Wow! This city is so intense! It is filled with sights, sounds and smells. Just a little walk down the street is a sensory overload, there is so much to see everywhere. Old men in the traditional Nepali cap, women in beautiful yak wool shawls, school kids in uniforms, rickety looking cycle rickshaws, motorbikes, cars, minibuses and small lorries all jostle for the little space the narrow streets offer. The buildings are a mix of newer, ugly concrete buildings and gorgeous old wooden houses carved with exquisite details, some of these look downright ancient! Many shops occupy an impossibly small amount of space, some of them no larger than a broom closet. From these small shops all kinds of goods are sold, out of one shop a fantastic aroma of spices caught our nostrils as the shopkeeper was grinding spices for a customer, next door is a brass store that sells pots, pans and trays in all sizes and shapes. Across the road is a sari shop where the beautiful fabric is hung out against the raw brick façade that looks like it is at least a couple of hundred years old, the colorful silky fabric shimmers against the dull, dusty wall. A man pulling a bicycle with a large load of bright yellow bananas is overtaking two sadhus cloaked in orange robes and with long dreadlocks hanging down their backs, this effectively blocks the road for a few seconds resulting a symphony of angry honks from a small horde of busy motorbikes.
