changu we ploughed into the first place we found open, Hill View Restaurant, assuming it would be the only place available. Goodness only knows when they last had a customer but the view from the roof looking down into the valley was superb and we had plenty of time to take it all in. Even though they had an extensive menu, we stuck to ordering local fare – Nepali veggie set meal to be cooked from scratch. So a quick lunch turned into a huge feast lasting almost 2 hours – just as well the bulk of the walking for the day was done.
After lunch we strolled to Changu Narayan temple and had a good look around. It’s a lovely old stone and wooden temple and made a great end to a fantastic day’s walking. Luckily there was a Kathmandu bus parked up outside the temple and was due to set off in 10mins time. We had hoped to have time to look around Bhaktapur on the way back to Kathmandu but the walk had been and taken longer than expected. Plus the bus journey was very slow and we didn’t get back to the guesthouse until 5.30pm. At that time of year in Nepal it meant it was already dark so we had to hope we’d be able to fit Bhaktapur in another day. The highlight of the bus journey was seeing goats being transported on bus roofs – they didn’t look happy to be up there mind!
