Day 14-15: Bhaktapur and Kathmandu
Trip Start
Nov 03, 2007
1
7
Trip End
Nov 18, 2007
Kathmandu, Nepal
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Bhaktapur is only an hour's drive from Kathmandu so soon enough we were back in the dirty, smoggy, overcrowded Nepalese capital. The stupas were beautiful with their streams of flowing prayer flags and hundreds of monkeys everywhere. Everywhere we went I seemed to hear the same song, a reverberating Buddhist mantra called 'Om Mane Padme Hum'. Of course, by the time I realised how annoying it was I'd already bought the CD...oh well, it'll make a good ethnic Christmas present for someone.
We flew back to Delhi to catch our flight back to Europe and, frankly, India was less enchanting this time round. First we were told we weren't allowed to enter the airport until three hours before the flight and then we found out you have to pay to wait in the visitor lounge (a smelly shed full of pigeons) but we had no Indian rupees left - fortunately a friendly French air traffic controller appeared out of nowhere and helped us out.
All in all it was an incredible adventure and I feel like I have done more than I ever thought it was possible to do in two weeks. I've certainly pushed myself beyond what I thought my limits were - I guess that's what Shoestring is all about. Now it's time for a warm shower and some food that isn't rice or noodles!
