It's been too long again since I've posted one. Partially the Chinese Internet-byrocracy, partially me is to blame. Also I'm not able to upload pictures to the picasa site so will have to the story without them. Anyway let's continue where we last dropped off.
After getting back to Pokhara I immediatly got the commonly known "Delhi-belly" again which took a couple of days to recover. Diet was mostly brown rolls, porridge and hot chocolate. Still dont know why I didnt get it during the sancuarry trek though. When I left for the trek I had left my passport to one tourist office so that they could handle my Chinese passport while I'm doing some trekking. Saves time and effort.. or so I thought. Once I got back from the trek I was told that my passport is still in Kathmandu (where they issue the visas) because my passport already had a chinese visa and the embassy was currious why I hadnt used before. The truth was that I had no previous visa to China and the other office had mixed my passport up with somebody elses. After clearing this up it was time to get the plane ticket to Shanghai. The fact that the same tourist office in Kathmandu was handeling that also didnt make my heart feel at ease. After waiting a couple of days the passport and plane ticket arrived Pokhara. Guess what. The ticket is not to Shanghai but to Bejing!!! So lets send everything back to Kathmandu and wait a week to get the right plane ticket. All ends well but because of these errors I didnt have time to visit the lovely village of Bandipur which lies between Pokhara and Kathmandu. Of to Kathmandu then it is.
Durbar Square, Monkey Temple and the tourist ghetto of Thamel. Thats my Kathmandu in a nutshell. After living it cheap in Pokhara for almost a month! I decided that spending a few extra bucks in Kathmandu wont hurt anybody. So i decided to book in to the Kathmandu Guest House, one of the first guest houses to operate there and its been around from the 70's. 5 US dollar rooms werent that much of a bargain but the lobby with hotel like reception and satelite tv, the courtyard with its own restaurant and sauna facilities were more than the moneys worth. The lobby was a good place to meet other travelers, read Shogun which is taking way too long to read and watch the news or movies on the telefizel. Situated in the center of Thamel as it is, after stepping out of the complex gates you will be surrounded by drug sellers, rickshaw drivers and trek operators who all want your money. Coming from India though, this is more like the kiddies corner of Varanasi so I managed alright.
As for the sightseeings.. Durbar Square is the blessing and living point of the kings but nowadays it works as one of the main turist attractions of the city with lots of local people handling everyday business in the mix. Flock of tourist here, a couple of goat heads there and a million pidgeons everywhere. You know how it is.. The Monkey Temple was a bit of a let down though. Sure there were monkeys who tried to steal practically anything plastic you were carrying around but otherwise it was just another temple. Think I'm getting templed out after India and Nepal.
Besides the briliant german bakery's and lovely italian cusine, Kathmandu has live music for every day of the week. The narrow streets of Thamel are filled with the golden oldies of The Doors, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin that invade even the hotel rooms. Naturally I was compelled to buy some tourist crap before I left this pleasent country so bought myself some fancy pirate gear! More of that later. Now it's time hit Shanghai!
PS. My lovely girlfriend Sas told me I should write a list of my favorite things so stay tuned for that!
More pictures at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/timo.laaksonen/
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