Today is my last day in Kathmandu before beginning the trek to Everest Base Camp. We fly out early tomorrow (Monday) morning.

Our guides took us to three different spots today. We rode in a very nice, spacious, air conditioned van (which is the first vehicle with air conditioning I have ridden in here). Our first stop was Durbar Square, Kathmandu. Durbar means temple; the entire area (which is sizeable) is filled with Budist and Hindu temples. It's very beautiful & chaotic - a ace I will never forget. There were hundreds of people, some of them on foot, some on scooters, some selling things and legions of pigeons flying everywhere! Our guide was explaining the significance of everything we were seeing and we were all having conversations with one another. :) it was a lot to process but a lot of fun!

Next, we went to Swayambhunath to see the Monkey Temple. I went on my own Friday to see this area but I was happy to go back as there is so much to see there. Our group is also very interesting. Megan & I (Dave went to Thamel today) have been joined by two young Austrailians, Tanya and David, who have been traveling for almost a year and have been almost everywhere on Earth during that time. They just got back from the Base Camp trek we are going on so we have been asking them a lot of questions and listening to their fascinating stories. Another gentleman from India has joined us and will remain with us on trek. Anyway, we all enjoyed the Monkey Temple then we were on to Boudhanath.

We ate lunch on a pretty rooftop terrace here, which overlooked the second biggest stupa in the world (pictures below). The stupa was impressive but what I really enjoyed was talking to the others and watching the prayer flags flutter in the breeze. It was an absolutely beautiful day and an unforgettable moment in time.

Finally, we went to Bagmati were they prepare the dead for burning then sail the remains down the river. It's a place thick with smoke, eerie and silent. The feeling here is subdued and silent. I was glad to leave it.

Our guide took us back to the hotel to collect Dave then we went for a trip debriefing, to pay our remaining trek balances and get our remaining gear (sleeping bags, duffle bag, t-shirt, parkas). After this we dropped off our things at the hotel and picked up two more young men, one from Canada, the other from the U.S. and went for a "welcome" dinner.

Traditional Nepali foods were served and a cultural dancing program commenced. We sat at very low tables with our legs crossed; most of us were quite stiff and kind of uncomfortable but the conversation was lively and we all enjoyed ourselves.

It was a very enjoyable day. :)

The Garden of Dreams & dinner with the Austrailians

My sleep schedule has been seriously altered. I'm wide awake every morning at 1am and ready for bed by 7pm. I've also been taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon...

So it's 1am on Sunday, November 9th and I can't sleep so I'm typing away. Yesterday, I decided to go to a place I hsd read about in the guide books, The Garden of Dreams. I took a taxi from my hotel because walking alone is still making me nervous. The garden was absolutely magical. It's a place that shouldn't be missed. The Nepali government recently put a bunch of money into its restoration. It's peaceful, beautiful and, if you are with your spouse, romantic (lots of couples here). I also found a bank and exchanged some of many larger bills for smaller ones. This really didn't take up much of the day. I was finished by noon. What next?

I decided to get a manicure, pedicure, and a massage at my hotel because I know that once I start trek there won't be any opportunities for pampering myself plus the rates at the hotel are about 1/8 to 1/10 of what I would pay at home. :) The massage and pedicure were pretty much the same as I would have gotten at home but the manicure was somewhat tricky because I don't think those ladies had encountered the American process of shellacking before so it took them some time to figure out what to do with what I already had. Plus there are no modern tools of that trade here so it took a bit longer but the results are great!

When I finished pampering myself I went back to my room and Megan was there. Megan is from Brisbane Austrailia and will be my roommate for the rest of this trip. She's about 30 and is traveling with her father, who is a knowledgeable guide and seasoned traveler. The three of us were supposed to meet up with our guides and one other gentleman but the other man's flight didn't make it in so our guides cancelled dinner and we were left to our own devices.

Mr. Pretorius (Dave) has been here before so he kind of knew his way around, so we walked into Thamel (about 1 mile) to have dinner and shop a bit. It's amazing what a difference having these two along made for me. I'm no longer nervous about walking the streets around here at all.

We ran into a local who insisted upon showing us around... then we had a hard time disentangling ourselves from his ministrations. I think he was attracted to Megan as she is young and quite pretty. Anyway, we decided to eat at The New Orleans Cafe because it was recommended in the guide book and Dave wanted to try jambalaya. It was ok. To be honest, I'd skip it if I came again. The most redeeming things about it were the outdoor patio, that was candle lit, and the smooth jazz playing. The place was very busy but the food was mediocre.

We looked in a few of the shops (which there are tons of in this part of town) bought some chocolate for our hike then headed back to the hotel. It was only a bit past 8pm when we arrived, but I instantly fell asleep.:)

Pictures below are from The Garden of Dreams.

I went to the Monkey Temple today. There truly were monkeys everywhere! I hired a taxi to take me there and back because it was kind of a long way from where I'm staying and the streets and traffic are really narrow and kind of scary.i
Taxis here are also super cheap. The same ride would have cost me 10 times as much in Chicago.

I had lots of fun experiences on the Monkey Temple grounds. I spun a prayer wheel and had an older woman paint on my third eye. I saw tons of monkeys, bought Charity a Christmas present (which I most successfully bartered for) and took lots of pictures.

I'm having a hard time posting pictures to the blog because now blogger makes you go through Google +, which I don't really have set up. I took lots of great pics though and then went back to my hotel to sit in the sunshine by the pool. Then I got some yogurt for lunch nearby and that's about it for today.

So, I figured out how to add photos!

Hotel Shanker

The Monkey Temple

The Monkeys of Swayambhunath

Rupees  

The third eye

More of the grounds