Another early start; our wake-up call was at 5:00 but we were already up, thanks to a rodent of some variety scrabbling around in the wall right next to my head, then dogs going off their nut, and generally having already slept enough by that stage due to our early bedtimes for the last couple of weeks. We didn’t have much more packing to do. Breakfast was at 5:30 and we were off to the airport at 6:00. It was similar chaos to the first flight, with bags being weighed, boarding passes handed out, ‘security’ checks and waiting to be summoned for our plane. Finally our turn came, and Raewyn and I managed to score two seats on the side of the plane so she could have her turn at seeing the mountains. We got our money’s worth out of the flight – due to congestion at Kathmandu airport, we ended up circling for an extra half hour or so.
After landing at Kathmandu we were picked up and taken to the Radisson, arriving about 9 am. We were able to check into our rooms straightaway and to have proper showers for the first time in two weeks.
We visited the royal palace museum, which was a very strange experience. The building was designed and constructed in the 1960s, and it showed. Some of the rooms seemed like they were trying to emulate palaces in Europe, with ornately painted ceilings, velvet wallpaper, large paintings of former monarchs, etc., but then the 1970s cabinets, chairs and tables and other furniture kind of messed up the look. From the palace the route then went out to a garden area that had been the residence where the royal massacre of 2001 took place. I wasn’t aware of the events or the history, and came away none the wiser.
From there we headed into Thamel for lunch and to find an internet café, where we spent 20 minutes (for 30 Rs) checking emails and sending some back home.
On the way back to the hotel a fair trade craft shop caught our eye. It had a big variety of things, many of which were quite different to the things that all the shops in Thamel were selling (pashminas, yak wool hats/slippers, ugly ornate hangings, Gurkha knives, notebooks, ugly carvings, hippie clothes). Several items had profiles about the person who had made them. We spent quite a bit of time looking around and liked the idea of supporting it, so we each got some things.
In the evening we all went out for dinner at one of the more upmarket restaurants in Thamel, where Rishi presented us with our trekking permits as mementos.
Next day
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