Kathmandu is changing. As we emerged from the haze above the city new estates of small, orderly houses are replacing the chaotic distribution of buildings and there are many more taller buildings, even in the last two years since my last visit.

No other planes sat on the apron and because we were all organised with our paperwork, I was able to walk straight up to the desk for my visa. Never before have I had such a smooth transition through the airport on arrival. Even the luggage came through quite quickly and we were out meeting Rajendra and Ujjwal much sooner than I expected. Even the front of the airport looked different with some efforts taken to create some order into the way people are managed as they emerge from their journey.

The Life Story Nepal Guest House is an old Newari house that has been lovingly restored and turned into a boutique hotel. It belongs to a Ukranian and a Belorussian. The ceilings are low and the stairs steep and narrow. Rubber has been placed on those beams most likely to cause injury. The rooms overlook a square with similar houses around its perimeter and also a temple. Various religious icons and statuary adorn the square and there is a communal well where people come to collect their daily water supply. Another open balconied building acted as a function centre where there was much music and merriment emerging, filling the square and bouncing back off the walls. Black crows perched noisily and menacingly on the rooftops while pigeons cooed on the ground, picking their way amongst the sleeping dogs.

That evening we walked up to Patan Durbar Square, now still in the throes of major restoration following the 2015 earthquakes, and beyond to Swotha where we planned to have our evening meal.

The following morning, a combination of body clock misalignment, bright sunshine, temple bells, barking dogs and cawing crows ensured that I woke up quite early. After a good rooftop breakfast we walked the short distance to the REED office where we met all the staff. They had prepared a couple of presentations for the group on the work of their organisation and on possible future developments of their programmes in schools of the Taplejung District, in the far NE of Nepal.

After lunch we took taxis into Thamel, a journey that took considerably longer than it should for the distance because of the gridlocked roads. Travel in the city is getting more and more congested despite road widening and improvements that have occurred in recent years.

In Thamel we visited Shona’s to buy some kit and then went to Northfield Cafe for a beer. The roads in the heart of Thamel are now pedestrianised, making it much safer and more pleasant to walk around. The site next door to the Northfield Cafe that used to be the wonderful Pilgrims book store, sadly burnt to the ground a few years ago, is now a new shopping mall, with plush, brightly lit shops, so out of character with old Thamel, but now, gradually, becoming the norm.  Even the Northfield Cafe has undergone change, extended its area and tidied itself up a bit.

Knowing our time in Kathmandu was limited at either end of this trip, I suggested that we walk down to Durbar Square. There are several in the group for whom this is their first visit and it would be a shame not to make the most of their time.

It now costs NRs1000 to visit and as soon as we approached the kiosk we were pounced upon by guides who were reluctant to accept, “No thank you,” as an answer. We were also pounced upon to buy all sorts of tat by street vendors. Fending them off spoils the occasion.

The late afternoon sunlight was superb, highlighting the carved wood of the pagodas.
As we walked closer to the square the damage from the earthquake became more devastating. Many of the remaining pagodas are propped up while others are being rebuilt from the ground up. The old royal palace is sheathed in scaffolding and sheets that hide the full impact of the quake. Kumari’s palace was remarkably undamaged while everything around it collapsed. With the help of a guide who, although turned down by us, continued to follow and chip in, we managed to time our visit with a balcony appearance of The Living Goddess, Kumari. This particular living goddess is three years old and has been in residence since last October. As she nervously looked down upon us you could not help but think that this young girl’s life has been manipulated. For what? A life apart from reality through her most important years and then not able to adjust into normality once she has fulfilled her role.

The taxi back to Patan was interesting as none of the drivers really knew where they were going and as the guest house is not accessible by vehicle, they had not heard of it. Eventually, we made it back.

That night we ventured out to a traditional Newari restaurant for a rooftop terrace meal while watching distant lightening light up the night sky.

In the night the Arna beer, a new brand in my experience, gave me a beer induced headache.

In the morning I was up and going quite early and left Tim purring gently. When I returned at 7.00 to make sure he was up and going, he was still sleeping. Waking him, I busied myself with a bit of last minute sorting if kit before visiting the bathroom. When I emerged, Tim had gone up to the roof for breakfast, locking me in the room. It took an age to attract attention. I tried shouting up from my open window, whistling and phoning various members of the group, none of whom answered. Eventually, one of the staff heard me and got Tim to release me from my prison. I will take my revenge but I will not rush. I will bide my time and keep him on edge for as long as I can.

Predictably our flight to Bhadrapur was delayed. It would not be Nepal if it was on time. By the time we left Kathmandu we we three and a half hours behind schedule having spent two and a half hours in the departure lounge, thirty minutes sitting on a bus outside departures and a further thirty minutes sitting in the plane awaiting instructions to take off. By the time we were in the air the cloud had built up sufficiently over the high peaks that they were rendered invisible. Such a shame as this is probably the only opportunity people will have to see them.

On arrival in Bhadrapur the thirty degree heat hit us as we emerged from the plane. It probably then took us a further thirty to forty minutes to load the kit on to the roof of our two land cruisers before we could begin to eat into our journey up to Taplejung. After about an hour we stopped at a restaurant for some late lunch (it was now 4.00pm). We had resigned ourselves to accepting that this would be our only meal and that what we had would suffice for both lunch and dinner.

Once we left the plains of the south we began a series of climbs and descents on largely a series of hairpin bends. Distances covered are not huge but when managing to achieve an average of about 30km per hour it becomes a long haul.

Soon after starting the climb the light began to fade but it stayed light just long enough for us to appreciate we were travelling through tea country, the centre of which is Ilam, a town that seemed to take an age to reach.

After some time I was asked if we wanted to eat but nobody seemed interested in another long stop; we just wanted to reach our destination. However, in my decision making, I did not take into account the drivers or the Nepalis accompanying us. So, we stopped at Phidim a little before 10.00pm where they were fortunate enough to find somewhere open where they could get some dal bhat while we just had tea and biscuits. It was New Year’s Eve after all and we did have some rather jubilant Nepalis celebrating the fact on the next tables.

The last leg of the journey, two and a half hours to Taplejung, was more of the same. At one point our headlights picked out two rather scrawny wolves scurrying across the road.  We came across large sections of road where there had been huge landslides during last year’s monsoon. One must have been at least a kilometre across and will have inevitably cut Taplejung off from the rest of the world for some considerable time. No wonder the rebuild programme in schools and the supply of materials for the water project were delayed.

We eventually arrived at our hotel, the Mewa Khola Resort Hotel, at 1.30 in the morning. Construction of it was completed when we were here two years ago and is probably the best hotel in Taplejung, certainly better than any I had stayed in previously. The beds are very hard but at least I did not have to share it with Tim, just the room.

Bright sunshine greeted us a few hours later. After breakfast Tim, Kate, Ian and myself popped into town to sort out Nepali mobile phones. Thankfully we had Dinesh with us to make the purchases much smoother than they might otherwise have been.

While I returned to the hotel the others went on further and visited the hospital. I remember it as being a very dismal and dark place, scruffy in the extreme. From there comments it seems to be much better. The staff they spoke to were enthusiastic and were committed to their work, unlike the District Medical Officer I had previously met, who really did not want to be there.

From there they visited the courthouse, and although they could not go in, they could go into the gardens which overlook the prison, provided they did not take any photos. They had one of the warders talk to them and they learned there were 109 inmates, largely serving time for either murder or rape. One can only assume that these were acts of violence induced by the consumption of alcohol.

The restaurant I was hoping to go to for lunch had been burnt down, a common occurrence it would seem in Taplejung, so we ate in our own hotel and had some very tasty paneer moms, although they took at least an hour and a half to materialise after ordering.

Tomorrow we start our trek to Yamphudin. Looking forward to it.