Kathmandu/Bhaktapur 13 February 2009

Early start. Negotiating narrow street around hand-painted and gaudily decorated Tata trucks and Hiace minibuses with seating for 7 that serve as ad hoc buses crammed with up to 20 passengers in neither style nor comfort. Passed many schools, most offering tuition in English, and tiny low-fronted shops. Every tree, building corner or other vantage point is festooned with power/telephone cables.

Drove rond the perimeter wall of the Swayambhunath Stupa inset with 1000s of prayer wheels. Decorated with prayer flags in red, wite, blue, green and yellow, the temple is home to monkeys who feed on scraps of food left by pilgrims and tourists alike.


Then on to the Pashupati Temple, one of Hindu's holiest shrines on the banks of a tributary of the Ganges. Around the temple are many Sadhus - ostensibly holymen seeking enlightenment but many are consumate beggars in search of easy money and hashish.

A short drive to Bhaktapur where we check in to the Bhadgoan Guest House http://www.bhaktapuronline.com/hotels.htm . An afternoon walk takes in the Nyatapola Temple (the highest building for miles around) and the temples and palace in Durbar Square including the famous Golden Gate. The buildings are all brick in the Newari style. Many of the roof struts are decorated with erotic carvings.

Dinner on the rooftop terrace fom where the stars appear unnaurally bright owing to the power cut reducing light pollution to a minimum.