The journey from the border was very exciting. We deliberately didn't mention in our Tibet blog the fact that a landslide prevented our van from reaching the Tibet side of the bridge. We had to scale down the steep mountain side on foot, with back-packs on through the mud, water and rocks. This was quite a nerve-racking feat indeed! Having walked across Friendship Bridge and done the mandatory "Nepal - Tibet - Nepal - Tibet" hop over the red border line several times (hoping the rifled men didn't shoot), the 5 of us who continued on from Tibet into Nepal (Clara stayed behind) were ushered into the rather dodgy looking 'Immigration Office' and bought our visas for $25 each in super quick time before heading down the path to the numerous buses awaiting us. Rather a precarious journey was made by bus number one to a landslide about 1 hour away, stopping constantly to pick up more people and their bags, and their TVs and their aunts (many hopping onto the rooftop simply to get a seat). Then at the landslide we had a similar 'end of Tibet' experience where we had to get off the bus and carry our bags across the landslide/waterfall/rocks for about 1km to where the buses were again waiting for us on the other side. The scenery on the way was lush green vegetation with amazing waterfalls and rivers and lots of cute little shack-housed towns lining the narrow cliff-edge road. We stopped to fix a tyre at one point and tried not to let our squashed legs cramp up too much for the rest of the time. A sweaty 6.5 hours after crossing the border we arrived at the central bus station in Kathmandu.
It was always going to be hard for Kathmandu to follow Tibet.
But then throw in a rubbish collection dispute that had been going on for 8 days before we arrived leaving the place looking like one big rubbish dump (apparently 3000 tonnes of rubbish on the streets and counting) and this city was really going to struggle to impress.
Sean and I stayed in a hostel just north of Thamel (the main area of the city for bars and the old town with lots of shrines and temples). Thamel is quite noisy and busy, so we were glad to be just on the outskirts so we could get a good nights rest. The mounds of rubbish aside, Kathmandu was just not quite what we'd expected. The city had a great energy about it and the main attraction, Durbar Square, was very nice - but by this time we'd seen so many temples that we were a bit 'templed out' and so probably didn't fully appreciate their beauty. We did however have a very nice tour guide who we only paid entrance fee prices for (not sure this was entirely legal, but no one seemed to care and we got a great deal!). We had a good old wander around the north and south areas of the square using our Lonely Planet 'walking tour guides' so we saw some ancient shrines and architecture - but we felt like we were missing something since the LP gushed considerably and we just didn't really feel the same way as that writer. Having said that, once you find the thing you're looking for behind the millions of electricity/telegraph wires, you can find some architectural gems, beautiful carvings and somewhere behind all those orange flowers are some very pretty shrines.
We also made it up to 'Monkey Temple' at the top of the hill. Great views over Kathmandu Valley and again some lovely temples. But passing dead dogs and rubbish piles along the way (and tredding in a cow pat) kinda put the rough edge on this experience too.
The one absolutely positive point that Kathmandu has going for it though is food - and coming from me that's quite an accolade. From the cheap samosa/bhaat selection on the shop window fronts, to the restaurant Veg Daal Sets - we have eaten very well at good prices. It also took a while to get back into proper % lager after the weak stuff they sell in China - seriously, had I become a light-weight in only 4 weeks???
And finally, for all you old hippies reading this - below is what Freak Street looks like in 2010:
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