kathmandu, nepal - part 1:

When in Nepal, you will no doubt spend time in Kathmandu. We spent a night here on either side of our trek, giving us time to explore the famed city.
Before our arrival, I had a very romantic idea of Kathmandu with exotic visions of an ancient city and it's Durbar square, holy men, temples and beautiful architecture.
And while I did get to see these things, it was mixed with the reality of modern day Kathmandu - a city with bad pollution, dust, terrible traffic, and power cuts. 
Andrew and I had been pre-warned by friends and other travellers (in fact we were told to get and get out as soon as we could), however I didn't quite want to believe it. Don't get me wrong, Kathmandu has some incredible parts, but you just have to take it with the reality of what is happening too. The population of Kathmandu has exploded in recent years, and with it has come many problems with infrastructure, overcrowding and terrible pollution. 

One thing I really loved was all the colour - the marigold sellers, the markets of Asan Tole and Indra Chowk, to the painted holy men (sadhus). There is so much to take in, and it definitely is worth spending time here to find your own little moment of Kathmandu beauty.

next: more from Kathmandu and then Bhaktapur.

durbar square

 

looking out from durbar square

daal bhat

 

 

asan tole