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Thursday 27th August: Shopping and eating in Kathmandu
Visa photos secured, Ben went off to sketch dilapidated temple courtyards. Jane and I explored a fruit and vegetable market and quite back streets taking more photographs. Jane needed them for her university photography project.
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Friday 28th August
Cooked our own breakfast. It was difficult to do toast as the bread kept breaking. Still it was better than yesterday.
We walked to the Swayambhunath Stupa, the so called Monkey Temple, but we didn't see hundreds of monkeys; just a few. It is a Budhist temple on the top of a hill. The buildings, with their striking gold roofs looked gaudy to me and I was interested, but not impressed; not like I was when I first saw the Taj Mahal. Maybe I shouldn't have gone to the Taj Mahal first. It is a hard act to follow.
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Friday 28th August
Ben couldn't afford the Tibetan rugs that he liked. They were between Rs1200/- and Rs1500/- (£60-75). If he'd bought one it would have meant that he, and Jane, would be broke. Uncharacteristically Jane told him he "must cut his garment according to his cloth". I don't think she wanted to be poor. I can't say I blame her. I saw more musical instruments (why was I so interested in them?) but they were too expensive. Maybe there will be cheaper ones back in India (why was I so bothered? Did I want one for a present? Must have!).
Jane and Ben returned to the hotel for lunch. I continued to explore alone, mainly taking photographs, but also looking at Saris for one of my friends back home who had expressed an interest. The costs of the saris varied enormously and all were quite nice, but she had specific requirements and none of these matched them.
I posted the mugshots to the immigration post.
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Saturday 29th August: Cycling
We hired bicycles and set off for Patan. The first part of our journey took us onto the Kathmandu ring road, a wide and relatively well surfaced road. There was little traffic; our journey was leisurely and the surroundings remarkably tranquil after the hustle and bustle of the city. Hard to believe this was only a few Kilometers from the centre of Kathmandu.
Cycling from Kathmandu to Patan
