Site seeing in Katmandu

We woke up the next day with plans to go sightseeing. We headed to see Durbar Square, which was only a short 20-minute walk away. The walk there was an experience. We went through a busy neighbourhood of shops and street sellers, selling everything from meat on the butcher's block to the latest wedding clothes and everything in between. The streets were packed with people and again with motorbikes trying to squeeze through; it was a feast for the eyes.

Arriving at the square, we got our tickets and wandered around trying to figure out which building was which. After retiring to a nearby rooftop cafe, we began reading more about the site and ended up going down a rabbit hole while reading about the Kumari cult. This involves the worship of young prepubescent girls, known as Kumaris, who are believed to be living manifestations of the Hindu goddess Taleju, revered for their purity and divine connection. She lives in one of the buildings in the square and cannot let her feet touch the ground. When she hits puberty, they find a new girl.

After our refreshments, we headed into the palace turned museum, which was a very mixed place but quite intriguing. We then headed a few streets away to get food. The first place we went only had Momos on the menu as their kitchen was preparing for a wedding later on. As James can't eat Momos because of his stomach trauma with them, we went to a Newari restaurant. Newari cuisine is of the native people from the Kathmandu Valley and consists of lots of pulses and spices, but nothing like how you've ever had them before. We got a set meal which was a perfect taster of all the main items and was such an amazing flavour and texture experience. It's like nothing we've ever eaten and may never have again, well worth a try if you ever encounter it.

We then headed to our room for a rest and to freshen up for our dinner with Dil Man and the Danish guys as a last meal together, on Magical Nepal's expense.

It was lovely to see them and catch up on what we'd been doing and what our plans were and also to see each other not in trekking clothes. At the end of our meal, the owner of Magical Nepal stopped by and basically got us to confirm our attendance on their Manaslu trek starting next week. We spent one more day in Kathmandu which we used for shopping buying anything we were missing from our last trek. Our hotel manager gave us a good package to stay at their sister hotel in Chitwan, with multiple days of activities in the National Park so we booked that too.Read more