Kathmandu

It has been weeks since my last blog and I don't have my journal with me to remind myself all that has happened between arriving in Kathmandu and leaving on the Annapurna Circuit. The jeep ride to Kathmandu from the Indian border took between 6 and 7 hours. It was the bumpiest and scariest road I have ever been on in my life, but it was also the most beautiful six hour ride of my life. We rode high up along the ridges and over mountains of thick, lush green jungle and rice patty fields scaling terraced mountains. The road was one hair pin curve after another as we climbed and climbed. The road became more and more scary and of course there are no railings on these cliffs. The only safe way to drive around these corners is for the driver to constantly lay on the horn. If you have ever watched the movie Little Miss Sunshine, well our jeep ride sounded like the broken horn on the Volkswagon van. I kept giggling because it sounded just like that, but I knew it was so important for the driver to be honking. Along the road Nepali children played and men and women ported everything from firewood to fresh fruits, veggies and rice. I don't know where their starting point was but every home was scattered across these massive, steep terraced mountains. It was just mind blowing to think how far these families walk to even get to a store. It must be a week long journey; I can't imagine that it is done often. It was so nice being in this environment after experiencing the dumps of Patna..a place I pray never have to return.
I think we were in Kathmandu for about 5 days. Longer than I wanted initially, but because of the huge Daisan festival taking place everything was chaotic!!! Buses out of Kathmandu mainly. That was alright though because Fletch and I ended up spending a whole day and a half getting our ACAP permits to trek the circuit, as well as getting an extension visa from immigration. Sounds fun, right? Well about as comparable to waiting at the DMV for a license renewal.
For fun we wandered the city a bit, mostly the Thamel district. It is basically a backpakcer and trekker haven. You can shop like crazy, go out to bars, good food, and find everything you need for adventure. We visited the Swayambunath Temple (monkey temple) one evening. It was so beautiful. There are a ton of steps that lead up to it and monkeys running around everywhere. They were so funny to watch, but actually scared me a little bit because they look like they could really give you a good bite or scratch. The temple was beautiful and had an amazing panoramic view of the city. We also arranged a little "mountain" bike ride out in the valley. We rode with but car out to a little village, Nagarkot, perched up on a mountain outside of Kathmandu. We had breakfast and went farther up to a tower that normally has great views of the whole Kathmandu Valley, unfortunately it was super cloudy. We rode our bikes down from the tower to the ancient Changu Narayan Temple, and then down to the valley floor of the town Baktipur. It was really beautiful and laid back but definately not mountain biking in anyway. Come to think of it, if I tried to mountain bike in this country, I would probably end up flying off a cliff. That night Fletch and I ended up going out drinking. It was a good time, super funny. At one point we ended up at this bar with a band of young nepali boys playing Hotel California and other classic hits. It was very strange and goofy. Shoot, I wish I had my journal because I just can't think right now what else we did. Anyway, mom arrived after a few days and then we were off the morning after she arrived. On Oct. 7 we took a five hour taxi ride to the start of the Annapurna Circuit. To be continued....