September 26th, 2019
Today we got up early (not sleeping well in the terrible room) and went down for the free breakfast. It was surprisingly decent. The hotel receptionist cooked us scrambled eggs, toast and a cup of coffee. The owner or manager of the place sat down and talked to us during breakfast. His English was excellent as he had spent time living in Australia. He asked us all about our plans in Kathmandu and Nepal (we didn’t really have any set-in stone) and gave us tons of great free advice. On top of running the hotel he also works as a guide (which we later learned that everyone in Kathmandu is also a guide no matter what job they are doing in the city). He showed us pictures and videos he had made from his treks and gave us advice on hiking the Annapurna Circuit alone. He was very kind and then asked how our room was. He said he knew the bathroom was small but later when other people check out we could move to a room with a bigger bathroom. He was so nice I couldn’t bear to tell him the size of the bathroom was my very least concern in the awful room. I was quickly getting worried we would end up staying another night because he was so nice and helpful. I was afraid I would cave, not wanting to tell him we want to stay somewhere else. Thank God Brendan spoke up and said we had already booked tonight somewhere else. He was totally nice, but I could tell a little disappointed we would not be staying longer. We thanked him for all his advice and went back to get our things ready. Brendan dropped some laundry off, and we walked about 10 minutes down the road to a different hotel.
I might have normally been a little uneasy about the potential bugs in the new room but after our stay last night, it was still a big improvement. The best part about it was two of the four walls were huge windows with great city views of Kathmandu. It also had fast WiFi and a balcony. Feeling much better about this room, we set our stuff down and went out to explore the city.
I have said this many times in other blog posts, but this is now the city that ranks first place as far as chaos in the streets. Up until now I think Lima, Peru still had first place for the most traffic and crazy drivers that just bash into each other as part of normal driving. The streets are not as big here and are very narrow but there are thousands of motorbikes, taxis, pedestrians, bicycles, and dogs all trying to maneuver through them. There are definitely not any sidewalks here so walking around is quite difficult. The roads are muddy and torn up and it is very filthy.
I know it sounds weird, but even with all of the madness I still thought Kathmandu was pretty cool. It is probably because all the locals are so exceedingly friendly, and all the travelers are here to do something amazing in the mountains. The streets are filled with trekking shops and vegetarian food, and art galleries with incredibly intricate paintings of mandalas. 85% of Nepal’s population is Hindu. There are many vegetarians and the food is really good and cheap. There are many temples and other religious type structures all through the city. It is so crazy to be in the middle of a road where people are praying at various alters and burning incense. Other people are selling fruit and produce, dogs and cows are looking for food, all while the traffic in the city is trying to get through.
We spent the afternoon and evening walking around picking up things we needed for our trek. It was exhausting and by the end my ears were ringing from all the horns and whistles. I would not want to spend too much time here, but it is definitely quite the experience for a day or two. I realized that getting ready for a trek is one of my favorite things to do! It was so much fun in the little backpacking town in Chile when we were preparing for our first trek of the trip in Patagonia. I also remember roaming the streets of Cusco, Peru finding what we needed for our trek to Machu Picchu. Now in Kathmandu, getting ready to go into the Himalayas. When else can you buy ten Snickers’ bars and not feel guilty? I think because I was so excited to be here, and for our upcoming adventure the craziness and filth of the city didn’t phase me too much.
