The Book of Dust
The 4am alarm may not have been the most welcome, but we were determined not to miss our flight! Besides, I had purchased a huge book "The Book of Dust" which I had so far not had time to read thanks to all the rushing around. Thankfully, everything ran smoothly (especially my nap between boarding and finding my ears popping at altitude!) and we landed in Nepal to some stunning mountains-looming-from-the-clouds views.
On arriving we purchased our visas, which cost us 25 USD, 10 mins playing with silly touch screen machines and some extremely over-exposed photos (no fingerprints this time though). Next stop, our hotel in Thamel, called the Exotic House. This boasted a lovely room for us, but despite this I was keen to head straight back out, given we had effectively lost a morning.
We strolled out on foot towards the Monkey Temple, weaving between motorbikes, pedal rickshaws and cars. What became very quickly noticeable was the amount of dust! The state of my throat and eyes made it clear why numerous others were wearing face masks, and only when climbing the (steep and plentiful!) stairs to the temple did I feel I'd cleared it; even the sky looked bluer up there. In fact, we were treated to a brilliant view of the city. The buildings surrounding the stupa itself were pretty too, intricate timber and stone carvings combined with colourful brickwork and masonry details.
Unfortunately, load-bearing masonry doesn't mix well with earthquakes, and I suddenly began to notice in earnest the damage done. Before this point I'd been surprised at how little damage was evident, but apparently it was fairly localised. At the next stop, Durbar Square, it was even more prevalent in what would have once been prominent temples and shrines.
We lunched overlooking the square, having a traditional newardi set, which was very tasty and not too filling (unlike yesterday's three curries). Particularly welcome after the typical "omelette" plane breakfast (which may have been preceeded by a 5am "McSpicyPaneer" at the airport...). Lunch was soon burned off exploring the square and wandering the market streets back to Thamel, where we were staying. Dinner was kindly cooked for us by our hotel hosts, and was also traditional Nepalese food, which I enjoyed again.
The 4am alarm may not have been the most welcome, but we were determined not to miss our flight! Besides, I had purchased a huge book "The Book of Dust" which I had so far not had time to read thanks to all the rushing around. Thankfully, everything ran smoothly (especially my nap between boarding and finding my ears popping at altitude!) and we landed in Nepal to some stunning mountains-looming-from-the-clouds views.
On arriving we purchased our visas, which cost us 25 USD, 10 mins playing with silly touch screen machines and some extremely over-exposed photos (no fingerprints this time though). Next stop, our hotel in Thamel, called the Exotic House. This boasted a lovely room for us, but despite this I was keen to head straight back out, given we had effectively lost a morning.
We strolled out on foot towards the Monkey Temple, weaving between motorbikes, pedal rickshaws and cars. What became very quickly noticeable was the amount of dust! The state of my throat and eyes made it clear why numerous others were wearing face masks, and only when climbing the (steep and plentiful!) stairs to the temple did I feel I'd cleared it; even the sky looked bluer up there. In fact, we were treated to a brilliant view of the city. The buildings surrounding the stupa itself were pretty too, intricate timber and stone carvings combined with colourful brickwork and masonry details.
Unfortunately, load-bearing masonry doesn't mix well with earthquakes, and I suddenly began to notice in earnest the damage done. Before this point I'd been surprised at how little damage was evident, but apparently it was fairly localised. At the next stop, Durbar Square, it was even more prevalent in what would have once been prominent temples and shrines.
We lunched overlooking the square, having a traditional newardi set, which was very tasty and not too filling (unlike yesterday's three curries). Particularly welcome after the typical "omelette" plane breakfast (which may have been preceeded by a 5am "McSpicyPaneer" at the airport...). Lunch was soon burned off exploring the square and wandering the market streets back to Thamel, where we were staying. Dinner was kindly cooked for us by our hotel hosts, and was also traditional Nepalese food, which I enjoyed again.
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