We’ve been in Nepal for about a week now and just back from a short trek. On weekdays there are power shortages and this has made it difficult to get to a computer and keep things bang up to date.
The couple of days we spent in Kathmandu were interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly it hasn’t changed that much since I was last here in 2005. It is a lot busier though and just as hectic as ever. Anyone who has been here will no doubt have memories of the taxis of death with their crazy overtaking maneuvers and loud beeping horns. Thamel was really busy with tourists, a far cry from the days of the Maoists and the strikes when you could count the tourist on one hand. There also seems to be a new fascination for glass fronted buildings, as they are going up everywhere, still the same mad construction methods as before, just with glass fronts. I’m not sure they do clean window cleaners in Nepal, so maybe that will be a business opportunity for someone!
We met up with a friend from my time volunteering, Subash from Patihani. Subash kindly invited Karen and I for dinner at his rooms in Kathmandu where we met his wife. His sister Anjana was also there with her husband and two girls aged 5 years and 8 months. Some of you hopefully reading this will remember Subash and Anjana from Patihani, how time flies. When I first visited Nepal in 2002 Subash was one of the local villagers who helped welcome the volunteers to Patihani and Anjana was one of my youngest students when I was attempting to teach English there.
I’ll be back in Kathmandu a couple more times before the end of my trip so hopefully more to report and a few more pictures to publish.