I woke at 8am to blaring car horns and people yelling at each other in the streets. This was very different from the roosters that I have become accustomed to. But this was no problem, as I rushed out to get an early start on my first official day in Kathmandu.
Before heading out I went to meet a travel agent I had met the night before named Prakash. So far Prakash has been hooking me up big time. He took care of my Visa to India, my bus and train tickets into India, my flight out of India, and then convinced me to scrap Asia's tallest bungee jump and come on a 5 day trek with him to his village at the foothills of the Manaslu Mountian.
-Right now I have restarted this entry because the power went out 2 hours ago and just came back on-
Now it was time for me to explore. I used the Lonely Planet's walking tour as my guide and perused through the labyrinth-like ancient city. Not long into the walk I came across one of the most amazing temples I have ever seen. It was exactly like the one I have seen in the picture where an massive stupa is set in the center of a square and there are prayer flags streaming from the top down to smaller stupas placer all around it. While exploring the temple grounds, there is a DJ playing some trendy world music which really set the scene for me.
-I must interject again to say that I just looked over the computer next to me and there is a man on JapanCupid.com scoping out some ladies-
After the temple I wandered deeper into the depths of Kathmandu, observing the medieval architecture, beggars, shop life, and best of all, the "Dollar Baba's." These are holy men dressed in bright robes and have painted their faces with yellows, reds, and white. They walk around seeking tourists telling you to take photo's of them, then say a few prayers and bless you, and then put red or white paint on your forehead. Of course they ask for a bit of money. I gave them $2 each which I have found was completely absurd as other will accept pennies. At first I thought I did a good deed giving the a little extra, but then I saw them sitting together dividing a massive wad of bills. Those sneaky Baba's! They got the best of me.
Upon finishing my tour, I returned to Prakash's shop to relax over some tea and he invited me to dinner with him and his friend Dipak that evening. They took me to a very special local place where no foreigners go, I was the only one there. They ordered a ton of different foods; mutton, chicken, beef, grains, soups, beans, and curries. Along with this feast, we each drank a bottle of whiskey making me extremely drunk. The owner of the restaurant kept coming over to our table, full of intrigue that I, a foreigner, was in his restaurant. After the meal we checked out one more late night spot and I had to go home. I was way to drunk.
It was an eventful day followed by an eventful evening. Tomorrow, my journey to the Monkey Temple.
-Right now I have restarted this entry because the power went out 2 hours ago and just came back on-
Now it was time for me to explore. I used the Lonely Planet's walking tour as my guide and perused through the labyrinth-like ancient city. Not long into the walk I came across one of the most amazing temples I have ever seen. It was exactly like the one I have seen in the picture where an massive stupa is set in the center of a square and there are prayer flags streaming from the top down to smaller stupas placer all around it. While exploring the temple grounds, there is a DJ playing some trendy world music which really set the scene for me.
-I must interject again to say that I just looked over the computer next to me and there is a man on JapanCupid.com scoping out some ladies-
After the temple I wandered deeper into the depths of Kathmandu, observing the medieval architecture, beggars, shop life, and best of all, the "Dollar Baba's." These are holy men dressed in bright robes and have painted their faces with yellows, reds, and white. They walk around seeking tourists telling you to take photo's of them, then say a few prayers and bless you, and then put red or white paint on your forehead. Of course they ask for a bit of money. I gave them $2 each which I have found was completely absurd as other will accept pennies. At first I thought I did a good deed giving the a little extra, but then I saw them sitting together dividing a massive wad of bills. Those sneaky Baba's! They got the best of me.
Upon finishing my tour, I returned to Prakash's shop to relax over some tea and he invited me to dinner with him and his friend Dipak that evening. They took me to a very special local place where no foreigners go, I was the only one there. They ordered a ton of different foods; mutton, chicken, beef, grains, soups, beans, and curries. Along with this feast, we each drank a bottle of whiskey making me extremely drunk. The owner of the restaurant kept coming over to our table, full of intrigue that I, a foreigner, was in his restaurant. After the meal we checked out one more late night spot and I had to go home. I was way to drunk.
It was an eventful day followed by an eventful evening. Tomorrow, my journey to the Monkey Temple.
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