I managed to obtain my trekking permits from the Tourist bureau in a relatively quick and painless manner the only hiccup being that I had only three passport photos on me and needed four. Luckily we managed to solve this by making a photo copy of one and attaching that to one of the forms instead. Why you need four photos for the just the one trekking permit is unclear but it does keep a few people employed filling out forms.

As the Tourist bureau is handily located at the other end of the city I used the opportunity to make some photos on the way. The first one is of one of the many street vendors in Asan Tole.

This is a small temple in the same market.

And finally this is the hotel I am staying at.