We decided to return to Kathmandu the day before our flight out – let’s just say that road maintenance is limited. The day was beautiful, our driver was good, so it only took 2 hours. Two hours later, getting into Kathmandu, the driver turned off the highway to the right and headed into a dubious…
After a very bumpy drive about 20 km from Bhaktapur to Nagarkot, we arrived at the Fort Retreat, a very comfortable upgrade. Of course we got up for sunrise over the Himalayas. The photo below would presumably show Mount Everest on a clear day with binoculars. For two days we went out walking for the…
Taxi from Kathmandu to the town of Bhaktapur, 16 km away. Bhaktapur is a medieval city state that had one of the best preserved Durbar Squares with temples and palaces – until the 2015 earthquake. I had booked something vaguely quaint in the mid-price range. Here, that means C$40. It was fine except with nightime…
I can’t get the title to show, but here are more photos of walking in Kathmandu, eastward today.
Everything is covered with dust and many people wear masks. If you are interested, here’s an article expanding on traffic and air quality in Kathmandu. Another piece of context is that there was a devastating earthquake in 2015 from which Kathmandu and Nepal haven’t recovered. Today we set off fresh and brave after a decent…
Now having my passport back in hand, in the nick of time, I am free to travel to India. But first a stop in Nepal, for a workshop. (This post-retirement employment gets really tedious at times. Can you guess that I have mixed feelings?) The plane arrived late in Hong Kong so we missed the…
Some advice if you decide to travel to India – start your visa application a couple of weeks in advance. In theory, it can be done simply and quickly online. In practice, not always so! What a mess this is! I flew home from Toronto 2 days early in order to take care of this…
In my last blog post, I was in Brazil with no luggage. Did any of you readers wonder whether I had even returned? OK, so most of my readers are related to me and knew where I was. That is a interesting but disconcerting thing about internet acquaintances from far away – they can disappear…
Since I have been travelling so much, I am dredging the depths of the Air Canada movie selection. I watched At Chesil Beach – a predictably depressing movie based on the Ian McEwan novel. This was followed by Won’t You Be My Neighbour – a documentary about the career and philosophy of Fred Rogers – aka…
That’s it! Walked 12 km to the bus stop in Cañaveral, and my 2018 Camino was over. I celebrated with a second breakfast of cafe con leche and three doughnuts. The bus to Salamanca took 3 hours and went through some familiar places and some towns I had never been in. In Salamanca I met…
I awoke after a night of fitful sleep, looking forward to my last full day of walking. It was another perfect day. Among the photos you can see clever recycling of old bedsprings as fencing, and also the high speed train construction. Being Sunday, all was quiet. I had a reservation at the Albergue Embalse…
Just as in Córdoba on the May 1 long weekend, accommodation logistics have been difficult because of the WOMAD Festival in Cáceres. I knew I would otherwise be bringing up the rear of the day’s walking delegation and possibly arrive to no room at the inn, so I had a leisurely breakfast and got on…
Uneventful walk today. It was not too hilly or rocky so the 26 km were not so bad. I quite like the albergue here, and enjoyed a return to the excellent bar/restaurant El Rincón de Julia. If the albergue is full (as it is now) Julia can find places in local homes for overflow pilgrims.
