Nepal is an interesting place. We've been unable to get much outside the capital, as we're only really here to renew our visa, but what we've seen we like a lot.
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| Kathmandu |
On first impression Nepal is maybe similar to India. In other ways it reminds of China. But in a lot of ways it's just quite different. In no particular order, here's what I've noticed.
The food seems to be mostly the same as India - not that we've eaten much of it, as after having an enforced indian diet for so long, we're pigging on italian, japanese, tibetan, steak & burger restaurants, bacon, sausages and all the other things the capital city offers. They're definitely more keen on meat up here.
Kathmandu has an amazing central square with all sorts of Hindu and Buddhist temples - most are in a pagoda style. Buddhism is much more important here than in India - there's stupas dotted around the city, and lots of monastries. The city is surrounded by mountains, but you can't see any of the more distant snow-covered peaks.
A fair part of the city seems to still be traditional houses - brick built, often with a shop on the bottom floor. It's a pleasure to wander the streets - they're narrow and crowded, and there's all kinds of markets, street-side shrines & shops. They're very keen on wood-carving here - all the temples and palaces, and many of the houses, are covered in intricate carving - quite a bit of it risque.
It's interesting to people-watch - Nepalis come in all shapes and sizes. Some people look Indian, others more like Thai. There's very short Sherpas, and tall Tibetans. The people are very polite, friendly, and quite chatty too. Being British seems to score extra points here.
The tourists here are a more active bunch than where we've been so far in India - everyone is planning to go trekking or scale a mountain it seems. There's lots of shops selling fake 'North Face' clothes and equipment to kit them out. I feel quite a fraud just coming here for my visa.
We went to the mountaineers bar - 'Rum Doodle'. If you've climbed Everest, you can eat there free for life. There's signatures of Tensing, Hilary and a load of other mountaineers at the bar, while the walls are covered with mementos of other expeditions.
Away from the tourists, Nepal is visibly poorer than India, and life seems to be tougher. There's power cuts for 8 hours each day (it's called 'Load Shedding') - there's a weekly schedule. At the moment people have to queue for hours for petrol and cooking kerosene too, as there's shortages caused by blockades.
Although it's warm in the sunshine, it's flipping cold at night - we've discovered the joys of extra blankets and hot water bottles.
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