We hired a driver to take us from Darjeeling to the border of Nepal.  It was supposed to be a 5 ½ hour drive, but this guy had a lead foot so he got us there in under 4 hours.  We crossed the border in a rickshaw (like a horse buggy but with a bike instead of a horse) and got our visas on the Nepal side.  After much confusion from people all around us trying to lead us in different directions and sell us flight or bus tickets, we were finally able to get on a night bus to Kathmandu just at it was about to leave.  I climbed onto the roof and locked all of our bags to the bars on the roof with the long chain and lock I carry with me for train and bus rides.  

This bus was seriously the 15 hour bus ride from hell!  The seats were all broken and reclined back into our laps, so there was no leg space and the driver was flying down the bumpy road so fast that we had to hold on and brace ourselves and actually caught some air a few times.  We were so happy when we finally arrived in Kathmandu the next morning.  I had downloaded a travel guide application about Nepal on my iphone (it’s a lot easier to carry around than a heavy travel guide book) and one of the hotels it recommended was the Kathmandu Guest House.  Before it was turned into a hotel it was the Rana Palace.  The hotel is pretty famous and has won lots of awards…the Beatles have even stayed there.  It is located in the touristy area of Thamal.  We loved it!  We got a deluxe room overlooking the garden (which I negotiated for a lower price).  David still wasn’t feeling that well from getting food poisoning in Darjeeling and then the horrendous night bus, so we were glad to be staying in a nice hotel.  

During our short stay in Kathmandu, we visited Swayambhu, also known as the Monkey Temple.  The temple is perched high on top of a hill that overlooks all of Kathmandu and the surrounding mountains.  The long stairway leading to the top is lined with vendors, artists, beggars, Buddha statues, prayer flags and lots of monkeys scampering about.  It was a fun place to explore with lots of great picture opportunities.

Kathmandu is a beautiful city full of lots of culture with plenty of things to do and see.  It is the largest metropolitan city in Nepal and is inhabited by about 2 million people.  Since the 1960’s it has been popular with Western tourist as it was a key stop along the “hippie trail”.  The city stands at an elevation of approximately 1400m and is the jumping off location for trekking in the Himalayan region.