Kathmandu by Bike.

Hank-yes there are internet cafes everywhere. most charge about 30rupees per hour.
K2-Northern Pakistan

Today walking around I saw the following things on t-shirts worn by Nepalis
the music group "slipnot" "nirvana" "the beatles" "Korn"(it even had the backwards R, all the cool kids will know what I mean) and the best was Avril Lavigne-she seems to be everywhere.

Well I just spent my first full day in Kathmandu, I'm staying in the area known as Thamel. It's the most popular spot in Kathmandu. In all the shops on the street you can find anything you want. NBA clothing, new dvds, knives, toilet paper. The North Face-very popular trekking equipment, every other store sells them here. The name refers to a the north face of a mountain.

So the pollution here is just terrible. Kathmandu is in a valley and because of this the air just hangs around here doesn't move all that much. They don't really have an industry here, they don't make steel or anything like that. Most of the pollution is from vehicle. There are so many of them on the street, there aren't emission standards in Nepal so all the vehicle run like crap. Black smoke is always coming out of the tailpipes of buses and cars. Especially big trucks of which there is no shortage. There are good pictures to be taken of the city with the mountain in the background but the haze obstructs the view of them.

Money: a canadian dollar is about 76 nepali rupees
Time Change: Nepal is 15 minutes ahead of India-this is too show they are a different country.


Nepal: By the Numbers
30 million people
62: average life expectancy(pollution and not the best health care)
48 percent: Literacy Rate.
142 out of 177 on the UN Human Development index( Canada is 4th)
information about the index if any is interested. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Human_Development_Index

One of the most shocking yet almost not when you bike around the city is that 82% of Nepalis live on less then 2 dollars a day.

So today I woke up and had bacon and eggs for breakfast, it was great. Then I rented a bike to explore the city. I did that for about 6 hours, I didn't really go anywhere in particular I just wanted to explore. The areas of the city are very different from each other. There is an old section and newer section. The new section has malls and high rises and the old section is completely filthy(pictures later) and most people grow all there own food. Nepalis living mostly off the land, corn and potatoes are very common.

My next 3 days are going to be awesome, I'm doing a mountain bike trip that will total 130km. Let the adventure begin, the descent are going to be amazing and very dangerous.

The weather here is alright, probably around 30 degrees today. No wind though so it feels hotter.

Well once again, thanks for reading.


Andrew