A trip to Bhutan........ via Kathmandu

I heard that Bhutan was one of the few places left to visit which wasn't inundated with tourists.....so I started investigating! As Bhutan totally restricts visitors  I found that most small group tours started in Kathmandu...... I had been there before but it seemed like the best option!
Arriving on an early morning flight one could see lots of mountains  rather close to the airport.......

Kathmandu had changed... from a small sleepy town to now around 4 million inhabitants! 30 million in the country!
We were staying at the Hyatt Regency.....

which really wasn't that far from the airport........but it did take a long time.  And we needed to relax with a drink on arrival!

Traffic was interesting......... and life on the streets was very busy!

Going out the back door of the hotel........

 we checked out the local stupa.......

..........passing by local vendors .................

Next day our first visit was to the Swayambhunath stupa...

......... which has a lot of monkeys, considered sacred......
They were quite evident!

Then on to Kathmandu Durbar Square......
showing some evidence of the recent 2015 earthquake.....

The bicycle rickshaws looked appealing.......

.......however the traffic was a little hazardous!

 then on to Patan Durbar Square.....  much quieter with less trafic!

but also had some evidence of its earthquake problems.......