As we were unable to get a direct flight from Hanoi to Kathmandu, we opted to stay overnight at the hotel at Bangkok airport as we had an early flight to Kathmandu the following morning.
Normally when we arrive into Nepal we have already filled out our visa form online, but as this hadn't been possible, we had to queue for a computer to complete the form electronically, then queue to pay for the visa and then queue again to get the actual visa stuck in our passports. But eventually we got a taxi to our hotel. It was really nice being back in Nepal - it felt like coming home.
Our reason for coming to Kathmandu was to apply for a tourist visa for Tibet. So on our first morning we went along to the Tibet Vista office where we spent a good couple of hours filling out long and detailed electronic forms which the agent took to the Chinese Embassy. Then later the same day, we returned to the office to sign paperwork which was taken back to the Chinese Embassy along with our passports. We then had a four day wait for the visa to be granted and this morning we collected our passports and visas.
During this period we visited sites of the city; the Garden of Dreams (above), a quiet oasis amidst the noise and chaos of Kathmandu and the following day we walked up to Swayambunath (the monkey temple). Both sites we've visited previously but nice to return to (apart from the 365 steps up to the temple - having already walked uphill to get there (J&G you'll remember that climb!).
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I didn’t realise you had to go through all that red tape for access to Tibet! Has that always been the same I wonder? X x x
Glad you managed to get all the official documentation sorted in the end.
Beautiful photos once again and yes we do remember that climb from the last time! Love and hugs from both of us. xxxx
Happy birthday for today (30th) Paul. Not sure when you will read this. xx