They did the job. Their organization felt haphazard when I was there and I was frustrated with them several times. But in the end, the important things were taken care of.

I had decided to get a visa ahead of time, just in case, since I'd heard stories about people being turned away at the border. Luckily, neither the Nepalese Embassy nor the tour company's office were a very long walk from stops on Delhi's Blue Line. No one was in line for the visa, though the process took a few hours.

As for the visa? It turned out I needn't have worried. After the flight landed and I entered the modest airport terminal (which had dark carpeting, bricks, and wooden columns, looking generally like the inside of a house from the 60s) the lines were short. The other western-looking folk headed toward the visa-on-arrival sign. But the line for foreigners holding a visa was empty. Literally, just me.

Fastest airport experience ever.

I was quick to exit the airport. In fact, I was so fast, I think I was too early for the person who was supposed to pick me up. I did get a ride to Pilgrim's Guest House but I'm pretty sure it was someone else's ride, as the friendly dudes did not know my name. I first checked all the signs people were holding at the exit, but since no one else had my name or the tour company written on them (I walked up and down the line twice), I gave up and went with the original duo since they at least had the same hotel name on their sign. When I expressed my concern that I was taking another arriving passenger's lift, they were like, "no problem, no worries," with lots of smiles which is kind of how Nepal ended up seeming to me. A laid back version of India.

Here are some of the impressions I got from Kathmandu, just from looking out the windows:

I think a person arriving fresh from a Western country would otherwise have a similar reaction as they would to India. A lot of people and noise. And just as chaotic of traffic.

The hotel was in a good location, in the Thamel area of the city, near the most popular area for visitors. The hotel wasn't exactly high standards (i.e. I was hoping to avoid having to actually use the provided towel), but I doubt any of them in this area are. The staff were very friendly even if every person on every shift kept asking if I was paying or my tour company was paying. Also, it confused me to no end that there was no trash can in the bathroom. I was under the impression that you don't put toilet paper down the toilet anywhere in this entire region, but apparently you could here (?) My other hotels had very obvious, large trash cans near the toilet.

One of the first items on my agenda was to change money. I had not been able to change my Indian rupees for Nepali rupees at the airport in Delhi (wha...?) so that was the first obstacle. You'd think, since they're both called rupees, they'd work better together. I had earlier read that Indian currency is a "hard" currency in Nepal and often accepted as legal tender, which would have otherwise been very convenient if they had not prohibited any bill over 100, or $2, to be brought into the country. Apparently there are strict rules about carrying Indian rupees into Nepal because of counterfeiting. So in the end I had to convert my Indian rupees to US dollars in India then convert the dollars into Nepali rupees here. The bad news is that I am now losing money in two transactions instead of one. The good news is that finding a place to change money here is quite easy! And Nepali currency, being roughly 100 to 1, makes for very easy mental converting.

I got the impression after all my money transactions, and the fact that you get double the Nepalese rupees that you would Indian for a dollar, that Nepal must be very inexpensive.

It's not. At least not compared to India.

I was supposed to have a "city tour" on arrival. I had to call the local agent and coordinate with the hotel but finally, after I had already lost a precious 1.5 hours of daylight, I got a driver. He was very nice, but spoke minimal English.

He first took me to probably the most famous place in Kathmandu. Monkey Temple.

The hilltop temple is actually called "Swayambhunath" and, according to Wiki, the monkeys here are holy. I generally stayed out of the way of the monkeys so they did not make off with my camera or such, but was glad to see that there were indeed monkeys here at Monkey Temple.

The view is awesome. I had no idea the temple overlooked the city. Bonus!

We then drove to Patan, the town directly south of Kathmandu, though the city itself never ended. Patan had a neat feel. A little older, a little better kept up. It felt very historical.

Our destination was the UNESCO World Heritage Site Durbar Square. "Durbar Square" is a generic Nepal term to mean any square or plaza near a palace, so you will see lots of squares called this, to my initial confusion.

The buildings here, most about 400 years old, are in an interesting mix of styles and very well preserved, despite being often made of wood. Some look like Buddhist temples like you'd see in China or Japan and others have an Indian flavor.

The driver's elderly cousin or uncle (or something) wanted to give me a tour. Once I paid my five bucks entry fee, I let him, but he wasn't very good and I hurried him along when he went into way too much detail without giving the broad strokes.

The left photo above is Mul Chowk I believe, which is not always open according to my guide. The gold doors were nifty and all, but what I enjoyed most in Durbar Square was the woodwork everywhere.

I can't believe this wood had lasted so long. I especially loved the window-frame-looking ones.

One of the souvenirs I did end up buying was a mini wood window frame since I liked them so much. When I stepped into a small shop that specialized, the guide just kept right on walking. I called after the old man, not particularly enthusiastically, but he did not appear to hear me. So I lost him for a while.

The guide had, just before that, done one cool thing. He had taken me to a temple a few blocks off the square that I probably would not have found on my own.

The out-of-the-way temple is called The Golden Temple...

Since I had lost my tour guide (darn) and had pretty much seen most of the square, I decided to take a roundabout way back to where I remembered the parking lot being.

Nepal, I've heard, is full of treasures like this. Running into old statues, shrines, mini-temples, pagodas or carved holy relics just standing on the side of the road is not unusual. Often, because of vandalism I'm guessing, the bigger ones are fenced off. But they are still there, standing through the ages, not having been knocked down by relic-destroying invaders or condominium developers.

That's pretty awesome.

After walking a bit further with no sign this road ever connected to where I began, I finally turned around. Even then, it was a little confusing, but I did make it back to Durbar Square where my tour guide found me (I guess that means I have to pay him now.) I then found my driver and hopped back in the taxi.

This is one place it would have been really useful to have a tour guide. But not only did I see no guides, I also thought my tour organization was supposed to provide one so was a bit stubborn on the point. My driver kindly walked me around, though he spoke only a little English. Essentially everything I knew about the temple was what I read in Lonely Planet beforehand and online afterward.

The place looked so interesting, I wanted to know what it was all about. After I paid the astonishing 1,000 rupees (US$10) to enter the World Heritage Site, I wandered randomly with the little information I had. There is a river alongside that I think is used to dispose of cremation ashes. Lonely Planet implied it was rude to take photos, since ceremonies are done right by the river, but from where I stood, it was not clear what was rude. So I avoided taking photos anywhere near the river. There were other, colorful wooden temples on the other side of the river that lots of people were gathered at. Maybe they meant over there? I did not see a way to get over there.

On my side, up into the hill, there were a lot of repeating stone temples. And there were a ton of monkeys.

I'm curious to the purpose of all these tiny stone temples in rows and columns.

The Hindu complex had a fair number of people walking through it. And a lot of smoke. And trash. (Maybe the smoke was from burning the trash?) And there was an abundance of one unusual thing I don't think I've seen elsewhere:

"Sadhu" or holy men.

Several old, skinny, ascetic-looking men with painted faces, chalked near-nude bodies, and long hair tried to get my attention as I walked about. My driver knew enough English to explain that they wanted me to pay them to take their photo. Although they were tempting (Google image these guys, they are pretty interesting looking), I declined, mostly on principal. I already paid $10! That was also my argument to the few beggars on the stairs who were irritated that a white person - I saw few white tourists - was passing them by.

By the time we returned to the taxi, it was getting late. Not quite sunset, but not really time for Kathmandu Durbar Square, which was also on the list. So he took me back to my hotel and I gave him a nice tip.

I'd purchased pastries the previous evening to eat on the bus but as it turned out, there were a variety of snacks for sale (crackers, breads, chocolate, juice, soda) along the crowded street. I even got myself a hot chai, yum. The man and woman in front of the boiling vat of tea (only 20 rupees for a cup) were super friendly and even told me the proper local way to order a chai (which I could barely repeat at the time and don't remember now, but it was cool that they taught me!)

Somehow, I lucked out. The bus was relatively empty - just over 1/2 full maybe - and no one sat next to me.

Then the seven-hour bus journey to Pokhara commenced!

I expected the roads to be steep and scary. Maybe because of my Leh experience, I did not find it so hardly at all. The ride was fine. The road was mostly paved, though didn't often have lines. The scenery was very nice, especially the part of the trip in the river valley. The mountains were surprisingly green for December and often terraced. Worth some photos.

We did get stuck in traffic a few times, but nothing that lasted too long.

Lunch wasn't bad. Nothing exciting. Rice, lentils, simply veggie curries. Did the job. I also took a nice cup of chai for 35 rupees.

Lots of other tourist buses stopped here, so there were opportunities to meet other travelers. (Though 30 minutes goes quick!) The best part was the gorgeous view looking out into the deep mountains.

We saw houses not too long after that and entered into Pokhara.