Kathmandu!

Even the name Kathmandu conjures up mystical images. We are in the land of the Himalays. Tomorrow we circle the magical mountains. Gene has been looking forward to this part of the journey, as have I. Tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn, we will board a twin engine plane and witness this awesome range up close and personal.

Both Gene and I expected Kathmandu to be colder and maybe even snow on the ground. But there are tropical trees growing here. We landed to above eighty degree weather. I brought sweaters with me just so I would be prepared! I won't be needing those.

Kathmandu is a mixture of Hindus and Budhists. The people look more Mongolian in their features. They do speak Hindi and Nepalese. The city's air quality is polluted. We could not see the mountains beacuse the smog was so thick. People wear masks over their noses as they walk about in town. One wonders what this city would have looked like thirty years ago, with less pollution. We could barely make the outline of the Himalays. But, tomorrow we will get to see them clearly, so please pray for clear skies.

After we arrived here, we went to our hotel, which is considered to be a historic hotel. Even though it's not old, it's built with salvaged windows and doors from old buildings. The owner of the hotel believed in the preservation of the Nepalese heritage. The name of this hotel is Dwarika's Hotel. There was no sight seeing scheduled for this afternoon, Gene is not one to sit on his laurels. So, off we went to visit local artisans at work. I was able to find small trinkets, I want to give to my two children. Where as, Gene found several handmade scarves for loved ones back home.  Back at our hotel, we were treated to a six course dinner. We sat on the floor, with food served on a low table, Nepalese style. We were supposed to eat a sixteen course dinner, I don't think my stomach or waistline could have handled that!

More tomorrow!
Sunita.