Edge of Kathmandu Valley 12/24
Took our timing getting up after a rough nights sleep on a hard ass bed. We walked around town and ended back at the rooftop restaurant w our fresh doughnuts and Juju Dhau for some marsala tea and eggs. Apparently it's a nice hotel because they ripped us off for tea and eggs dammit. Oh well, that's the price for some sun and a view.
On the way back to our hotel we stopped to purchase a wooden carving of angry Shiva that we were eyeing yesterday. Andy talked him down 50%, so we did it.
We headed for the bus stop around noon to head for Dhulikhel. All the buses were full and the taxi wanted $20 which was nuts so we waited for the next bus. There were already 20 people on top of the bus so how were we and out bags going to fit? Well we and they did. The bags went in the middle and Andy and I sat backwards w our legs dangling off the back. Hold on tight. It actually wasn't too scary, the bus was going up hill most of the time so it couldn't go fast. There weren't too many bumps. Locals were smiling and waving at us, one guy took a pic from his motorcycle. For $0.5 each what a bargain. Take that taxi driver!
We arrived at Dhulikhel in 40 min from all the stops the bus made. The town is on top of the mountain w great views of the Kathmandu Valley (when the smog permits). We could see the peaks of the Himalaya in the distance. We found the Shiva Hotel which has great views from our top floor bedroom. We ate some lunch (veg momos, Andy fried chicken, and local herbal tea) and relaxed back at the hotel for the remaining hours of daylight. There's some good hiking here, too bad we don't have time. This is a great little town, definitely recommend it.
The owners made us Dahl Bhat for dinner. I had veg and Andy had mutton. The dude said mutton is very expensive- go figure Andy. The food was amazing and it all (except for the rice) came from their garden. We finished the meal w mint tea- also from their garden. The owner is a very nice man. He built the building and rents out 5 of the rooms. He chatted w us in the rooftop and during our dinner about the gas crisis w India and the power outages. Everywhere we've gone we've experienced periods of no power. Even on Annapurna there were times of no power. Kathmandu loses power but usually can at least keep the lights on even if we can't charge anything. The dude said they want to put in a 6 lane road from Kathmandu to China right here. I don't think he realizes what that will do to this wonderful place. Maybe he thinks it will bring more business, not more noise and pollution.
Tomorrow we head back to Kathmandu. Let's hope we don't see any dead people on our ride home tomorrow. Yesterday on our way out of town, there were 20 people around this dude laying on the ground. He was laying in an awkward "I'm dead" position, not "I'm sleeping".