Temples, red hats and woollen shoes.

Namaste. After a good night's repose at the lovely hotel depicted above I hit the streets on the tourist trail. I'm staying at the Kantipur Hotel in the Thamel district of Kathmandu. It's very nice, quite swanky for this part of town but it also has a very nice eco philosophy. There is no plastic used, water is delivered in jugs not bottles, food is grown organically and they recycle all their waste. It's quite progressive compared to other parts of Kathmandu.

A couple of good coffees later at KC's restaurant I took a self-guided walking tour past numerous temples, historical landmarks and all manner of colourful stalls. Trying to admire 16th century buildings, dodge traffic and tell hawkers to piss off politely becomes quite an art form, however I think being an ambo has taught me some valuable skills in this regard.

The winding streets of kathmandu took me past numerous colourful stalls, bead sellers, sadhus, shrines and hash dealers. Eventually arriving a Durban Square, I climbed to the top of the Nine Story Temple to admire a Communist Rally in the square below. The DFAT website did warn against becoming involved in political rallies, however they also warn against talking to strangers, walking alone and engaging Texans in polite conversation. The rally seemed peaceful enough with the 3000Watt loud speakers and swarms of armed riot police. The sensible thing to do seemed to wander through the crowd, take a spot in a roof-top bar and watch the scene unfold. After being disappointed with the absence of anarchy I headed off in search of woollen boots.

Sunni sells woollen boots. He trots out a familiar story of selling wares made by disabled people from an impoverished village however after chatting for a while he convinced me to purchase some gloves for trekking and some woollen slip-ons for wearing at night after my hiking boots have been put to bed. He then invited me to his home for dinner and a beer. Good on you Sunni! Cheers!

Tomorrow it's whitewater rafting, elephants and potentially a mild dose of malaria! Fun times ahead!