When I was searching for flights for this trip and Kathmandu, Nepal came up as a viable option I almost jumped out of my seat. Nepal appealed massively, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Into the airport for the arrival in Kathmandu, Nepal for more fun and games!

I couldn’t pre-book my tourist visa because their system didn’t like that I had a UK passport, but being a USA resident.  So, the deal is, you wait your turn in line and begin to use one of the computers at the back of the arrivals hall.  These computers are like 20 years old, and some of them don’t work or are a little temperamental.  Lots of passengers getting stuck as the system is crashing and far from user-friendly too.  My computer broke down, unsurprisingly, but fortunately, it happened just as a ground staff was passing by.  He gives me a piece of paper with some random code on it and sends me to a new window counter.  That code must have been to unlock the city, because I got my visa within a couple of minutes  It’s 1am and I’m ready to go to bed.

Fortunately, I see my luggage is waiting and I am through in a flash.  The taxi desk sets me up with a $9 taxi to the hotel, but before that he asks me to head to go to the tour office to book some Nepal Tours.  It’s obvious he is on commission, but this is the last thing I want to be doing right now.  Ignoring that I move to the taxi rank and meet my friendly driver.  On the 15-minute taxi to the hotel, he moves into his spiel about all the tours he can take me on and where we can go over the next couple of days.  Little does he know I’m asleep in the back!

We get to the hotel and if first impressions count for something, Hotel Shambala is a winner. The next few days reinforce that in so many ways. The staff, the food, the rooms and the general feel of the place made for a great place to be.

The next morning my adventures into Kathmandu lay to rest the escapades of the yesterday travel day. This is a walking day, as I do 24-miles in a maze around Kathmandu. The hotel receptionist almost took a gasp as she handed to a map and I told her my plan for the day. “Too far to walk” she said, but I reassured her I would be fine. ‘Kathmandu is not a city for pedestrians‘, as proclaimed by the Kathmandu Post. There’s an adventure challenge that I can’t turn down!

Crossing the street is truly an experience all in itself. You have to show confidence or the road system will eat you alive. Kathmandu street crossing should be a degree you can take in school.

I don’t see a single tourist until I arrive at the Boudhanath Stupa. Circumnavigating the Stupa in a clockwise direction is believed to bring good karma. With lots of more walking tour to do I thought I would take a dose of that. The markets and shops around the Stupa make it for a great morning stop off.

After the morning walk I head back to the hotel for some lunch at the engaging Could 9 bar, it’s in my hotel, but It’s on the 8th floor. Surely it should be called, the Cloud 8 Bar?

I enjoyed a beer and some MoMo’s. They are delicious
steam filled dumplings that I chose to have filled with Veg or Chicken. You get ten, and I devoured everyone!

The following day I find taxi rides are an experience all in themselves.  They are not like many places elsewhere, in fact, so different.  The taxis are small Suzuki Alto’s, mostly old. If I tell you that the backseats mainly come carpeted, it will give you an idea of the caliber of vehicle we are talking about.  You can often find holes in all the wrong places, and the suspension, well there isn’t any suspension.  In England, we would use the words death trap, rust bucket, or banger, but they do seem to get you where you’re going, and the drivers always have a smile.

The traffic is horrendous and you get another perspective from inside a vehicle, rather than walking. You can often find something or someone on all sides around you. Another Kathmandu law unto itself, it just has to be experienced to be believed. Kathmandu is overrun with motorbikes almost 80% of vehicles on the roads are bikes. There are no lines on the road, so it is pretty much a no-rules cacophony of noise of constant horns whilst everyone tries to navigate their way. Throw in some pedestrians, traffic police, and a few stray dogs and you are beginning to get the hang of Kathmandu, Nepal. It’s great fun!

Often, I was that pedestrian, it’s a necessity for me to wander and nothing is better than doing that here in Nepal.  It’s safe, well apart from crossing the streets, and that’s a sadistic pleasure I like. The maps are not too bad to navigate and there is always the fallback of plentiful taxis.  Taxis are inexpensive, but walking is where it’s at to see the city.

The one downside, Kathmandu is the #1 worst city in the world for air pollution. The Kathmandu Valley, the number of vehicles on the road, and the fact religions use fire to represent the inner fire of wisdom,  At certain times, the low air quality was very noticeable.  I’m not sure how folks could live here and deal with it full-time, but they do.

Everywhere I looked for guidance came the recommendation to spend some time heading out of Kathmandu and to Bhaktapur. It’s a 35-minute taxi ride south east of Kathmandu and is a pleasure to visit.

The third of the medieval city-states in the Kathmandu Valley, Bhaktapur is described as the best preserved. Tragically, however, the 2015 earthquake caused devastation and loss of life. Only a few temples were destroyed, and there is plenty to see here as tourism is a vital to the community in what is a diamond of a visit.

Bhaktapur is rich in tradition, a pleasure to wander around and fun winding around all the hidden alleyways. Here I was introduced to a new type of extortion, tax to pass through a street charge by children 5-6 years old:). As bikes or pedestrians look to pass through they fire up a metal wire barrier, and say “money”. It’s an interesting twist on child exploitation! I gave a few Nepal rupee and I was given the right of passage, and I laughed at the ingenuity of it all.

On my final morning in Nepal I had one last place I wanted to visit…Swayambhunath Temple, otherwise known as the Monkey Temple. I wondered why that would be?

Leaving Kathmandu u in Nepal..

Extremely stressful episode at Kathmandu airport, check-in and passport control took 2 hours.  First, they stopped me at check-in saying that I needed a visa to go to Qatar.  I knew I didn’t, but lots of faffing around whilst I waited and waited.  Eventually, they let me go.

Then passport control, normally exiting is 10 seconds, this time it was 15-20 minutes, and I’m not sure why.  Early on I was calm, trying not to show any agitation. There was lots of tapping on the screen, running my passport, more tapping on the screen, and then off to get a different official.  That didn’t solve it, so a third immigration officer came.  By now I’m getting pissed off and inside stressing.. I now start asking ‘is there a problem’, a hand comes up indicating ‘Just a minute, but I still didn’t know what was occurring.

Eventually, after what seemed like a lifetime my passport got stamped and I was on my way.  No explanation, they actually never said anything. Weird. I was just happy to be allowed to travel.   Hopefully, the journey to Dubai and then Qatar won’t be so stressful.  The more you travel, the more you run into these sorts of experiences, and only then do you realize how much power immigration officials have.  My travel journey is a bit weird, so I guess it threw up some red flags.  Hopefully, we are good now.

Kathmandu was chaotic, fun-filled and action packed. I absolutely loved it. It’s a perfect place for a traveller to explore, the people are some of the nicest I have ever come across, and I found it fun, interesting, inspiring and a dream of a destination. I’m pleased the world has places has wonderful as this to explore, it truly was an adventure!