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…

Walked toward the east side 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…

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…