In All the Pollution We find A Beautiful Garden

Previous page - More sightseeing in Kathmandu

 

Pollution in Kathmandu

Pollution here is seriously bad. We didn’t realize this before we arrived there. Here is some interesting reading about the pollution problems the city faces.

It is so bad even the old buildings are suffering from it. Read more scientific information here air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley. It is horrifying to read. No wonder people are born here with disabilities.

 

Kathmandu’s Garden of Dreams

Back home I had read a little about Kathmandu’s Garden of Dreams. Driving back to Kathmandu in the taxi yesterday I had realized just how close to us it was! It was a walk of barely five minutes from our hotel.

We donned our hats and grabbed our water bottles and set off. It cost 160 Rs (about $2 AUD) to enter the garden. Inside the high outer walls we found a beautiful lush haven. It was so peaceful in there you could forget you were in such a mad-house city.

We found beautifully manicured lawns, lily ponds, unusual plants, statues, historic buildings and more. The best and most noticeable thing was a total absence of rubbish!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The garden was created back in 1920. It was created in the Edwardian style and was considered a very sophisticated private garden.

This green oasis was neglected for many decades and fell into a state of crumbling and over-grown disrepair but luckily the Austrian government came to the rescue and it was restored during the years 2000 to 2007.

There is a café there and also a gallery where you can look at large photographs relating to the restoration of the area. It is a truly special place and one not to be missed. We really wish Jeremy had been with us to see it.

 

 

 

Waiting in the hotel foyer for Ramesh

We weren’t sure precisely when Ramesh would return with our passports and we didn’t want to miss him so we scuttled back to the hotel. It was 4 p.m. and there was no sign of Jeremy so we were a tad worried.  Ian and I re-packed our luggage ready for the drive to Tibet the next day. We then took the lap top down to the foyer and sat there waiting for both Jeremy and Ramesh. Just before 6 p.m. Jeremy returned. He and his companion had walked for miles and miles. They had walked all the way to Monkey Temple. We knew it was a fair old hike as Birendra had taken us there by car a couple of days earlier.  Jeremy brought back some great photos of monkeys. They were better than photos we had taken the time we went there. The two of them must have been exhausted considering the distance they had walked.

 

What has happened to Ramesh and the passports?

Time was marching on. We were getting seriously worried about when we were going to get our passports back. Finally we could wait no longer. The Receptionist said he would call Ramesh for us. It seemed those passports were still coming! Ramesh thought maybe closer to 7:30 p.m. Gosh we have been waiting since 4 p.m. All three of us shot off to Hotel Utse for our dinner. Jeremy said he’d had a very late lunch and wasn’t particularly hungry so he decided to have just a bowl of soup for dinner and he said he would then race back to the hotel and wait in the foyer for Ramesh. Ian and I could then eat our dinner at a slightly more leisurely pace than we would have otherwise.

We got back to find Ramesh was already there and joy, oh joy, he had our passports. He also gave us our Group Visa for Tibet. It wasn’t a stamp in our passports but an A4 sized sheet of paper. Perhaps we would get something stamped in our passports when we got to the border the next day. We discover the pick-up time has been changed again and is now 6:30 a.m. which is far better than what we were told yesterday.

 

Cost of our stay at Sacred Valley Inn at  Kathmandu

This will give you an idea how cheap food and accommodation are in Kathmandu. Our hotel bill came to $103 USD and that covered two night’s accommodation for three people in a triple room. It also included one breakfast, two lunches plus a batch of laundry and six little muffins for our breakfast the next morning. Very good value we thought.

We paid our bill so that we didn’t have to bother in the morning. Ian collected the six muffins from the kitchen and we headed off to bed.

 

Next page - We approach Tibet

 

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