Nepal - Kathmandu streets

After having traveled for weeks on the cold Tibetan plateau, arriving in Kathmandu was almost a shock. The climate and the completely different surroudings, and the chaos in the narrow streets of the city were all in complete contrast to what I had been seeing just before. It was also very attractive, and I just immersed myself right away in the hustle and bustle of the Nepalese capital. Certainly, I had to get used to traffic everywhere, the narrow alleys of the city are packed with small cars, bicycle rickshaws, and people.

Very soon, however, I got thrilled by this world, and I spent as much time in it as I could. I came to love the chaos, to love just watching the street life unfolding before my eyes. The small cars trying to drive down an alley so narrow that I could almost touch both sides with my hands, bicycle rickshaws always moving slowly, trying to give me ride which I always declined just because walking is faster, making amazing manoeuvres to avoid hitting obstacles of any kind on their way, cows just moving and stopping whenever they felt like it, beggars trying to get some small change from passers-by, people coming up to me trying to sell drugs or a trekking tour to the Himalaya...

 

The onslaught of smell and sound, of all kinds of sensations and colours, in the form of people cooking on the streets, the honking of cars and the ringing of bicycle rickshaw bells, the bright colours of women walking by in their saris, did not seem to end. As long as I stayed in the streets, there seemed no break, no pause to relax a little. Street scenes continued to unfold before my eyes, and when I looked up to get a break, I would see a jungle of advertisement and street signs, all trying to catch the attention of the passer-by. Me. After a while, it was tiring, certainly. But it was also the very essence of the city.

 

More pictures of Kathmandu streets: