The start of my trek blog, as translated from my notebook....
I knew from the minute I woke up yesterday that I was catching something. Of course, I didnt think to bring cold meds and didnt feel like having an adventure to go find some.
The day started out just fine - breakfast, met the rest of the REI group, and went on a tour. The tour included the rest of the World Heritage sites in Kathmandu, so we were able to see all seven over four days.
Our first stop with the group was a giant Buddhist temple, a stupa. It was gorgeous - such great architecture and brilliant prayer flag colors. We also stopped at another art school for a tour. Since we'd already bought a painting, we just used the bathroom 'happy place', as our guide called it, and went outside to people watch. So many people to see, both locals in traditional dress and tourists just looking around.
The second stop was Patan Durbar square, the final durbar square in the heritage sites. It was interesting to see that this site was more of a modern tourist attraction, with vendors selling plastic blow-up figures on sticks and cotton candy. We walked the square for a bit, and then headed to lunch at another rooftop restaurant. I still wasnt feeling well, but I was hungry. I opted to try the sweet and sour chicken and some rice. Then, it poured....a lot. Luckily, we were under some cover....some. A plastic tarp kind of thing, that stayed attached to the deck...sort of. Haha...at least Brian and I were prepared for rain.
Our final stop was the monkey temple, another Buddhist Stupa. But, this one had monkeys everywhere. They were fun, but pretty destructive - we watched them rip down a flag and try to tear off part of the stupa. Apparently, if the locals leave their windows open at night, the monkeys come in and destroy the house...charming...
On the way back to the hotel, our guide answered questions about his life, family, etc. He had an arranged marriage (most people in Nepal still do), and told us about his wedding, a multi-day celebration where they had to walk several hours to his fiancee's town. He told us about his daughter, who he wanted to give a non-common name, so he named her Rachel - something he'd found on the internet.
By the time we got back to the hotel, I really felt awful. Horrible timing. I went back and slept for a bit before our pre-meeting with our guide. I dont remember much from it, other than feeling awful and hoping it wrapped up soon. I tried to get a milkshake after, thinking it might help my throat, but it was luke-warm milk and ice cream, and I definitely didnt trust it. So, I pulled the ice cream out and ate that. Dinner took forever, so I ended up having it delivered to my room so I could pack and get to sleep faster. I skipped my final kind of clean shower since I was freezing (yeah running a fever the day before I leave...) and the water wasnt all that warm.
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