Kathmandu temples and bazaars

Here are some happy people waiting for pizza outside Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square, the intricately carved 12th century king's residence.  We spent the morning getting the Japanese Encephalitis shots and talking to a very unhelpful Indian Embassy.  Bottom line is that the only way into India is via air or sea.  If you want to go via land it's a 4 week wait and $250/person. Of course the embassy did not tell us this; the family run visa/education center next door did.  We loved them so much.  They had lots of kid friendly ideas for our trip. Traveling via bus to Pokhara and Chitwan National Park with 6 people is 10,000RS which we knew, but hiring their friend is 16,000RS. He has a big car and they've arranged for us to go to places their kids like.  Exciting!  We leave at 7am tomorrow.  

Today we went to temples and markets of Kat, had evening momo (of course), and a good night rest. Note the monkeys in the middle of downtown Kat.  

The first two pics are our hostel. Next is Durbar Square where we learned:

1. In the 1700s nepal was 24 countries.

2. In 2001 13 members of the royal family were murdered and we still don't know who did it.

3. In 2015 there was a giant earthquake that ruined much of the King's residence.  China gave Nepal the money to fix them. Our guide said, "China gives to Nepal and India takes!"

The last pics are the bazaar. I bought the metal items in the pic for school.  Haggling is a dance I know pretty well, but my poor son thought I was being awful to the nice shop owner.  I told the owner "no," i walked away and down the street fully intending to leave, I rolled my eyes, I talked all about the shop next door having the same thing, and I pulled out the exact amount I wanted to pay him and told him that was all I had.  Brennan wanted to crawl into a hole!  I did however get a much better price. 

Walking around the bazaar and the Kat streets are rough.  Motorcycles everywhere.  Crossing the street is so hard with four.  I'm holding onto Reese and Cate, but Bren and Jane were following instead of trying not to die.  We did alright thankfully.  The key was to find the girls/ladies and follow them.  In fact, that is often the answer.  Finding and asking women is almost always a joyful experience.  They love our kids, are happy they can help, enjoy helping us shop and give the nod, and don't usually try to sell us anything.