Kathmandu, Nepal

So i made it out of China without even passing through jail! I'm pretty glad i must say.

As soon as i passed the border i had a strange feeling.. for the first time in months, i felt like i was in a well known environment; the smells, the sounds, the music, the colors, the language.. Looks so much like India already.. and it's the first bit of home feel i get in 5 months..
I even start to understand bits and pieces of what people say! It's been a while since that happened!.. not quite though, cause nepalese is different from hindi.. yet close enough so i can communicate with people.. plus everyone speaks good english, and that also is quite a change from the past 3 or 4 months!

At the border I was very luck to meet Bharat, a really nice nepalese guy (which already starts to sound like a pleonasm!).. we hitchhiked together our way from the border, and after a few hours of riding the roof top of a bus, he invited me to his home in Dhulikhel.. sitting on the edge of town, in the middle of a splendid green valley surrounded by hills and snow mountains on the horizon, his house is a very nice and cosy traditional one, with an old style kitchen with an oven made of dirt (i loved the kitchen!). Bharat's family is lovely and extremely welcoming.. I had the greatest time there and couldn't have dreamt of a better introduction to Nepal!.. Thanks a lot Bharat! :-)

The next day we made it to Kathmandu and he helped me find a cheap hotel.

At first i thought that idea of Kathmandu as a hippy freak heaven was obsolete.. but walking up and down "freak street" (officially named like that!) i found some specimens, stuck there since the 70's between drugs and "spirituality", just like i had i Goa.

Aside from that, Kathmandu is a charming city.. beautiful old buildings and tiny streets and alleys, and friendly people everywhere.. too bad it's raining so much these days!

And today was special nepalese festival.. all the women of the country are dressed in beautiful red and gold dresses and sing and dance in the streets and by the temples, and pray for the long life of their husband... (how'd'you like that macho man?)

Two days here to prepare for the Indian VISA, develop some films and check out the city, and i'm already on my way to Pokhara, 200km north/west... i'll let you know..

Happy to be out of the hands of the chinese government!

Tibet as seen (or not) from Kodari, Nepal..

and waterfalls everywhere!
Kodari, first nepalese town coming from Tibet

Kathmandu, down town


Masks on Freak street

Bharat in his office of Kathmandu