Magi is tickled pink to be thought of as Nepali. People have said things to her in Nepali on the street and there have been many occasions where people in shops and restaurants have told her she looks like she's a local. It's neat to blend in when everywhere else you are such an outsider (of course, acting like she is a local to avoid touts only works when she is not walking with me!)
We took a stroll down to Freak Street this morning, taking a break for thanthuk and momos along the way. Freak Street is the place in Kathmandu where hippies used to come and tune out. It hit it's peak in the 70's though and now Thamel is where the majority of the travellers are. The Freak Street area is heavily sprinkled with temples that are each very unique in some way. We're going to head back there one day soon and learn more about the buildings we saw. Today we were just kind of walking through and gawking at the scenery.
Planning a trip to Nepal in September was probably not the best timing. It's great to travel in the off-season if you want to escape hordes of travellers, but there are some places where it doesn't make much sense to travel unless it's the high season. The beaches of Goa is one example, and Nepal is another if you come expecting to do any trekking. The monsoon here is very slight this year but it still does not provide a great opportunity for a medium or long trek. So, we have decided to take only a short trek around the Kathmandu Valley. We will have our own Sherpa guide, a porter to carry our bags, and all food and accomodation taken care of. It is quite a departure from what I imagined trekking to be.
We originally planned for 20 days here but due to the weather, we have cut it down to 11. Today we changed our flights and will be leaving Kathmandu on September 11th. Perhaps because we were in NYC last year we find the travel date makes us a bit wary. Therefore, we tried first for the 9th or the 10th but neither day had seats available.
As for my aunt Mary-lou's question about the critters: we haven't really had a bug problem anywhere. The odd time there will be a cockroach in the bathroom when one of us goes in there in the middle of the night but that's about it. The mosquitoes haven't even been that bad though the ones we have met with are highly evolved and excellent at alluding and biting humans. We've probably seen more ants than anything: ants in the sugar dish, ants under the cap of the pop bottle, ants struggling to carry a piece of dropped granola bar up a wall....
tothesea,
k&m