My time in Kathmandu was split into 3 periods - I arrived there in early April and spent a few days shopping for my Everest Trek but didn't really explore - I left that for when I returned...
The plan was to take it easy, rest my weary limbs and take in the atmosphere and buzz of this hectic city. Kathmandu used to be a little village at the end of the hippy trail - in the 70's it's where the Magic Bus stopped and the stoned occupants disembarked...!
![[magic-bus1.jpg]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AXFjegXFOek/Suy3aQMSpbI/AAAAAAAAAF4/Pk2C4RdrVFg/s1600/magic-bus1.jpg)
Although it has grown massively Kathmandu still retains that vibe...especially around the wonderfully named Freak Street!
It also has more than it's fair share of wonderful temples several of which are World Heritage sights
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| Colourful Kathmandu |
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| Ancient piece of wood which people nail coins into for good luck before going into the dentist !
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| Kathmandu would be an electician's nighmare!! |
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| I'm guessing that their RHS membership has probably expired!! |
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| Street Temple |
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| Using toes as well as fingers to string up beads! |
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| Cycle rickshaw driver takes a snooze... |
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| Local Nepali headwear |
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| Hugely decorative window... |
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| Kathmandu is full of these courtyard temples... |
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| Copydog! |
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| Durbar Square... |
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| Just the 4 degrees from 4 different countries...not that I'm skeptical :-) |
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| Shy local kid |
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| Hilarious advert for a playgroup! |
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| Kathmandu from the big temple - you can see about 2 miles and then it's all smog! |
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| Buddha eyes at the temple... |
Below...The temples of Patan - an ancient capital of Nepal
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| People like to socialise at the temples... |
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| Trafficking of women is a huge problem in Nepal... |
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| Temple bells - it is traditional to ring these during your visit to the temple |
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| Guardians of the temple |
When I woke the weather was cloudy for the first day in ages...not great for capturing the best photos... I'll stay at the hotel update my blog and maybe go tomorrow I thought.... It was a twist of fate that may have saved me...
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| Bhaktapur - where I had been planning to visit... |
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| The moment the earthquake hit in Bhaktapur |
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| The aftermath in Bhaktapur |
Later that morning just before 12 I felt a thumping on the wall of my room...a few seconds later the room began to violently shake...it was an earthquake! Get under the bed I thought to myself...but it was a bed that was blocked off... get under a table was my next though...too low! By this time the shaking had pretty much stopped. I looked outside - a few people were in the street but I could not see any damage It was only when I googled "Nepal Earthquake" that I realised the significance of what had just happened - a 7.9 magnitude quake had just hit...
Over the next day or so the damage caused by this disaster unfolded - to date nearly 9000 people have died including nearly 500 in the town I had planned to visit on the morning of the quake. Water and electricity supplies stopped and there were very few sources of food. It was time to head to the British Embassy - who were great about taking us in and providing us with a place to sleep - feeding and watering us. The situation was becoming a little chaotic and the Embassy advised to leave Kathmandu as soon as possible.
A natural instinct is to offer help but in Nepal it's easier said than done - the state of dis-organisation and lack of government disaster preparedness means that even if you wanted to help you couldn't. The best thing to do was to move to another less affected area of Nepal and not be a drain on the limited Embassy resources.
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| You had to walk past this building to get to the embassy - I was walking past it when the second earthquake occurred - luckily the bamboo scaffolding held! |
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| Inside the British Embassy |
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| Peaceful Everest Base Camp on the day I visited |
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| 10 days later and this was the scene as the earthquake triggered off a huge avalanche |
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| The devastation after the avalanche...very sadly 19 people lost their lives A photograph I took in Patan on Friday the 24th - |
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| The next day...
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| The square afterwards... |
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| As I left Kathmandu airport big transport planes carrying medical supplies were coming in... |
Visiting developing countries always leaves me appreciating the privilege we all have in UK - we truly are fortunate to live here... this time it was magnified - Nepal is a country with immense social and political problems - a disaster like this has a much greater impact than it would elsewhere in the world. It is thought that these events will cost $10 billion and set Nepal's economic development back 10 years...now that is a shock...
So the end of another great trip...lots of sun, lots of wonderful food, lots of great people and most importantly no British winter!!
Same time next year - and don't forget to Apaga La Tele Y Vive Tu Vida!!
