| Submitted by: Hans Braker & Thea Van Zon, Netherlands |
| Submission Date: 04 February 2005 |
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At many spots we saw larger and smaller cows being decorated with colourful paper and with several coloured powders. It was already crowded in the streets. We did one of the walkig tours from the Kit so we knew where to find nice squares and temples. We saw many people having a cold or coughing a lot... apparently the climate was still hard for the Kathmandese as well. We fit in the scene with our colds.
We looked at the many sweaters for sale but we found them too thick. At Tushita on Kantipath we had a great breakfast: curd with fruit and muesli. Lots of it (Rs 135). From there we walked to Swayambunath, the main temple. It was quite a climb up the stairs but the temple is really impressive and very well located on the top of a hill. Unluckily it was very cloudy.
Walked back to the hotel, had a nice hot shower and spent some time reading. Then by rickshaw to Patan (Rs 35). Due to a raise in price the fare is what the meter indicates plus 30%. Of course we suspected a hassle at first but it seems this is the truth. Patan is also a very nice town to walk around and discover the squares and temples. By rickshaw (Rs 40) back to Thamel. We were very glad we did not stay in a hotel in this part of Kathmandu - far too many westerners to our taste, and much too crowded. We ate at Le Bistro on its open-air square. Because of the festival children as well as adults tried to make some money by singing at the restaurants. Nice music although all groups of children seemed to have only one song on the repertoire. Good meals Rs 300.
We bought some food for our trip of the next day, biscuits and chocolate. Surrounded by fireworks we walked back to the hotel and picked up the flight bag of Hans' backpack which had gotten torn up. Thoroughly repaired by the skilled tailor. From the roof of the hotel we watched the fireworks over Kathmandu... a great experience!
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This morning we first arranged some necessary affairs - at first all went wrong because everything was closed. After ten o'clock most shops opened. At the hotel we had borrowed a 1:50.000 map of the valley which we photocopied for only Rs 20. At the book shop this map cost Rs 600! We reconfirmed our flight with Air India - finally.
The most popular tourist trade is the T-shirt industry. All over Kathmandu men embroider T-shirts with any picture or text you can imagine. We also ordered T-shirt with the text `Thea and Hans - India 1992 Nepal'. Rs 150 each.
We wanted to go for an afternoon hike so we took a big portion of muesli at the same place as the day before. By rickshaw we went to Balaju, northwest of Kathmandu, and about two kilometers past the village to the entrance to Nagargun wildlife reserve. Registration and entrance fee Rs 10. A well-kept and easy path led uphill to the summit Jamacho. According to the Kit it would be about 20 km, but the sign at the entrance said 5 km. And it was closer to 5 than to 20 since we walked up in about an hour and a half. The altitude difference was about 600 m. On the top is a small temple and a view tower. And the view over the valley was splendid!! Bad luck though that it was not clear weather again. We spent a lot of time in the sun and eating our provisions. The way back took us only an hour. We walked back on the main road to Kathmandu, where we took a rickshaw in Thamel to get back to the hotel. After a well-deserved shower we went back to town.
There appears to be quite a black market for changing money, and at a good rate. The procedure is to be approached by someone who wants to change, then enter his shop and do the change. Smooth and simple. This way we changed one $50 bill for Rs 2500.
We bought some bottles of water like every night and kept on being bothered by the fireworks. Rather awful how long they keep on throwing firecrackers around. Dinner at Kebab Corner again for Rs 300.
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After a quick breakfast at the hotel, walked to the trolley bus stop where a huge crowd was already waiting for the bus to arrive. Upon arrival, people entered through doors and windows, pushing eachother aside to get in. We managed to squeeze ourselves in and survived the trip to the end point at Bhaktapur. There it was a ten minutes' walk to the city center. Bhaktapur is a lovely town; when we were there, all kinds of agricultural products were spread out on squares and fields to dry in the sun. The red houses on the gentle slope make a nice view.
We wanted to catch a bus to Nagarkot, the famous place on the valley rim with a good early morning view of the Himalaya's. The next bus went after three hours and after lots of negociating we ended up taking a taxi to Nagarkot. It cost us Rs 300 for the 50 minutes, 20 km drive. At Nagarkot we managed to get something to eat at the totally untouristy hour in the middle of the day. Usually people arrive late afternoon and leave early in the morning after having witnessed the sunrise over the Himalaya. The place is nothing more than a bunch of very expensive hotels and more hotels are built every day. We had bad luck again since the clouds again beat the snow-topped mountains.
We wanted to walk down to Changunarayan Temple, back in the direction of Kathmandu. After a four-hour walk, mostly downhill we arrived there. On the way we got rather depressed at the enormous quantity of children begging for some rupees. Apparently many tourists do give them either some money or sweets, since the children show quite a knowledge of what you might have hidden in which pocket. And many children were sent to us by their parents or older brothers and sisters.
The walk was not difficult since there was a good path all the way; the only arising problem was that at several places there were too many paths. All men we saw on our way were wearing flowers around their necks and they wore the tika sign on the forehead. At that particular day of the festival all women visited their brothers to honour them with these signs. That is also the reason why we had seen so many travelling women, in the bus, in taxis and on the road. All dressed in their best colourful sarees.
At the Temple we met two Spaniards with whom we managed to share a taxi back to Kathmandu. They had been tempted to pay the taxi driver the full price he asked: Rs 600. This was a ridiculous amount and we could get him down to Rs 400 which was still far too much. But this time we kept the aces: the taxi was stuck in the far-away place and he had to get out of there one way or another. We, the tourists, had the option of walking downhill and catching a taxi at the road down there. After we had starting descending the hill, the taxi fare descended even more rapidly and we went to Kathmandu for the more reasonable price of Rs 300... so only Rs 150 for us.
At Thamel we picked up the three embroidered T-shirts we had ordered before. We had dinner at Tushita, a place we had gotten to know. Since we were more or less known customers there we dared asking whether they had some coins for friends who collect them. Until then we had seen only paper money. The waiter went out into the street and came back with four coins he gave to us. These later made a friend very happy.
On the way back to the hotel we bought some chips, water and beer for the evening. At the hotel we found our laundry washed, dried, ironed (Rs 51). Hans started taking some imodium pills because of the continuing stomach problems. We would go home in two days so he should try to avoid needing toilet visits at unpleasant places and times.
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Day of rest, packing and shopping. Slept till late and had a good refreshing shower - after finally the shower was free. We wanted to eat at Freak Street at least once so that's where we took breakfast, at Maggi's. Among other things we took delicious Tibetan bread with honey. Down in the street there was a lot of activity going on around some expedition. Cars were filled with equipment for apparently a rafting trip. Looked adventurous and promising!
Then we did some shopping for birthdays of friends and relatives. We bought lots of jewelry and some clothing, after of course having checked out many shops and loads of negociating. We ended up at the rooftop terrace of Aroma restaurant at the end of the afternoon where we witnessed the activities down in the street at one of the busy crossroads of Kathmandu. A large cold beer and a vanilla-shake for Rs 100.
A good buy were the pairs of walking trousers for each of us (Rs 225 and Rs 325). It would turn out later that these trousers with many pockets and a spacious fit were ideal for hiking.
After dinner at the good restaurabt Kebab Corner (Rs 320) back to Hotel Catnap where we packed everything for the departure of the next morning. We paid the bill and gave the boss the Dutch cigar we had left over of our `bribe collection', along with a tip for his good care.
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Got up at five thirty and found the taxi waiting that the boss had ordered for us... and what a taxi it was. The doors had to be closed very gently in order not to have them falling out, the windows had to be pulled up by hand, the windscreen wipers were not functioning while it was very misty. And still we had to pay Rs 150... well at least he had been at the hotel on time.
At the airport we checked in and paid the exit tax (Rs 1000). We were a bit annoyed by the porters who shifted our bags not more than two meters and claimed they were always given a good fee.
We changed back the remaining rupees into dollars, and had a good breakfast (Rs 270). The plane had a small delay. Of course the airport intercom system did not work at all so everyone was very confused at who were to board and who were not.
The flight offered spectacular views of the highest mountains in the world. Everyone worked overtime taking pictures. At New Delhi we wanted to go into a retiring room, but we had already had a stamp in our passports that we were entering India when the officer told us we could stay in the transit zone since there were no retiring rooms available. A lady arranged for all transit passengers to get their luggage and we were shown to the transit area where comfortable chairs were available to spend the time resting and sleeping. We were told we would be checked in after an Air India official would contact us. This turned out to go just fine, although the employee checking us in was not cooperative at all. He made errors in labeling luggage and simply refused to listen to the wishes of the passengers.
During our waiting time at the transit area we wanted to change back our Indian rupees but this was normally impossible since there were only banks outside this area. And the customs would not let us go there (a twenty meter walk). Finally Hans managed to get an airport security guard to escort him to the bank and change the rupees. For a fee of course...
We spent some money in the well-filled tax-free shop and could board in time for our flight back to Amsterdam, Schiphol airport via Frankfurt. Time elapsed surprisingly quickly and we had very good seats in the first row of the tourist class. Changeover in Frankfurt took a bit longer than scheduled but we took the opportunity to change into the Nepalese trousers and the T-shirts we had had made as a souvenir. A good shave and wash made us look fresh as ever and prepared to meet our family at Amsterdam.
The last leg of the flight was particularly interesting since we flew low and it was completely clear. It was the end of October and we saw autumn colours everywhere on the ground. Every village, lake and dike were recognizable so we quickly felt at home again... although the impressions of these holidays still tend to come up at unexpected moments.
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Hans Braker,
Delft University of Technology,
Department of Technical Mathematics and Informatics,Room ET 7.25,
P.O. Box 5031, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands,
Phone (0)31 (0)15 783689, witajgb@dutinfh.tudelft.nl
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| Copyright © - "Hans Braker & Thea Van Zon" |
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