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The subject is translated from a popular phrase in Nepali that is uttered when it is raining and sunny at the same time.

Crossing the border from India I adjusted my watch 15 minutes forward to Nepali time. Where as India makes things difficult by being 5 1/2 hours ahead of GMT, Nepal takes the situation from irritating to absurd with an extra fifteen minutes, making them GMT + 5 3/4 hours. There might be more to this difference than is apparent.

After spending 25 hours on a bus from the border at Kakarbhitta I finally arrived in Kathmandu. The journey was long and arduous due to a curfew imposed by the army at one point, so we all got out and slept on the tarmac and secondly by the clean-up operation resulting from a landslide on the only road into the valley. It could have been worse though as just a few weeks before it had been taking 24 hours to traverse 36 km's on the worst stretch of road!

Kathmandu, a cosmopolitan city that seems a million miles away from the civil instability rocking the rural areas of the nation. Such a refreshing change after over five months in India. There are bars here that men AND women attend, and they are open areas full of music and entertainment, I even saw an Eagles covers band, not the dark, exclusively male drinking pits of India. There are supermarkets, proper supermarkets, and there are international brands everywhere, Nepal seems to trade with many Southeast Asian economies such as the Phillipines, Malaysia and Thailand more than it does with India. Although this a could be the result of some of the pretty aggressive competitive tactics that its giant subcontinental neighbour employs. And it doesn't seem to enjoy much respite from the other super-power to the north either. I situated myself in the tourist district of Thamel, extremely well-organised and reminiscent of the Khao Sanh road area in Thailand and used this as a base for my excursions, both to popular sites of intrerest as well as a series of visits to both the Pakistan and British embassies, in an effort, eventualy successful to be granted a Pakistan visa. This was useful as I uncovered the British Council, a learning resource centre with copies of the daily papers (even though it is around 5am in the UK when they appear here) and the BBC World broadcast on a giant screen as well as cheap and good coffee. It seems to be used only by over-priviliged Nepali teens in fashionable western clothes and with slick hair all looking to apply to study in the UK.

The old town of Kathmandu is amazing to walk around, like being transported back 200 years. The paved streets are lined with temples, shrines and monasteries that somehow seem more mystical than those of India and there is barely any trash in the gutters. Clustered in the many squares of the old town are vendors selling aromatic herbs and spices, kitchenwares and other products.

The centre of the old town is the Durbar Square, former site of the Royal Palace and packed with temples and shrines. Spending an hour or so sitting up on the steps of one of the temples is a great way to witness the life of the city wandering by. Highlights inside the square include a gleaming statue of Garuda, a shrine to Kali and the Taleju temple. Running south of the square is the old hippie haven of Freak Street, although these days it is a sorry melee of a few guesthouses and restaurants hanging on, a gaggle of travellers trying to relive the glory of past times and looking down on those coming from Thamel in the way that those of you who have travelled will recognise as the "real traveller" look.

There are a few interesting sites in the suburbs of Kathmandu also. The giant white and gold stupa of Bouda, the largest in Nepal, dazzles in the sun and is covered by prayer flags futtering in the breeze. Of course around the base of the stupa are many prayer wheels and, walking in a clockwise direction of course, one can make a token prayer to the gods without uttering a word. The site is however very popular with rich pilgrims not just from western countries but from Nepal and India also. This has lead to the proliferation of souvenier shops that surround the base of the stupa, all selling "authentic" Tibetan artefacts at prices vastly inflated from those in downtown Kathmandu.

Bouda

Just a short walk back towards Kathmandu from Bouda is the temple of Pushupatinath, the most important in Nepal, regularly visited by the King in order to pray for luck before undertaking journeys. The temple itself is closed to non-Hindus but of course for a fee considerably higher than that for citizens of SAARC countries one can enter the grounds. Or you can wander around the back and enter via the cow sheds for no charge. The complex houses many chorten (small stupa), a terrace on the opposite side of the river from the temple as well as the temple itself and the ghats. Some of these ghats are burning ghats for cremation and, although not quite as impressive as Varanasi, it is a surreal experience to sit and watch a body burn on a pile of wood by a river, no one crying and with the eldest son being shorn of hair on his head within view of the cremation. Even more surreal an image was that the cows had decided that the unused ghats were ideal for laying in, covering their bodies with the ashes left over from yesterdays cremations.

On the opposite side of the city is the famous temple of Swayambunath, commonly known as the monkey temple due to its large population of simians relieving tourists of their offerings and other foodstuffs. The site is quite cramped and again it is ahrd to appreciate it when there are so many shops around selling bootleg CD's and DVD's but the view back over Kathmandu is pretty spectacular. And this is the temple where one of the most famous images of Nepal comes from, that of the "peace eyes" of the buddha set against gold coloured bricks.

Swayanbhunath

After a few days sight-seeing in Kathmandu I headed west to the city of Pokhara, the second largest in Nepal. It is not really so much of a city as a tourist resort, although again the tourism is shared amongst domestic and Indian tourism and that of the western backpackers and trekkers. The centre-piece of town is the Phewa Tal Lake and on the banks of the lake a cluster of hotels, shops and restaurants has developed. Of course without the backdrop of a big historical city the tourism here seems far more obtrusive and one soon tires of walking up and down the main street looking at the same things in the same shops and evading the constant offers of drugs and, surprisingly, girls from the street hawkers. It had a similar feel to that of Panajachel in Guatemala but without the volcanoes in the background. There should be a range of snowy Himalayan peaks instead but however the weather conditions prevented this. I did walk up to Sarankot, the highest point in the area and a climb of 500m or so in order to prepare for trekking the Annapurna circuit. I ascended the long way up, through the town. The view was impressive but on the way down I took the more direct route back to the lake. I met a guy along the way who had been robbed on the trail the day before. This of course made me descend quickly and I bumped into more people who were trying to set a trap for the robbers. At the bottom someone had painted a sign advising not to climb with less than 6 people. A similar sign a the top might be helpful! I also heard reports of robberies from hotel rooms and this doesn't surprise me, it is just an example of the strange atmosphere in the town. I think the political problems in the country have hit tourism hard and this is having a variety of effects on the people of Nepal, especially outside of Kathmandu.

Unperturbed however, I set off the following day for Besi Sahar, the jumping off point on the Annapurna Circuit trek. Due to my bus being cancelled and being herded onto another one I didn't arrive until 12:30 but quickly got under way on the trek. After a short while I met up with two friendly Czech sisters, Monika and Lenka, and we spent the next few days trekking together. Walking between the villages and amongst the thick foliage and jungle terrain, ascending and descending hundreds of metres each day. Highlights in the first part of the trek include being woken up in the middle of the night by a small earthquake, the bushels and bushels of wild marijuana growing all over and passing the large groups of goats, pack horses and Sherpa porters along the trail. At a certain point and elevation the terrain changed from jungle to a more alpine forest, the trail became more rock-strewn and the air cooler and less humid. I lost the Czech girls somewhere along the way during the fourth day and trekked on, eating dry instant-noodles for lunch, en route to Manang at 3570m. Manang is a popular acclimatisation spot but I was so depressed by this town, it looks so historical, with narrow winding alleys full of donkeys and the usual village wells but is full of western amenities such as video halls and even internet access (although at 20 dollars an hour!) that I left the very next day. In fact I did not even leave the second floor of the guest house during my whole time there. The further away from the road one treks means paying gradually more money each night for food. The menus are exactly the same all along the trek, printed by some sort of authority but the prices rise in increments of 5-10 rupees at each village by the time trekkers reach the foot of the pass the prices are obscene, maybe five times that of Kathmandu or Pokhara.

Ascending to the Thorung-La

I met up with an American guy, Grayson, in Manang and we trekked the remained of the circuit together, ascending first up to Thorung Phedi, at 4400m the foot of the pass, just in time to get inside the guest house before a snowstorm, which felt quite surreal despite being surrounded by snow on the peaks above us, but was an auspicious or ominous sign? After Manang there are no villages and nothing seems to grow in this climate and at this altitude. The only signs of life are a few cabins open for trekkers and porters, populated only by males who lead a solitary and lonely life, during the low season at least. The next morning we trekked over the Thorung La pass at 5416m, higher than Mont Blanc, with just a slight hint of altitude sickness and celebrated with a nip of Scotch and half a Snickers each before descending down the other side to the pilgrimage town of Muktinath. Being a pilgrimage town it was full of rich Nepalis and Indians who had flown in to visit the temple and shrine. This temple was interesting but not being Hindu I could not appreciate the effort of flying up here in the middle of the Himalaya to visit it. Leaving Muktinath the next stop was a short detour to the village of Kagbeni, perhaps the most beautiful of the trek. It is situated right on the edge of the Mustang region and is as far as it is permitted to go before a $700 permit is required. A small taste of Mustang culture and also a strangely Mediterranean feel to the village with a river running through and hanging verdant trees all around. The trek from Kagbeni to Jomsom was perhaps the worst of the whole trek as we suddenly met winds stronger than I have ever felt before tearing up the wide unprotected river valley. It really was a case of mind over matter as many times my body was ready to give up and lay to rest along the cliffside, in view of the construction workers trying, ridiculously, to build a road. The next day was the longest as we trekked for 11 hours down from 2680m at Marpha to just over 1100 at Tatopani. The trek was depressing as the full extent of the construction work became apparant. They really are going to build a road all the way up to Muktinath and one of the worlds most famous treks will be ruined, not to mention the disasterous impact on the environment. These villages have lived for years without roads but now it seems the lust for modernisation knows no boundaries. One sees TVs on the backs of porters and in each vilage there are some kids walking with a pimp shuffle, an Eminem t-shirt and a bandanna or baseball cap hanging at some absurd, but fashionable angle. And this is progress? With some relief we arrived in Tatopani and were met by hot springs, perfect to rest aching bones and soles (and souls?) whilst watching a lightening storm tearing up the valley, but a safe distance away, at least until we left the pool! Since Muktinath we had been trekking in a valley between the ranges of two of the worlds highest mountains, Dhaulagiri at 8167m and Annapurna I at 8090m, it almost seemed as if we were walking underground at times.

Thorung-La

Back in the tropical zone the weather was indredibly humid once more and after a few days of descent we found ourselves with a day of ascending over 1000m. This was hard, I could not get out of first gear, the springs had seized my muscles and it seemed everytime we ascended 100m we crossed a pass and descended 50m. But we made it to Ghorepani and the next day witnessed sunrise over Annapurna and perfect views of Dhaulagiri. This was the last day of trekking, we came down slowely with another couple of Americans and celebrated with wine, steak, ice cream and beer for dinner. I completed the Annapurna Circuit in 10 days. Most people take around 16-21 days, I was not going quickly I just got used to 8-11 hours of trekking each day, and when you have Himalayan views to spur you on, who wouldn't?

After a couple of days R and R in Pokhara I headed down to the Terai (the plains) to the Royal Chitwan National Park. Apart from being stiflingly hot and humid, necessitating five showers per day, it was depressingly quiet, due to its being low season, the monsoon coming and also a Maoist bus bomb that killed around 20 people the week before, a fact I was blissfully ignorant of in the mountains and only read about as I boarded the bus to Kathmandu! The National Park was impressive and I managed to spot some deer, monkeys and one-horned rhino, the highlight of the trip. Unfortunately no "bloody great big Bengal Tiger", the parks population of this elusive beast making itself scarce. I did think I heard a Tiger growling but it turned out to be an elephant. Don't laugh, did you realise elephants growled?

Hunting Rhinos in the Royal Chitwan

And so now I am back in Kathmandu. I have spent a week here not doing very much, just relaxing with the odd bit of sight seeing. My impression upon my return has not been so positive. I have noticed more street kids than before and they are more aggressive than those in India. Not with their approach but to each other in general and I have realised that this may be due to the fact that they scour through piles of rubbish looking for copper to sell and beg from tourists in order to by solvents to sniff. This is not a problem I have ever come accross on the subcontinent and it is depressing to see it here. Added to the constant offering of "hashhish, friend?" by the touts and it soon creates a more sinister, less secure feeling than India. One advantage over India is the lack of importance of the caste system. Whereas in India it is seen as some sort of divine right to look down upon people lower than you here in Nepal it does not play such an important role. This is most easily seen in the interactions between visiting Indian tourists (exclusively higher caste if they can afford a holiday in a foreign country) and locals. In India it is common to bark orders at waiters without looking at them, to change this order a dozen times with no please or thank you and expect a respectful and efficient service. Indians trying this in Nepal get a shock, the waiters over here won't stand for that attitude.

Back to sight-seeing. The two excursions I have made have been to the towns of Patan and Bhaktapur, both in the Kathmandu Valley. Both are ancient cities, Patan apparantly the first in Nepal, and have impressive Durbar Squares and temples and monasteries hidden in side-streets. Patan is more like a suburb of Kathmandu these days, I walked it and never seemed to leave the city, and so outside of the old centre it could be anywhere on the subcontinent. Bhaktapur is more atmospheric, isolated and the centre is pedestrianised (just like Norwich!) so it seems like being transported to some medieaval era as one walks around the centre. There is a $10 "entrance fee " but avoiding the many gates and guards is a challenge that just adds to the enjoyment of the visit.

Still in Kathmandu I have been waiting for my group visa permit to enter Tibet, I am now going to pick it up and I should on my way tomorrow morning.