Justine and Dylan’s Travel Blog

Back in Kathmandu now. I say back because, even though there have been no posts yet in Nepal, we have just finished the (18 day) Annapurna Circuit and are now back in Kathmandu for a few days before we head off again! Doesn’t time fly when you… uhm, don’t have access to internet all the time

Seems like a lifetime since we left Japan. Not only because we have been here a few weeks now, but mainly because the contrast in everything is just incredible. I think it’s quite safe to say Japan is one of the wealthiest, efficient, clean and full places I’ve ever been too. Kathmandu on the other hand is well… just full really, and as far as I can tell, probably the poorest I’ve been too. (Then again, I’ve jokingly been told that if Kathmandu feels a little hectic, I should try an Indian city one of these days.) It’s probably just standard South East Asian fare (don’t really know, never having been much further than Singapore and Malaysia), but it takes a little bit to get used to all the touts, daily power cuts, dodgy fake clothes shops and crappy bathrooms. I guess everything is all relative, but unfortunately compared to Japan, it’s all very relative

Get out of Kathmandu though and you soon forget about all these things. The locals are incredibly friendly (although I’m always sceptic of local peoples’ friendliness towards tourists they rely on for an income, it seems quite genuine in the Nepalese countryside),  at every guesthouse they’re able to whip up a feast on something only slightly more advanced than what I’d generally make do with on a camping trip and the scenery is just stunning and incredibly varied. I imagine it’s only a question of time before we find ourselves back here.

On the logistical front, we’ve had to change our plans between here and China a little bit to include a few days stopover in Hong Kong to (hopefully easily) organise a visa for China. I know, I know (”visa, what visa?” were my words just before we set out on the Annapurna Circuit trek…). I basically stuffed up and forgot to organise our China visa’s before we left. Just slipped through with organising moving back to Oz, the wedding and the rest of our 6 month honeymoon. No drama hopefully, but it will be the first test of our usual travel style (being able to travel to a set schedule to maximise what you see along the way, but with little room for error), so see how we go…

Other than that, just a bit of souvenir shopping, catching up on sleep, catching up on news (The Economist interestingly is easier to find here than in central London, every second shop seems to sell it…) and enjoying a few last tasty and cheap meals is all that is left for us to do over the next few days… Hard work, I know