Breakfast in the hotel ground-floor courtyard was painfully slow. We walked to Thamel thereafter. The shops were a mix of hiking apparel/gear, souvenirs and cafes. During the walk, we saw a few of vacant lots with signs of destruction. All but one could have been interpreted as normal construction or demolition in a third world country.
My main aim was to get some local money from the ATMs. We found an ATM gallery with machines from a good selection of banks. Most imposed a local fee of NPR500 (USD5) and one a fee of NPR700. Fortunately Prabhu bank imposed no local fee but had a lower withdrawal limit of NPR10000 (rather than NPR35000 as with some of the others).
We popped into the Garden of Dreams for look-see, wee and rest before continuing to the former Palace. At the palace, I pretended to be mainland Chinese to qualify for Chinese/SAARC pricing of NPR250 instead of NPR500. This wasn’t the only place (as I realised later) that Chinese enjoy the privileges of SAARC nationals (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka etc).
The palace was like any other that had been opened up to the public: function rooms, bedrooms, portraits and lavish furnishing. The difference with this one was the massacre area where the royal family was wiped out by the prince. It appeared to have occurred in an annex area which has now been demolished.
We taxied back to the hotel for a shower and rest before re-emerging late in the cooler part of the afternoon. We wandered to Durbar Square but with the steep entry fee of NPR750, we opted to come back another day. We could have got the ticket stamped for the next day but we didn’t want the hassle.
Dinner was at a Tibetan cafe back in Thamel called Yang Ling (like my friend from school). We opted for chilli chicken and rice, plus chilli chicken momo. The latter turned out to be chicken momo with a chilli dressing which was absolutely gorgeous, just like the other dish.
Conclusion for the day was that the damage in Kathmandu was only a fraction of what I had expected. No wonder some airlines weren’t offering free reschedules and free cancellations. Just too bad if you had been flying to Kathmandu to go hiking in the badly-affected areas though.
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- First glimpse of Kathmandu after 21 years by daylight. No visible sign of earthquake damage.
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- Thamel street scene.
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- Signs of earthquake damage were few and far between.
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- Souvenirs for sale in Thamel.
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- Thamel street scene.
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- Thamel street scene.
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- Garden of Dreams; cracked buildings.
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- Garden of Dreams; cracked buildings.
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- Garden of Dreams.
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- Narayanhity Palace where no photos were allowed.
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- Around our neighbourhood south of Thamel.
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- Around our neighbourhood south of Thamel.
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- Around our neighbourhood south of Thamel.
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- Around our neighbourhood south of Thamel.
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- Around our neighbourhood south of Thamel.
