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I have been in Kathmandu since Wednesday night. Upon arrival I
booked a room in the Kathmandu Guest House. It is clean,
comfortable and simple. For $17.00 a night it offers what I need:
a narrow bed with a three inch cotton mattress; a
shower-sink-toilet area and a small writing disk. There are rooms
for as little as $8.00 with access to a community shower and
bathroom, but they were booked and I am happy with what I have.
There are other places where I can stay for as little as $3.00,
but I want some pre-trip comfort.
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Restoration
project funded by the International Community |
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Thamel District
- Kathmandu |
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The Kathmandu Guest House is one of the older Western style hotels in the city, and is
located in Thamel, the old part of town, which now is a Mecca
for merchants and tourists. The wooded lobby with it’s high ceilings
echo the bustle of the trekkers as they check in and out, the floor
littered with their backpacks.
Back home I am notorious for getting lost in a land I call home. Here, I don’t stand a chance. While most spend their time exploring,
it seems I spend my time trying to find my way back. from where ever
I went. It is a city of
confounding mystical mazes: narrow streets that seem to branch out
in any odd direction, one looking identical to the other. Thamel is
actually built, more or less, like the spokes of a wheel radiating from a hub. In
this case someone always seems to be moving the hub. In the old
parts of town, the two and three story structures shoulder closely
the earthen streets. The older buildings, red bricked and sagging
with age, display intricately carved patterns on their wooden
shutters. |
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