Kathmandu

We arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal yesterday. It was only a 1,5 hour flight but it feels like being in a totally different world. Flying wasn’t our first choice but the only other option we had was taking a 36 hour bus. There are trains to Kathmandu from Delhi too but since it’s holiday period in India those were fully booked for the next few months (!). A 36 hour uncomfortable bus ride didn’t sound too appealing either so we took the easy way. Kathmandu felt good from the moment we landed although it took some time to get our visas. We had to pay for them by cash in dollars or euros but we didn’t have enough cash with us. So they just let us walk through customs and security to go to an ATM to get money. Some sketchy guy followed us, telling us the ATM machine wasn’t working and he would take us to an ATM downtown for a good price. We ignored him and found out the ATM machine was working just fine. Then we went back inside, changed the Nepalese rupees for dollars and paid for the visas. Now we’re staying in a very nice hostel in the busiest part of Kathmandu which is called Thamel. The people are amazingly friendly, the streets are a lot cleaner than in India and the weather is so much better. No need to turn a fan on during the night and we’re sleeping under blankets again. We just booked a trekking in the Annapurna region which is supposed to be amazing. We’re leaving for Pokhara tomorrow morning and the trekking starts the day after that, taking 4 days. After that we’re taking a bus back to Kathmandu as we’re storing our backpacks in the hostel we’re staying right now. We'll be back here to celebrate Loes' birthday on the 4th of June and we already found some nice bars so that won't be a problem!