Nagarkot - clear view of Mount Everest

... it says in the travel guide. And since Nagarkot is not far from Bakthapur, a quick detour can't hurt, because I don't want to miss the breathtaking panoramic view of Mount Everest and the other peaks of the Himalayas. The search for a room is difficult because all rooms with a mountain view are quite expensive. In the end, I book a nice room for 16 dollars and make my way through the city to the bus station. The buses to Nagarkot have a different bus terminal, which I find after asking twice. I am the first one and load my luggage on board. And then I have to wait, because the bus doesn't leave until enough paying passengers are on board. I use the time to listen to an audiobook and watch the hustle and bustle on the street.

The journey itself takes longer than expected because the bus struggles slowly up the narrow, completely muddy gravel paths up the mountain. Once again, I admire the art of bus driving here.

When I arrive at the top, I feel cold. Due to the high altitude, it is noticeably cooler. With my unfortunately completely dirty trolley, I search for my hotel, Mount Everest Window View. The concierge takes me to a room overlooking the street. I protest. Although the room is nice, I don't want to sleep here under any circumstances. I came all this way to see the mountain panorama. He convincingly explains to me that I booked a normal room. I want to change rooms, accepting the extra charge for a room with a view. However, these rooms are no longer available. There is only the suite left, which is far too expensive for me. I shrug and tell him that I would unfortunately have to cancel the reservation (which is no problem on booking.com) and I am sure that I would find something cheaper at the neighboring hotels. And just like that, I get the suite for the price of the double room. To bridge the waiting time for the room to be cleaned, I go around the corner with the concierge to have something delicious to eat. We chat about traveling and he tells me that he wants to work in Malta and his cousin, who wants to arrange this work visa for him, is demanding a huge sum of money. I am shocked and within two minutes I have opened the embassy's website in Kathmandu and advised him to call there and find out for himself. The concierge is amazed and delighted. We are friends from now on. He takes me to the local sunset viewpoint and to the village festival, where a well-known local band is playing and the youth from the entire area is gathered and dancing on the muddy field. The room is actually the nicest one I've had on this trip. Spacious, tasteful, with a large bed and a very comfortable mattress. The balcony is also great, only the view is a diva and is making me wait. It's raining and the place itself has none of the charm of Bandipur. Tariq was right when he wrote to me that I could safely skip Nagarkot, there is only the view and nothing else there. That's exactly how it is. Two dirty streets with small, uninviting "restaurants". I'm really glad that I only booked one night and I sit comfortably on the balcony, let the fresh wind blow around my nose, and start editing photos and writing a blog post. Later, a bottle of wine joins me and Biki, the concierge, comes by for a chat from time to time.

The next day, at least the sun makes an appearance, even though there is still no view of the Himalayas. I'm having a streak of bad luck in that regard. But I won't let that spoil my good mood. I make the most of the nice room until the last minute, painting my nails, finishing the rest of the wine, because luckily I don't have to drive, and sorting out more photos. Writing the blog is much more work than I expected, but I simply enjoy it so much!