KATHMANDU

It’s like his eyes follow you wherever you go

Where: Kathmandu

Where (less detailed): capital of Nepal

Weather: good old solid sunshine - how’s London by the way?

Ahh, so this is Durbur Sq, now this does look like the guidebook

Temperature: 30s

Locals: very friendly and a lot less money-grabbing than the Indians - although they seem to have the highest concentration of dope sellers in the world, you cannot take two steps without someone, man, woman or child, offering to sell you some.

Food: stayed away from the traditional Dal Bhat meal that consists of a mountain of rice and a ladle of watery chickpea stew. Did over-indulge on the local momos though (Nepalese gyozas - potstickers to our American readers).


Now where did I leave my orange floral headgear?

Highlights, lowlights: after the 14hr bus ride from hell Paul and Rhaani collapse into the welcoming bosom of Hotel Courtyard: amazing soft beds, boiling hot water, wi fi, a movie room, a library and pancakes for breakfast - who says we can't slum it... Kathmandu may be massively touristy, with more trinkets and neon lights than Blackpool but after India it’s a most welcome relief... judging by the wall-to-wall imitation North Face clothing Nepal hasn’t really embraced conventional copyright laws...Paul’s new £13 North Face ski jacket… Durbur Sq. Rhaani: "I don’t mean to criticize but the temples look far better in the guidebook" Paul: "this isn’t Durbar Sq"....Living god or not I’m not hanging around in this crowd….as Paul takes a photo of Rhaani the homeless person he tried to ignore steals our water and map...

If she’s a living god you’d at least think she’d be punctual

…our first disaster - our idiotic local travel agent waits until 7pm the night before we set off for our 10-day trek to mention that our £150, two month Chinese visas will be cancelled when we start the 1week tibetan tour we just paid him £850 for. For some reason his "don't worry you'll get a $25 refund" justification fails to placate Paul....we demand our money back and he promises a full refund minus a 13% sales tax... Rhaani gives travel agent a quick lesson in accounting and explains since he now has no revenue he won't pay any tax as he can just writeback the sale on his ledger....Rhaani finally gets her perfume care package, you're the best Hoolie!!!

Number of people who stopped me in the street to take a photo of my Bono=twat t-shirt: 2

Arty Nepalese pic

Number of grown men spotted wearing Avril Lavigne t-shirts: 11

Up next: Annapurna Sanctuary trek