The biggest thing to be worried about at the border crossing was having my "Lonely Planet" guide confiscated - the authorities don't like the style of some of it's references to Tibet! Luckily mine wasn't found wrapped in my hoody!
Immediately as we started to cross the border, the Napelese people assumed I was Nepalese, though I was interested to find that I could communicate in Punjabi,
It was a shame that we couldn't take pictures at the border crossing - it was one of the most beautiful border crossings I have seen, a huge river-cum-waterfall gushing down the middle of it!
Louise, Jian, Dong Juan and I shared a jeep to Kathmandu with Jovitza (Serbian) and Wolfgang (German) - left to right in picture. It just so happened that Wolfgang needed to get to India as soon as possible! Perhaps a speedy car share to be had?
The scenery across the border and into Nepal was amazing - definitely means it's a country I'd like to go back to! We could finally see where the noises of gushing water were coming from! The scenery did include some VERY large beetles as well as villages. I was also pleased to see the appearance of Indian "Tata" branded trucks and buses... Nepal felt very much like India, and it felt like the home-coming straight!
We had to change cars either side of a land slide, and carry our bags across the mud and gushing water. That was certainly interesting!
Kathmandu itself was very busy, and the hotel had a nice view across the roof-tops. We had supper as a group - I tried "Himalayan Tea".
It's a shame that most of the time there was spend on logistics. Wolfgang and I found last minute "Tatkal" train tickets to our respective destinations (he was going to Mumbai), and then did some late evening haggling with some tour companies to get a private car to the border in the shortest possible amount of time... more on that tomorrow! I was almost resigned to having to fly to Amritsar, so it was good to get the train tickets. It did mean a very hurried goodbye to Louise since departure was at 7am the next morning!
