Thursday, 28th October …..

Full of anticipation, we boarded the bus for our sightseeing trip around Kathmandu. In many ways, it’s a typical Asian city – narrow streets, colourful clothes, crowds of people, hawkers, peddlers, and so on.

Our hotel is set among hundreds of little shops and restaurants and you’re always in danger of being run over by a motor bike or taxi if you venture out into the street. Our first stop on our city tour was the Swayambhunath Stupa or Monkey Temple. It was crowded with locals going about their religious duties, tourists and beggars. We were told what to expect but the poverty of this beautiful country is tragic. Too many people have to make their living by begging and it is very confronting for tourists to have to try and ignore the constant pleas for a coin or two. There are also dozens of stalls trying to get their share of the tourist dollar. We all bought hats and prayer flags and one or two of our party bought other mementos.

Durbar Square, the site of the original royal palace, was our next port of call. It is a magnet for tourists and is infested with hawkers trying to sell you everything from a flute to a genuine Ghurka knife Some of the items are beautiful but you have to keep your hands in your pockets as everything has to be brought back to Australia. The tourist police try to shoo the sellers away but they are very persistent and ignore every attempt to move them on.

Self-appointed holy men, or Sadhus, frequent Durbar Square and, for 20 rupees, will condescend to have their picture taken with you. They wear yellow robes and elaborate makeup. There is the occasional female but that is unusual.

We were taken to the house of Kumari, considered to be the current reincarnation of the goddess Taleju. This little girl was selected at 2 ½ years of age and now lives in isolation, carrying out religious duties and making occasional appearances at an upstairs window in the house. She appeared while we were there and we dutifully put 20 rupees in the box to show our gratitude.

Off, then to Pashupatinath This is an extraordinary place, where cremations take place along the banks of the sacred Bagmati River which eventually flows into the Ganges.

We watched as several bodies were prepared for cremation, eventually being placed on the fire and ignited. The pall of thick black smoke must be avoided as it gets into your hair and clothes and hangs about for days. When the cremation is complete, everything is pushed into the river. Small boys sift through the silt at the bottom of the river hoping to find coins or jewellery. This was not a pleasant place to visit.

It was a relief to get back to the bus and head back for lunch. Another rooftop restaurant, and a terrific meal for not many dollars.

We had the afternoon to relax and look at the shops. I bought a few CDs and Marilyn bought a beautiful Nepali shirt. There are a number of shops which sell outdoor gear bearing the badge of North Face. They are very cheap so clearly are knock-offs and sadly nothing comes in my size.

Diane and Rhonda went off on their own this evening to have dinner at the most elegant hotel in Kathmandu while the rest of us found another local restaurant. Marilyn suggested that we all wear Nepali hats so we were a colourful sight as we wandered through the streets. We ate well and were entertained by a Nepali band and a couple of customers who couldn’t resist the music and jumped up to dance. We ended up buying a CD which the band had produced to help a charity.

Marilyn’s new shirt so impressed the other women that we had to stop at the shop on the way home so that they could all buy something similar. Marilyn has shown herself to be a pretty good haggler and knocked the price down by 200 rupees, which is only about $2.80 but it is the principle which counts.