On top of the world... in Kathmandu.

We’re finally in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. It’s nearly Tuesday here, so you must be wondering if there is actually any sun... Well, true to our title, despite it being January it’s warm and sunny in the day with temperatures reaching around 21ºc in the afternoon (the Nepalese are still wrapped up, as it’s too cold for them). However, temperatures do drop to around 2º at night time, which is when you start to seriously envy the aforementioned natives’ Yak wool jumpers.

Today was our first real day of the trip and it was a long one. We started off at 6am by going on an “Everest mountain flight” to get a closer look at the Himalayas: the Sanskrit name given to the range meaning “guests of the snow”. To be really honest, I think we could have given it a miss were we on a stricter budget, purely because the extortionate price they charge foreigners from non-South Asian countries doesn’t completely justify the view from the scratched window of a 10-seater aeroplane. Nevertheless, we got really lucky and had perfect visibility so we were able to get a good look at all of the different peaks, which were explained to us by the air stewardess. My favourite was the two-peaked Gauri Sankar mountain - perhaps because it is named after a goddess and her spouse. Although I’m afraid my own spouse wasn’t my favourite person this morning when he told me, as we were taking off, that he hadn't charged this camera! So, I am afraid all the photos we have for the day were taken on our iPhones, but hopefully they will give you a taste of Kathmandu’s nearby mountains, important Hindu and Buddhist temples [approximately 80% of Nepalese people are Hindu] and of course… some monkeys.

Guess what I found out in Kathmandu!

1. It is against the law to climb the Gauri Sankar mountain because, as the name suggests, it is considered holy by both Hindus and Buddhists.

2. There is a limit of 12 hours of electricity a day, but there are electricity generators used for very basic needs when there is no power (this means one light per room, but no way to charge your laptop and mobile until it comes back on).

3. In Kathmandu they have their own spin on a children’s beauty pageant - here it is the quest to become the prestigious, Royal Kumari, or "The Living Goddess". Girls of around 4 years old are entered into a contest by their parents, whereby a "Living Goddess Committee" chooses, based on appearance, the girl that will live in the Kumari Bahal Temple for 8 years, away from her family, unable to leave the temple, and brought up by Living Goddess guardians. Once she reaches puberty, the Living Goddess returns to her parents’ home and is given a “state pension” which is equivalent to around 50 pounds sterling a month.