>Is Kathmandu worth visiting at the expense of not visiting

>>1285828
What are you looking for in a city? Kathmandu is a little bit cleaner and relatively less crowded than most larger Indian cities. Not sure how many temples or sites of interests are still standing as i went there before the earthquake. Culturally, Kathmandu is distinct from Indian cities in terms of their food and general pace/dynamics of life. Personally, I prefer Bhaktapur in terms of its cultural sites. Kathmandu is a large city and if you're looking to experience the "Himalayan nature", you'll need to really go out of Kathmandu and probably on a trek.

>>1285828

I will be living in Kathmandu from this October through May of 2018. I've not been there before so we'll see how it goes. If you decide to visit over that time frame I will hopefully learn enough about the area to give you some pointers or show you around. Drop me a line if interested, [email protected]

>>1285857
OP here. Sex mainly

>>1285935
You are not OP I am. And I am mostly interested in Kathmandu because I would like to visit the Himalayas but places like Leh seem harder to access on a tight schedule like I have.

I feel like Nepal as a whole is nothing but a hippy backpacker meme. How untrue is my stereotype?

>>1286177
Partially true. If you're trekking to Everest, the first half is nothing but bars with neon light advertising happy hour and free wifi.

>>1285948

Leh isn't particularly hard to access, provided you're not on a tight budget.

There are regular flights from New Delhi to Leh. The only problem you'd be likely to face is altitude acclimatization.

While I haven't been to Kathmandu - I may go in September or October - I've visited both Mumbai and Kolkata. I also lived in New Delhi for about a year and a half, albeit not continuously.

Each of the Indian cities you've mentioned is distinctly different from the next. New Delhi has thousands of years of history, but lacks a distinct culture. Shortly after the Partition occurred, many of the long-time Muslim residents of the old part of the city fled to Pakistan - they were, in turn, replaced by Punjabi-speaking peoples from across the modern-day border.

Delhi has also seen incredible growth since the 1990s, with the city's population nearly tripling over the course of the past thirty years. Much of the growth can be attributed to individuals and families from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Bihar flooding in to find jobs and new opportunities for work.

For the reasons above, as well as others, Delhi can be a bit overwhelming for first-time arrivals. There are far more aggressive touts and hawkers around major tourist attractions than in either Mumbai or Kolkata. Popular backpacker destinations like Paharganj are filled to the brim with obnoxious and persistent con artists. A lot of visitors from overseas who stay in that area wind up disliking Delhi.

My experiences in Kolkata and Mumbai have been much more relaxed. The locals in both cities were quite friendly, and I only had a few errant encounters with touts (as well as a prostitute in Kolkata who insisted on making a 'friendship', which I declined).

Kolkata is significantly cheaper than either New Delhi or Mumbai.

Mumbai has lots of seafood and other eats for low prices, but the cost of lodging can be very high. $25 in New Delhi can get you a very nice room in Paharganj or a South Delhi Oyo;

>>1286298

cont.

... in Mumbai, you'd likely get a small, window-less room with a leaky faucet and noisy fan.

Again, I can't speak for Kathmandu, as I've never been.

If you had to make a choice between Kolkata and Mumbai, I'd probably scratch Kolkata - there isn't quite as much to do or see there as there is in Mumbai. However, I'd be happy to go back again simply on account of the fantastic local people.

I also can't comment on Varanasi. I've been to India seven times but still haven't visited, as I'm not inclined to religious or spiritual sites - I'll probably go in another few weeks, since, for some fucking reason, the only cheap tickets out of Tanzania are to India (why the fuck is one-way to Cairo $400, but one-way to Mumbai is $200?).

How much time do you have to spend in India overall? If you've only a matter of several short weeks, I don't know whether it'd be worth it to bounce all over South Asia. The distance between all of the cities you've mentioned isn't insignificant - Mumbai is on the opposite side of the country from Kolkata, although Delhi-Varanasi-Kolkata probably wouldn't be too painful. Delhi-Mumbai is an overnight journey on the Rajdhani Express, or a fairly inexpensive flight if you book well in advance.

Also, what time of the year are you thinking of going? I'd recommend Nepal over Kolkata and Delhi in a heartbeat if you're traveling in the coming weeks or summer, as both cities are miserably hot and humid during and after the monsoon. Mumbai seems surprisingly okay right now (80 F vs 102 F in Delhi).

Hopefully some of that was helpful.

>>1286301
>>1286298
Thanks this was super helpful. As for Varanasi the reason I want to visit there is it seems to embody India when most people think of it. Crazy religious, crazy dirty, and the Ganges.

This also leaves me to wonder if it's worth visiting since I am basically going there for nothing more than culture shock.

>>1286394
Varanasi is amazing. 2 months there. Long time ago.

>>1286403
What all did you do besides just chill around the ghats?

Kathamndu is super fucking polluted and dirty. If I'm not mistaken, it is one of the most polluted city in the entire world. This is because it sits in a valley and all the dust and shit has no where to go. All the trash and pollution just rise up then falls back down on the city.

You will be blowing out black mucus from your nose every night.

But it's still a cool city to visit, and is distinctly Nepalese with an indian vibe. Very inexpensive, but not the best way to get a taste of Nepal. I much preferred being out trekking/ chilling in Pokhara.

>>1286518

>black mucus

Sounds like New Delhi.

One of my friends spent a few weeks traveling India and Thailand. I told him not to bring any white or light-colored clothes with him, on account of the dust and heavy pollution in New Delhi.

I remember once wearing a wearing a white t-shirt and riding a motorbike ten minutes in the city.

Shit turned browned by the time I got back and is now permanently gray.

>>1286518
>>1286644
I've never understood the people that botch about air quality. I've visited numerous dirty cities and I've never had any issues with my breathing or cleanliness.

>>1286688

I develop a bad cough whenever I stay too long in Delhi.

The air there is pretty terrible, but I don't think somebody visiting for a few days (or even several weeks) would notice.

Having said that, North India is naturally dusty. That, coupled with pollution from garbage and crop burning, can fuck up a nice wardrobe quickly. That's especially true if you're riding a motorbike or getting around town in an auto-rickshaw.

I remember once I took an overnight bus from Jammu City to New Delhi. When I woke up in the morning, I thought I had a tan.

When I scratched my arm, I saw white skin peeping out from underneath a solid layer of dust.

final bump before I let it die.

>>1285828
I just returned yesterday from my one montha trip over asia, I went to India through nepal, and I stayed in Kathmandu for 4 days.

I am a history teacher and I love everything about history so I went to see things like that mainly. If you are intrested you will be disappointed, they almost didn't repair anything since the earthquake. There are just ruins everywhere.

I do not agree about the comments here that it is dirty, and Varanasi tier city. Those people are very poor, (an average waiter in a good place gets 60 euros for a month), and they are doing their beest to serve you.

If you are intrested in nightlife you will find countless of excellent places to go. I really recomeend you the Kathmandu Regaggaea bar which was awesome.
The food and beverages are really great in Kathmandu. I loved every single drink or meal that I ordered.

>>1287519
While history is one of my biggest interest, I am not really into asian history. For asian cities I am mostly interested just experiencing the culture there. The more foreign it feels the better. That is one thing I am worried about in Kathmandu is that it will seem like a tourist trap. A lot of areas of Bangkok kinda felt this way to me so I would prefer visiting a city that felt more genuine.

>>1287519
>Is this ruins-after-the-quake thing going on only in Kathmandu or is it applicable for the whole valley? I'm gonna be there in November and I planned to visit Bakhtapur, Patan and several villages around asido from Kathmandu...

>>1287949
>>1287519
sorry, didn't mean to green-text

File: bak pagoda.jpg (62KB, 533x960px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1287952
>Patan
unfortunately I didn't visit that.

I would say Kathmandu is in a horrible state, Bakhtapur is 20-30% better. At least they repaired something there. Also soldiers will stop you as a foreigner, you are not allowed to go to relatively safe ruins as the locals. Bakhtapur is definetely worth to go, there is the only one pagoda which wasn't affected by the earthquake, pic related. (I am sorry I am a shitty photographer)

File: kathmandu.jpg (127KB, 310x960px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1287960
60% of Kathmandu looks like this. Altough I liked it very much, and I want to return.

>>1287961
Holy fuck that is horrible looking.

>>1286644
>>1286518
Visiting in the rainy season might help with this but then it also makes things more dirty from a bacterial perspective so it's lose-lose either way

>>1286301
>why the fuck is one-way to Cairo $400, but one-way to Mumbai is $200?
probably because a lot of indians live/work in east africa and they travel back and forth a lot. they've been there since the beginnings of the indian ocean trade but a lot more came in as part of the british empire