Walking through these southern streets a month or so later in the early afternoon was a perfect foil to the historic sights. Here people went about their daily lives without a thought to tourism. Yes, the children did shout ‘hello’ and beam at us, but vegetable sellers spread out their wares in the squares, the butchers carved up their meat with an eager swarm of flies, and daily noises spilled out of flimsy buildings. In our hours’ walk we saw one other European couple, but no would-be guides, and none of the nagging traffic that attempts to squeeze its way through the lanes to the north of Durbar Square. Unplanned, we arrived back in Durbar Square at sunset as it was transformed from tourist photo gallery to a mass of vegetable stalls.