From one adventure to the next

Our last days in Nepal are up, and oh my, there were way too few. Yes. this time we really mean it. We're glad we got to see more of Nepal this time around. but seriously, it feels like it's over before it even began. We've enjoyed ourselves immensely here - both the pampering of Pokhara, the spectacular trekking, the exhilarating Chitwan adventure, and our last days here in the delightful capital of Kathmandu.

We've re-done some sightseeing here in Kathmandu (we may or may not have seen some of the same sights when we were here with our folk high school four years ago), exploring the historical Basantapur Durbar Square and the Swayambhunath "monkey temple", where an enormous Buddha stupa stand on top of a hill with a great view of Kathmandu (or what can be seen below all the smog). We've also spent plenty of time just wandering around in the
fascinating streets of Thamel, the trekker's and traveler's quarter.

The monkey part is almost as much fun as the temple part.

Durbar square had a neat, medieval feel to it.

Since we came to Nepal with no guide book, we decided to do Kathamndu as recommended by a friendly guy we met at a restaurant in Varanasi. He wrote "Must stay @ Alobar 1000", so without researching any more, that's where we told our taxi driver we wanted to go. It turned out to be a wonderful hostel, with friendly staff, a good rooftop restaurant and a lovely vibe. He also gave us more cryptical tips, such as: "Off Freak Street. Small cafe. People sitting on steps. From steps you will see opposite wall which is blue,  with a bearded man. Ask for 'big sandwich'." The buried treasure-feeling we got when we stumbled upon the blue wall with the drawing of the bearded man was awesome! And yes, they were the best sandwiches in Kathmandu. Dark bread, everything organic, goat's cheese, yum.

People sitting on steps! Blue wall! Bearded man! It all fits!

For the last day we decided we wanted to go rock climbing again, as there was a popular climbing area in a national park surrounding Kathmandu, just 20 minutesn from the city. We booked a day with "Hardcore Nepal", and it was just great! We were just three guests, us and an Irish lady named Karen, and three climbing instructors came along, all of whom were super friendly and very clever. They would give us lots of good advice and teach all of us new things, depending on our level of experience, which was really nice. The limestone wall was great to climb on - full of nooks and crannies giving great good hand holds, and so smooth that you don't even get your skin torn off! The only downside with that is that you don't have much grip with your shoes, and the rental shoes had rather worn rubber as well. But the climbing was great fun, they sent us up maybe 8 or 10 different varied routes, easy enough that beginners could climb most of them, but still plenty fun and challenging. Especially the last climb up a narrow "chimney" was cool - very technical climbing, and entirely new to me! Altogether it was a very fun day out. As we got back to Hardcore Nepal in the afternoon, we agreed to meet Karen later on for dinner. An art therapist working as a volunteer with Tibetan refugees, she had a lot of interesting stuff to tell. We exchange e-mails and promise to keep in touch. Fun!

Thomas doing like Santa: Up the chimney!

the Edward Scissorhands (as the chinese call it) on the top. 

And so ended our stay in Nepal; the next day we just set aside plenty of time for airporting - from what we could remember Tribhuvan International Airport was one of the more messy and time-consuming ones, but it all went very smoothly and before we knew it we were in the air, looking at Mount Everest and the Himalays one last time.

Nepal has been such a positive reacquaintance. Besides the overwhelming natural beauty, both of the Himalayas in the north, the midland mountains and river gorges, and
the jungle Terai in the south, it's a great place to be a backpacker. In comparison to India the main thing you notice is that it's so much less chaotic. There were as many people in the markets of Thamel, but here you could actually hear what was going on - there wasn't constant cacophony of car horns, shouting and cows. And it's cleaner: You can walk around in the narrow streets looking up at all the sights rather than down at your feet to make sure you don't step in cow poop. And it's just so much easier. People tend to tell the truth rather than make up lies when asked questions, and people tend to want to help you rather than get your money. Meeting so many great fellow travelers in both Pokhara, Chitwan and Kathmandu has been so much fun, and the deeply hospitable hosts we've had at... well, actually every single hostel, lodge, resort and hotel we've stayed at, have all cared for us in a whole other way than in India. Thinking back to Nepal now puts a huge smile on my face, we just can't recommend it enough.