Kathmandu

With Delhi being too hot and a bit intense i'd arranged a flight to Delhi one morning. This seemed to cause a bit of panic at the hotel and they had a taxi sitting outside before i'd packed or the flight ticket confirmation had even turned up, but it all worked out ok.

Kathmandu is warm but not quite as hot as Delhi so there was some relief when i landed. That's until the left us standing on the tarmac for about 20 minutes while a bus was found then it had to do two trips. It would have been quicker to walk.

You get the visa on arrival in Nepal so there are some forms to fill with a new emphasis on the swine flu virus. They even use some machine on you when you walk in, i think to take the temperature of your head, which i guess tells them if you may be carrying it or not. The visa itself is 17 pounds or the but you can pay in a few currencies. I paid in sterling and got change in US$. The tricky bit is that you need a passport photograph for the visa application, which fortunately i had, but that could have been a problem.

Once outside there is a desk of what i can only describe as touts that also run the prepaid taxi rank. I usually try to use the prepaid taxis just to lessen the hassle factor, but these guys also wanted to arrange a hotel. I lied and said i had a place booked, and they were arranging eveything else for me, and they seemed almost annoyed saying, well next time make you sure we can make some money too.

I hadn't actually booked a hotel so i pitched up at the one recommended to me by a friend and just asked if they had any rooms. It's supposed to be rainy season here so there are few tourists around and a room wasn't a problem. I mentioned my friends name and how he had recommended it, then they became even more helpful and the room rate was cut in half.

It was late afternoon when i got to my room, so i spent a bit of time sorting through my gear and going through emails, then went out for a walk at night trying to find another well known bike rental/repair place for overlanders. What i didn't realise was that it gets dark so early in Nepal and although i knew about the power cuts it's just not something you expect to happen in a capital city. There had been one or two in Delhi but i'd been in my hotel room at the time so not known if it was citywide, but here i was out and about and everything just switched off.

The map from the hotel seemed to be ok, and it had the Israeli embassy marked which is on the same street as the bike place but for the life of me i couldn't find it, so i returned to the main touristy part called Thamel. Here it's a bit like Delhi-lite in that you have the same touts trying to sell you drugs, or a massage but i find it less annoying. The guys that annoy me more are the ones who say they want to practice their English talking with you then ask for money.

The next day i went back to look for the bike place, but still couldn't find it. I walked until i found the Japanese embassy which was a kilometre or two north of where the bike place should be, which meant i must have passed it. It's only when i walked back i realised that the numbers corresponding to the dots on the map were incorrect, and i finally found it. They have a few enfields for rent but the 500cc bike the guy was pushing was filthy and would have cost $210 for a week so i left in search of another option.

My friend had also given me a contact for a local guy outside the tourist area that hires bikes, so i set off in search of him. These bikes are smaller 150 or 200cc but they haven't been thrashed as much as the tourist bikes so it may prove a better option. These bikes are Bajaj Pulsar's, which are modern bikes made locally in India. They have front a disk brake, electric start, and realtively modern suspension unlike the 1950's technology on the enfields, so having had a look at them i arrange to hire a 200cc model for 3,500 rupees for a week., that's just under 30 pounds.

With that organised i go for another wander to find Durbar square, during which time i pick up a new tagalong who only wants to practice english. I pretty much know the way but he wants to lead me on a roundabout route wandering past a few temples that i can go into. I just smile and keep walking past until he starts to get more agitated. When we get to Durbar Square he insists that foreigners need a ticket which costs 300 rupees. I query why you'd need a ticket for a public square but he insists it's true, so i just say never mind and wander off in another direction. This really worries him so he switches too, i don't want any money but could you buy me some rice, to which i politely decline. He then wanders off in search of another tourist and i go back to Durbar Square where no-one asks for a ticket.

On the way back there seems to be some kind of disturbance going on. when i get closer it's a running fight with 5 or so guys carrying bats. Now i've been warned about the strikes and flash mobs in Nepal so i'm a bit wary, but as i get closer it looks more like street theatre with fake blood, or they just really suck at fighting. Once safely past that i get into the square and wander around. It's partly an open market, with some local things, but also a lot of tourist tat, including loads of kukri's, but there's nothing i really want to buy so i wander back to Thamel.

The last thing my firend had insisted on was that i go to a bar and say hello to a lady called Verena who owns it with her local husband Sam, so i set off in search of it. This place is mentioned in a lot of blogs about Kathmandu so i'd been keen to see it anyway. It's not open until 4pm so i go back to the hotel and on the way look for somewhere to eat, but a problem i have is that i struggle to eat anything when it's hot, so although i have been eating and eating locally where possible i'm not eating enough.

When i get back to the bar it's about 6pm so i find a seat at the bar hoping they do food, but the don't so i order a beer and take the time to read the remarks left on the walls. I see a lady who must be Verena but she is busy with folk so i just sit there and have a couple more drinks. I get talking to an Australian couple who were celebrating getting their business licence so that they can start to grow wine in Nepal, they have a place out in Pokhara which i'll get to later. It's interesting listening to the hoops the guy has to go through though, talking about importing something fairly inoccuous inside an oak barrel just to get the barrels into the country. His wife/girlfriend paints and makes bread and other foods so she has the same hassle importing her kit.

Another wierd thing i'm findong about being out here is the lack of the need to go to the toilet despite drinking anywhere up to four litres of water a day, so it's refreshing to need to go to the toilet in the bar. On my return from one such trip an American girl has sat down at the stoll between me and the Australian couple so i chat to the barman then finally get to say hi to Verena.

Boom. I go from a guy at the end of the bar to a friend. She insists on making me a cocktail/shot thing then hauls the other bar staff over to say hi. Unfortunately due to me chatting elsewhere i've missed a couple of friends of my friend, one of which is still using the Triumph he brought out form the UK. While i'm chatting away i can hear the American girl blethering, saying how she had lost both her husband and her number one lover in a month so she's throwing herself into her work at the moment. She's pretty but she also looks like trouble so i'm edging away at this point.

It's maybe around 9.30pm by this time and concious that i haven't eaten since breakfast and i'm leaving on the bike tomorrow i set off in search of food. Unfortunately i don't make it, only getting as far as a bar with live music, where i sit for a while. I notice the American girl is there on her own, but only for a while until she see's some locals that take her fancy then she has a small crowd to keep her company. I get chatting to a couple from Inverness, and stay out later than i should, completely forgetting to eat.

The next morning i pick up the bike, but i'm feeling a little under the weather so can't eat again, and don't leave until 11.30am. The plan is to head to Royal Bardia National Park which is on the other side of the country in the West. It looks ok on the map, maybe 5-600kms on what is classed a national highway, so off i go.