Day 506 - Getting out of Thamel

Bright and early this morning we walked to Patan, that was once a city in its own right but has now been swallowed by the ever expanding Kathmandu city. Liv had already been here twice with Hannah, and so had free tickets to get into the city. The walk there was relatively uneventful - that is once we had breathing room as the walk through Thamel was even busier than usual due to the locals getting ready for Tihar - another important festival in the Hindu calendar that starts tomorrow. Passing over the Kathmandu river gave us nice views of the mountains in the distance and of the flowing rubbish dump.

Once in Patan Liv showed Adam all the best things to see - waiting outside Golden Temple as Adam did his own exploring. Patan's homes are centred around courtyards where children play together and adults attend to daily chores like washing and food preparation. It is very common to see young girls/ toddlers with dark makeup around their eyes - this is quite unusual to us, but they look absolutely beautiful.
In Patan Durbar Square our eyes struggled to take in the busy scene, where old temples are crammed together and people (locals and tourists) crowd around to absorb the atmosphere and the sights. When Liv and Hannah came last week there was a little girl sitting on a chain fence swinging away for hours, and sure enough today the same girl was there enjoying the sunshine and her daily swinging schedule! It's really cool to see the locals almost making themselves a part of the monument, not just leaving them to be spectacles for the thousands of tourists!!

While Adam was focused on taking in all the sights that Liv had already seen, Liv was more focused on checking out the dogs - after her time at KAT every dog she passes is checked for a clipped ear (which means it's been desexed) and its level of health!! Adam thinks this could be a time consuming occupation for her!!

After catching a bus back to Thamel we found lunch and then set about buying the necessary things for our up and coming trek together. This time we'll be going to the Annapurna region, where we haven't been before, which will be fantastic! So after a sightseeing morning we have slipped back into the routine of planning and purchasing!!

Adlibing it abnormally early.