14 July – Leaving Kathmandu

Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. It lies near the confluence of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers, at an elevation of 4,344 feet (1,324 metres) above sea level. It was founded in 723 by  Guna Kamadeva.

We leave Nepal on 15 July by plane for Beijing after spending the last fifteen days in Kathmandu. While two of the group have gone up to the Everest Base Camp others have been helping in an orphanage, gone bungee jumping, trekking or returned to Pokhara to chill out. I have remained in Kathmandu visiting friends and seeing places I have not been to before. It has been a relaxing time though most days I have walked for about five hours. I has rained a lot and the roads have been quite muddy with the result that the mud has splashed up the legs and over trousers. The laundry has done a good business, and the umbrella repairers as well.

Generally though I think that the city is cleaner than I have seen it before, but that is my view! 

Because the time after our arrival in Kathmandu was called 'free time,' most people did their own thing. I stayed in the Hotel Mandap most of the time (I stayed there many times before so was able to negotiate a good room rate) but for the last two nights I have been staying in the Hotel Malla where the General Manager has given me a complimentary room. The hotel is the second oldest in Kathmandu, is on the edge of Thamel which is the best place to stay as far as I am concerned, and is one of the few hotels in Kathmandu with a swimming pool.  

The Malla Pool

The Malla Hotel Gardens

In the years that I have been coming here, this being my sixth or seventh visit to Nepal, it is noticeable how much new building has been done both in the city and in the Kathmandu Valley. There are new buildings everywhere, especially what appears to be expensive blocks of flats. When I asked who could possibly afford to live in them I was told that money comes into the country from family members working in the Middle East and it is this that is used to buy flats and land, all as an investment. In some ways there does not seem to be a shortage of money yet wandering around Kathmandu it is not very obvious in parts. There is a lot of road building in the city, and a lot of mess with the rain now, and this has caused a lot of controversy as the Government has bulldozed down houses, flats and businesses with little warning to the occupants and in some cases no compensation at all.

The following instructions and advice have been received from our leader :

Please ensure that you take all your possessions from the truck . Anything left behind is, as a general rule thrown away. We have also been advised not to carry anything into China relating to the Dalai Lama, Free Tibet etc. and to be cautious with other books relating to China and Chinese culture. At best the Chinese will remove ‘offending’ items, at worst they will not let you into the country. Also remember that once we are on public transport you will need to be on time. Buses and trains wait for no one. If I have pre-booked tickets and you are not there, we leave without you and you will then be responsible for getting yourself to our next destination. I will give everyone the hostel name in each location just in case. 

You may find a bicycle padlock will be useful to lock your bag to the train or bus seat especially if we take overnight trains or buses. Also a small padlock could be useful in some of the hostels that we stay in as some will have lockable boxes for your valuables (though please do use your discretion as to which ‘valuables’ you leave in hostels whether locked or not as nothing is 100% safe).

The proposed itinerary is : 

15, 16, 17 July Beijing (City Central Youth Hostel)
18 July overnight train Beijing to Xian
19, 20 July Xian
21 July overnight train Xian to Chengdu
22, 23 July Chengdu
24 July overnight train to Kunming followed by day train to Lijiang on 25th.
25, 26, 27 July Lijiang (also possible to take a side trip to Tiger Leaping Gorge from here if you so wish)
28, 29 July Dali
30, 31 July Kunming
1 Aug Jinghong
2 Aug - Aim to cross Laos border today

Visa prices based on 2011 prices:

Laos - $37 payable in dollars or CNY (Chinese Yuan)
Vietnam - $60
Cambodia - $25 also payable in VND (Vietnamese Dong)
Thailand - most nations get a 15 day visa free on arrival
Malaysia - free 90 day visa at the border
Singapore - free 30 day visa at the border
Indonesia- $25

The loss of the use of the truck from now on, even though I thought that it was an abomination of a vehicle, will change the feeling of the trip completely. We now will not be able to leave a place when we want or stop when we want, and more important, have no secure facility for our possessions and money. It looks as if we will be a herd of cattle pushed from place to place acting like pack animals with our valuables on our backs. Trains travel will probably be by cattle class, but I would love to be proved wrong! Obviously we will be going into the cheapest hostels that can be found if the warning about not leaving valuables in hostel secure boxes it to be believed. 

We have been told that £1 per day per person is the cost of providing meals. This was done on the truck even if a good percentage of the meals were not really edible (as far as I was concerned) so it will be interesting what we will be fed for the rest of the trip considering the money available and the cost of ready made food. As someone said, we will be losing more weight!

I have no idea what access there will be to the internet in China so there may be a delay in any further posts, but I will do  my best to get them through. Maybe I should have asked the palm reader to read my palm as he obviously said something very surprising to the young lady there.