There are 3 Durbar squares (royal square) in Kathmandu. For our first adventure on the streets we decided to head for the main one in Kathmandu city centre. We followed a walking tour from the lonely planet guide and weaved our way through small alleys and streets to see some very cool stuff among the chaotic dust and earthquake battered town. The electrics were particularly interesting to see!!!!
There were temples small and large on every corner but the highlights were seeing our first huge prayer wheel, the buzz of the square itself and learning about the Kumari (more on that later!)
You really do need a mask with all the dust and smog!
One of the streets we walked down had a trench running the whole way down the middle…. it looked like they were doing new pipe works and we saw a mother swing her child over it – she thought this was hilarious and the child was screaming and crying!!
Day 2 we headed to our local Durbar square in Patan (also known as Lalitpur). Once we got away from the main road the small streets around Patan en route to the square were quieter and calmer. It was a lovely sunny day and was so enjoyable finding our way around and saying hi to locals who seemed happy enough to have us around.
Patan square:
There were a lot of beautiful things to see but the highlight for the day was the golden temple (above)
Between the two squares we visited there was always one old man in yellow robes usually with long grey hair sitting somewhere smiling and waving us over. I reckoned he was a holy man but we never went over to him even though we were tempted for the photo opp!! Later our guide told us that they are marijuana smokers and are looking for money!! Holy me arse!!
odohertyelaine 
Fantastic. Safe travels
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