From the moment we crossed that line on the bridge and entered Nepal everything changed. Gone was the ordered formal nature of the Chinese post a mere 30 feet away. This instead was replaced with chaos, possibly ordered chaos but that was not immediately apparent. We bought our v
isas in a small hut having convinced ourselves that having walked down an entire street of shops and grotty canteens that we must have somehow skipped any formalities. The smallest sign gave the game away and so $40 and 1 temperature reading later (swine flu is obviously still felt a possible threat) we had visas and were off. The buses and trucks had developed a technicolour array of designs with slogans such as "Speed Control", "Say no to drugs - Say yes to life" and "Press Horn". Faces had almost instantly darkened and rather than round had become much
longer, combined with the bright clothing the feeling was definitely more of the subcontinent and India rather than the Tibetan Plateau and north-east Asia. It was dirty, hot rowdy and exciting though the border town crooks were still present, latching on like limpets to us the moment we stepped across. The tourist bus was too expensive and so after 4 hours of winding dirt roads, picking up and depositing people and their produce at the tiny settlements along the way, we changed onto another bu
s for another 4 hours to arrive, eventually, in Kathmandu. We had opted for a quieter district, though barely a 5 minute walk from the main backpacker haunt of Thammel, and after checking in headed out into the oasis of western restaurants and bars. Combined with all of the English signs and no problems with language it felt like being back at home, a bit. Unfortunately that night failed to provide the rest needed with the bed turning out to be the smallest in the world at around 5 1/2 foot with a massive foot-board making stretching out
impossible. We moved up the road in the morning and confronted our day of jobs, backing up photos, emailing, researching our options for trekking and rafting and other such delights. Amy also had an appointment with the dentist at 2:30 (which she did not see the funny side of) as her wisdom tooth had been causing problems for the preceding week. I saw her a couple of hours later, mouth all
numb, with the US dentist having removed the offending tooth. She then had to endure the sight of me eating steak and chips while sticking to tomato soup herself. Our last day before hitting the trails to the north meant that we had to get our permits and bus ticket before we could actually get around to seeing some of the city itself. We roamed the local streets before arriving at Durbar Square, a place Mum had mentioned the previous night on the
phone she had been during her travelling days (I wont say when!). Apart from the traffic now racing through I cant imagine much has changed with daily life carrying on seemingly oblivious to the ancient monuments, statues and altars at every turn. The bustle was immense and the feel was definitely of an ancient culture living in the present.. We indulged ourselves in 1 last western meal before hitting the hills of Langtang the following morning at a bleary-eyed 6am.
From the moment we crossed that line on the bridge and entered Nepal everything changed. Gone was the ordered formal nature of the Chinese post a mere 30 feet away. This instead was replaced with chaos, possibly ordered chaos but that was not immediately apparent. We bought our v
isas in a small hut having convinced ourselves that having walked down an entire street of shops and grotty canteens that we must have somehow skipped any formalities. The smallest sign gave the game away and so $40 and 1 temperature reading later (swine flu is obviously still felt a possible threat) we had visas and were off. The buses and trucks had developed a technicolour array of designs with slogans such as "Speed Control", "Say no to drugs - Say yes to life" and "Press Horn". Faces had almost instantly darkened and rather than round had become much 
longer, combined with the bright clothing the feeling was definitely more of the subcontinent and India rather than the Tibetan Plateau and north-east Asia. It was dirty, hot rowdy and exciting though the border town crooks were still present, latching on like limpets to us the moment we stepped across. The tourist bus was too expensive and so after 4 hours of winding dirt roads, picking up and depositing people and their produce at the tiny settlements along the way, we changed onto another bu
s for another 4 hours to arrive, eventually, in Kathmandu. We had opted for a quieter district, though barely a 5 minute walk from the main backpacker haunt of Thammel, and after checking in headed out into the oasis of western restaurants and bars. Combined with all of the English signs and no problems with language it felt like being back at home, a bit. Unfortunately that night failed to provide the rest needed with the bed turning out to be the smallest in the world at around 5 1/2 foot with a massive foot-board making stretching out 
impossible. We moved up the road in the morning and confronted our day of jobs, backing up photos, emailing, researching our options for trekking and rafting and other such delights. Amy also had an appointment with the dentist at 2:30 (which she did not see the funny side of) as her wisdom tooth had been causing problems for the preceding week. I saw her a couple of hours later, mouth all 
numb, with the US dentist having removed the offending tooth. She then had to endure the sight of me eating steak and chips while sticking to tomato soup herself. Our last day before hitting the trails to the north meant that we had to get our permits and bus ticket before we could actually get around to seeing some of the city itself. We roamed the local streets before arriving at Durbar Square, a place Mum had mentioned the previous night on the 
phone she had been during her travelling days (I wont say when!). Apart from the traffic now racing through I cant imagine much has changed with daily life carrying on seemingly oblivious to the ancient monuments, statues and altars at every turn. The bustle was immense and the feel was definitely of an ancient culture living in the present.. We indulged ourselves in 1 last western meal before hitting the hills of Langtang the following morning at a bleary-eyed 6am.
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