KKKKKK Kathmandu!

We're here!! Bring on the Himalayas!!

What a great place! We arrived late at nite via a circuitous routing from Male, Maldives through Doha, Qatar on a plane full of Nepalese oil /gas field workers returning home. The airport taxi and hotel touts did their best to catch our attention, but it was a minor swarm compared to India, and a car from Khangsar Guesthouse was waiting for us. Such service! Completely unexpected from a guesthouse that only costs $13 a nite but SO welcome at 11 pm. One of many lovely surprises we've already experienced here. I was thinking that I really must pay attention to flight times- seems I'm always arriving into new cities in the dark - but I do enjoy it - as the morning brings another first impression - I just love waking up in a new place to the morning sounds and then popping up see what it looks like when the sun's shining!

Kathmandu is GREAT- we only wish we could have seen it 40, 50 or 60 years ago. Traces of hippie culture are still a bit evident (Freak Street anyone? Pot? Hash?) but the hippies these days are young, dreadlocked backpackers wearing long flowing skirts/pants/scarves looking to get lost for a little while. Maybe we're looking for a little of the same, but we tend to fit in with the goretex/zippered pant/hiking boot crowd wandering the streets with cameras and backpacks beginning or ending treks. Its all good....

We're staying in the Thamel district in Old Kathmandu- a central spot for exploring with a great street scene. The twisty streets are jam packed with shops, restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, bars/clubs that close down at 10 pm every nite, and loads of trekking shops, making it easy for us to gather up all the gear we need for our upcoming 10 day adventure to Annapurna Base Camp.

We got lost and found a few times just following narrow, interesting looking (clean!) streets and alleyways to see where they led - and somehow ended up where we wanted to go. It's a great city for exploring but might as well throw away the map - they're kinda useless- as is asking for directions, as Nepali's hate to disappoint and will give you an answer whether it's right or not! It's hugely fun figuring it all out. We visited a couple of temples - Buddhist one we didn't know the name of because we're not exactly sure where we were, and a big complex in Kathmandu Durbar Square which houses the old royal palace (now a museum) and many Buddhist and Hindu temples. All that culture is thirsty making so we've enjoyed the brews on tap (Everest, Gurkha and Kathmandu). I'm a fan of Gurkha but Tom's stuck on Tuborg (Danish beer but brewed in Nepal). They're all pretty tasty with a side of momo's (vegetarian dumplings). Food here continues to be amazing - international and Nepali cuisine- which seems very Indian to me- but there are close ties between the 2 countries, and had I visited Nepal before India I might have thought that the Indian food was very Nepalese!

People have been wonderfully kind, generous, forthcoming and friendly. A common thread in our conversations has been the corruption that almost every person we've talked to will mention. They all believe that Canada is a great country and believe that Nepal will not prosper/thrive until corruption is addressed. The newspapers seem to back up (or fuel) these beliefs as they're full of stories about government abuses. People don't have the cash or lifestyle that we take for granted in Canada - they'd be considered poor by our standards - but everyone we've met - especially in the countryside seems to be happy - there's been a lot of laughter, singing (Bollywood and Nepali songs) and generally boisterous behaviour - Nepali's appear to be very fun-loving!

This place is really getting to me. Squeezing my heart. Don't know why here over the other places I've been to. Tom and I talked about going to Nepal the 2nd time we met, but it's been on his list for much longer than it's been on mine, as he started reading books about the Himalayas as a child. It's great to finally be here.

Next, we're off trekking for 10 days, we'll spend a couple of days in Pokhara and then head to Chitiwan National Park for a few days.

Time flies....!