Day 42 Kathmandu

Day 42                        Thursday 6^th October 2011                 Kathmandu

After a leisurely breakfast we walked back to Thamel to see what chance we had of getting on to Sunday’s flight to Calcutta.

The travel agent made a few phone calls & it became clear that Sunday’s flight was not an option. The next flight to Calcutta was not until Tuesday.

We then decided that we would get a domestic flight to Bhadrapur ($157) near the Indian border & we could then get across to New Jaipaiguri from where we could get a train to Calcutta.

The flight to Bhadrapur was tomorrow about midday by Buddha Air. The travel agent reassured us that Buddha Air was one of the oldest airlines in Nepal & had a good reputation. How we would get from Bhadrapur to the border & then on to New Jaipaiguri remains to be seen!

Remnant of "old" Kathmandu

We then wandered around & reached Durbar Square which is now a world heritage site so 300 rupees to get in. Lots of Sadhus waiting at the entrance in their yellow robes & painted faces waiting for tourists to pay money to photograph them.

At some stage during the day we both received the “red dot” (tikka) on our foreheads. Somehow I managed to smudge mine so by the end of the day I ended up with a very blotched forehead! We noticed that many locals didn’t have a mere dot but a very elaborate work of art on their foreheads.

Shrine

Many of the stalls around Durbar were closed for the holidays. One stall holder took us to his godown where he had a few antique pieces. We bought a small Tibetan transportable temple, much like a carry purse but with a deity inside a silver frame. Bargain hard is the strategy here as prices are all over the place.

For those hippies of the 70’s & travellers of the 80’s, Freak Street is still here! You’d hardly recognise it these days though.

We had dinner at the Yak Restaurant which specialises in Tibetan dishes. The momos were excellent.

Laurette had been trying to get dumplings all through China and Tibet and they always seemed to be unavailable, at least now we had a plate full, very good, particularly with a little chilli sauce.