First time in Nepal..

Street Art in Kathmandu

I had just finished my final exams and I was already ready to head to Nepal. This was going to be my first graduation trip and I was going with Jivi, a close classmate of mine from University. I tried to catch up with all my friends in Singapore before i left for Nepal since I was wasn't going to return back to Singapore for a whole 3 months. My flight to New Delhi was through Kuala Lumpur by AirAsia. I was greeted by my cousin Mahesh in the airport and stayed the night at my aunt's place. I was really glad to be back in India after nearly a year and eat some delicious home cooked food. We drove around India Gate, Connaught Place and Palika Bazaar taking in the sights and sounds of the "New Delhi". Delhi had changed a lot since the last time I was here and I was taken aback and glad to see such a developed city at the core of my country. The next afternoon, I boarded my flight to Kathmandu by SpiceJet. This is a low-cost no frills budget airline in India though it is not cheap by any standards. 

Students at work

We were picked up at the airport by Ali, a friendly Nepalese guy from our hostel. We stayed the night at Elbrus Home which is just opposite the Himalayan Bank in Thamel. This was a very nice hostel to stay at though it was on the steeper end at 700 NPR a night. Early next day we headed to the Annapurna Conservation Office to get out permits. For once being an Indian paid off and I had to pay just 200 NPR for the permit when my friend who was a Malaysian had to pay 2000 NPR. It was a bandh in Kathmandu that day and many of the shops were closed. There was also a peaceful street art demonstration by some students and this was a great initiative equally fascinating that the paintings represented their protests against the government in a simple and meaningful way. We headed to Pashupatinath temple later that day which is about 6km from Thamel. The tradition of burning the dead bodies next to the temple is carried out over here. After we got back, I came across a Pakoda stall which was next to the Yak Mountain Gear shop. I am giving special mention to this place since the pakodas were delicious and I would come back here everyday after this. It's also really cheap at just 10NPR/4 pieces and is such a bargain for the taste. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone with a stable stomach. 

Pashupatinath Temple Gopuram

Burning dead bodies next to stream

Beginning of trek

Early next day we went to the local bus stop and set off on the bus to Besisahar. We were a little worried about buses not running on account of the bandh but there wasn't any problem. We reached Besisahar and caught a connecting bus to Bhulbhule. On this bus we met 2 German guys, Felix and Max who would later be trekking with us for most part of the circuit. We came across the Permit checkpost at Bhulbhule and after getting it stamped, started our 2 week journey over the great Thorong La!