At the airport, the visa process was pretty simple - passport picture + $25 - and we were off in a cab through the streets to our hotel called "Hotel Friends Home" in Thamel.
It's an immediate shock to your senses being in a third world/developing country: smog, traffic, honking, animals in the streets, trash, poverty, etc.
The hotel is quite western and has great Air Con and a clean bathroom in the heart of Kathmandu. I would recommend anyone to stay here even if the price is a little high by Kathmandu standards ($40).
We set out to explore the city on foot and made our way through the maze of streets, scooters and cars to Durbar Square. Kathmandu has several UNESCO World Heritage Sites and they charge admission to foreigners. For the locals, it's just part of the city. We wandered around and then it started to rain so we took refuge in a coffee shop.
We were getting hungry and Kathmandu has plenty of street food. We chose the cart with the line of people in front. For 60 rupees we got this bowl of mo mo's.
A mo mo is like a dumpling with a potsticker like skin and meat center.
They are a cooked in a variety of ways - these ones were steamed. These guys were making them - in between puffs on their cigarettes - and tossing them in this big pan. When the pan was full it went to the bottom of a stack above a big pot of boiling water.
We walked next to a spot on the map called the "Garden of Dreams" a little peaceful oasis in the city with plants, ponds and fish. It was a nice break from the hectic city.
We walked back to our hotel through the tourist part of town which consists of restaurants, travel agencies, hotels, stores that sell trekking gear, and handicrafts. You can't tell one city block from the next.
Still struggling to adjust to Asia time, we had another set of mo mo's and went to sleep.
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