Hot and sunny
Cool in Kathmandu
Damian went for his morning walk before I got up at 8am. We packed and went for breakfast a Ganga's one last time.
Pokhara had been a good, relaxing place and very easy from a travelers' point of view, but at 10am we were on the mini-bus heading for Kathmandu.
We got very good seats right at the front with loads of leg room. The road was poor to start with but improved later on. The bus stopped for half an hour for us to take a lunch break and again when we had a puncture. At this second unscheduled stop we watched some kids play a game similar to pool, but with counters on a board made slidy with flour. They'd obviously played this many times before because they were very good.
The last bit of the road into Kathmadu was terrible - very dusty and crowded making the pollution unbearable.
We were dropped off a kilometre from Thamel, the backpackers' area of Kathmandu and walked to the centre. We went to find "Ned Kelly's Guest House" where Paul & Maria were to have left a message, but it had been knocked down! For almost an hour we were surrounded by touts and had a hard time finding a room. We ended up at Deutche Hotel for Rs200 per night (+10% tax). The room was okay.
We ate at Helena's Restaurant in the outside section which turned out t be rather cool and I had to go back for a jumper. Well we were at 1,400 metres (4,600 ft). Again I couldn't finish my meal.
Thamel is a bustling area with lots of businesses catering to travelers and tourists, but it is nice enough.
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