Return to Kathmandu

In Kathmandu, everyone had different schedules on when they were leaving. John and I stayed all the way until the 26 of June. Some left on the 22nd, the 23rd, the 24th and then the 26th. Here are some of the activities that we did while we were there. Needless to say, swimming was a part of each day!

One day was spent shopping. The Boudhanath Stupa was one place visited and many great gifts were found. A grocery store and some nicer shops for clothes were also visited.

One day was spent shopping in Thamel and also went to the Sherpa store. This night, Chhiring took us out to dinner at the Garden of Dreams. They have an excellent restaurant in a beautiful setting of flowers and landscaped gardens. We wanted to see the museum, but it was closed now because they were repainting.

One day was spent at the zoo. Chhiring took us and he said the zoo was much nicer while the King was still in power. There were a lot of native animals - deer, birds, monkeys, snakes, but the highlight were the Siberian tigers. Fire and Ice Pizza was on the menu for dinner and it was great!

Another day was spent shopping. It seems like a lot of shopping was done, but really, it was more walking. This was the day that John and I were left by ourselves. We hit Himalayan Java and had some great Chai. We also spent some time at the pool which we did about every day. Lastly, we headed back to the Garden of Dreams to enjoy the gardens in the daylight and we also had an early dinner at the restaurant there.

Chhiring wanted to take us somewhere on our last full day. Pemba came and took us to the Swayambhunath Temple - aka the Monkey Temple. This was a very interesting place. There are 365 stairs leading to the top to signify each day of the year. Along the way, the steps get steeper and monkeys become more common. At the top, there is a super view of the city of Kathmandu. I'm so glad we got to come here! Heading down the other side, we took a little side tour of the monkeys jumping out of the trees into a pool. What a hoot! There were lots of babies and adults flinging themselves off of walls and branches of trees.

After leaving the temple, Pemba took us to the big monastery at the top of a hill. It's were the highest lama in Nepal lives. While getting there, we actually had to use 4-wheel drive to get us through a section of road that was very rough, and had some road work being done. We were able to squeak by the huge ditch in the road after Pemba got out and talked to the men. At the monastery, we couldn't get in. Pemba made a few phone calls, and lo and behold, we were in. It was super quiet with almost no one around. Pemba wanted us to meet with the lama, but he was busy. The monastery had incredible paintings on the walls. We headed back to the hotel for lunch and swimming.

Chhiring and Pemba took us out for dinner at a Nepalese restaurant that was located between the hotel and the Sherpa store. We didn't know this at first and Chhiring rented a taxi. It was a tiny little car where one of the doors wouldn't close tight, and the 4 of us plus the driver could barely squeeze in. The restaurant was a lot of fun. The food was very similar to the meal we ate on the road to and from the trek. It was all served "family style" and food kept coming. Then the dancing began and that was incredible! There were many tourists here, mostly from China. We stayed until after the "Sherpa Dance" and Chhiring said it wasn't very authentic. Guess what, after trekking in the Rolwaling Valley, I knew it wasn't very authentic either!! After leaving, we talked Chhiring into just walking back to the hotel. Tomorrow, he picks us up at noon to catch our plane home.