A young girl who use to sell cheap necklaces to tourists is now one of our Kathmandu Urban Adventures guides.

Some years ago, when maps were first introduced into Nepal, porters (whose families had been in these mountains for generations) refused to work with mountain guides because the porters thought that the maps proved the guides didn’t know where they were going!

Did you know that the Katmandu Valley was once a lake? It is a fact. . . . . together with the equally matter-of-fact information that Lord Shiva used his Trisul to slash through the hillside to create the Chobar Gorge and drain the lake.

If a youngster approaches you (as they will) asking you to challenge them on all the world’s capital cities, ask him ‘Burma?’ (Myanmar). And, no, its not Rangoon (Yangon).

A visitor left his wallet in the back of a taxi. The driver returned with it half an hour later. All he wanted was to know what the London Transport Oyster Card was. It took a while to try to explain and at one point the driver advised that he didn’t think that it could be used here.

- Man says time passes, Time says man passes
- It’s simple to understand really; business-men make money from business, politicians make money from politics!
- 'Ke garne’ meaning ‘oh well! or ‘what’s to be done!

Because it was getting late and I was logging on to Skype for a trans-global chat, I gave my Nepali friend Rs. 500 and asked him to please see if my digital prints were ready. He came back to tell me that yes they were! Moral: Always state things and ask questions as clearly as possible.