This post is a bit late, but it has been a crazy few days.
After getting initially settled in to the Kathmandu Guest House (KGH), I decided to take a few days to just enjoy wandering around. To me, the traffic and pace of life in Kathmandu was relativity slow and relaxing. This is probably because Dhaka is so hectic. All the same, I found that aimlessly wandering the streets was a very enjoyable experience. There are so many shops and and cafes around every turn. After a night on the town, I liked to head over to the New Orleans Cafe for a hearty breakfast to start my day. The location of the KGH makes it difficult to get very far into the city. Directly outside was my favorite bar in town, Paddy Foley's Irish Pub. It was here that I met a few travel buddies. Night after night we would meet to enjoy a few drinks and the company of each other. Although being alone in a foreign country has its down side, it also has many pluses. I was forced out of my comfort zone, into making new friends. When you travel with friends or companions you might just as soon pass up the opportunity to meet new people. Paddy Foley's was a place for me to drink in not only the culture of Nepal but of that of many other countries via the friends I met there.
After getting initially settled in to the Kathmandu Guest House (KGH), I decided to take a few days to just enjoy wandering around. To me, the traffic and pace of life in Kathmandu was relativity slow and relaxing. This is probably because Dhaka is so hectic. All the same, I found that aimlessly wandering the streets was a very enjoyable experience. There are so many shops and and cafes around every turn. After a night on the town, I liked to head over to the New Orleans Cafe for a hearty breakfast to start my day. The location of the KGH makes it difficult to get very far into the city. Directly outside was my favorite bar in town, Paddy Foley's Irish Pub. It was here that I met a few travel buddies. Night after night we would meet to enjoy a few drinks and the company of each other. Although being alone in a foreign country has its down side, it also has many pluses. I was forced out of my comfort zone, into making new friends. When you travel with friends or companions you might just as soon pass up the opportunity to meet new people. Paddy Foley's was a place for me to drink in not only the culture of Nepal but of that of many other countries via the friends I met there.
Although an Irish pub, I usually sat down there to enjoy a bottle of Gorkha, a Nepalese brew. Gorkha isn't a traditional brew, however. Part of the Carlsberg Group, Gorkha is preferred by tourist looking for a premium beer at a domestic price.
After a few relaxing days, I decided it was time to get my tourist on. Not being much of a trekker, I decided to check out Swayambhunath, the monkey temple. One good thing about Kathmandu is the high number of English speakers. Only having a few days to explore, it was nice to be able to easily get around by speaking English.
Located at one of the highest points in the valley, the monkey temple was a great place to see the city from. Statues of Hindu and Buddhist gods cover the landscape of the monument. Obviously one of the major aspects of the monkey temple is....monkeys!
To be honest I was a bit frightened of the monkeys. They were rather large and aggressive (towards each other mostly, but I didn't want to be the next episode of When Vacations Attack). A few hours later I decided to head out towards Durbar Square.
The square is surround by beautiful architecture of Newar artists. Durbar Square is also the home of the old palace of Nepalese royalty.
To gain access to they square you have to buy a ticket. I wasn't aware of this at the time and there is minimal signage to direct you to the ticket booth. After walking around for a few minutes I was pulled aside by an officer of some sort to check my ticket. After yelling at me for a few minutes he directed me to the ticket booth where I paid 750 rupees for access. To be honest I thought it was a bit steep. 750 rupees is around $9 USD. After spending hours going from shop to shop and enjoying the scenery I decided to head back to the guest house.
After spending a few days in the city I believe some people would say I wasted my time there by not going hiking or travelling to every possible temple on the map. For me, the experience of just being in Nepal and interacting with people I met was quite enough. I believe that sometimes travelers get bogged down in their list of objective for a trip and fail to actually pay attention to what they are doing. I met so many amazing people during my trip. It is these personal interactions that I will treasure for the rest of my days. After saying a few goodbyes it was back to Dhaka for two days before my flight back to the US. Until next time, good night my friends.
