Kathmandu: Final Part!

After a nail-biting and rather dull wait for the weather to clear sufficiently for planes to land in Lukla, we made it back to Kathmandu. We only had an afternoon before our early morning flight the next day so after the world's most satisfying shower (first running hot water in six weeks!) we headed out for a final wander around the streets of Thamel. Ali said goodbye to his expedition beard and we also went up to the impressive Boudhanath temple. So a short but sweet afternoon, followed by very good pizza in the legendary Fire and Ice restaurant - not exactly authentic Nepali cuisine but pretty darn good!

BEFORE: Ali with unruly expedition beard, the culmination of six weeks hard work. 

The very cheerful chap at the "beautiful hair" barbers gets to work. The shop must have been all of a metre wide!

Don't flinch or you'll be garroted! 

AFTER: Ali looking fresh as a daisy! 

These dogs were not so fresh as daisies. There's a lot of rubbish in Kathmandu :-(

But there's also some stunning places, like this: the Boudhanath Temple. One of the holiest sites in Nepal, people come here from all over to walk round the base of the giant "stupa", many chanting and/or prostrating along the way. We stuck with doing a few laps then admiring it from a rooftop cafe! 

View from the cafe :-)