I fly to Kathmandu, Nepal

The day finally arrives:  Monday, April 23, 2018, and I'm ready to go.  I spent the last few days packing and unpacking my duffle bag to meet the weight requirements for the trip.  I need to have my duffle bag down to a weight of 22 lbs for the small plane ride at the start of the trek and no more than 33 lbs for the yaks to carry. 

I'm off to the airport for a 11:54 pm flight.  I first fly to JFK in New York; then the long overseas flight to Doha Qatar, and then the final leg to Kathmandu, Nepal.

Total travel time 28 hours, 15 minutes!  And it is now Wednesday, April 26.

I arrive in Kathmandu about 4:00 pm Nepal time, which is an 11:45 minute difference from Colorado time.  Why there is a 15 minute difference in the clocks?

It has something to do with the 82.5 degree longitude dividing Nepal into unequal parts.  For me, it worked best just to say there is a 12-hour time difference.

After buying a Nepal visa and picking up my duffel bag, I am met by Ian Taylor's trekking crew to take me to the hotel I'll be staying at for 3 nights.  This will give me time to get over any jet lag before starting the actual trek.  The hotel was very comfortable....

...the surrounding area was what Kathmandu pretty much looked like.

The next morning, I met Sujan Kc to guide me around the hotel area a bit to pick up some store items for the trek and a couple souvenir items. He's a very pleasant and friendly guy who wanted to practice his English as he showed me his city.

I saw my first prayer wheel.   Traditionally, the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is written in Sanskrit on the outside of the wheel.  According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition regarding prayer wheels, spinning such a wheel will have much the same effect as orally reciting the prayers.

I wanted to see a few sights of Kathmandu so that afternoon I hired a guide, driver, and car from Black Diamond Expeditions to take me around the city and surrounding area.

Our first stop is at the Hindu Pashupati temple.  Located on the banks of the Bagmati River, the temple is one of the ancient places of worship. It is the oldest Hindu temple in Nepal, dating back to 400 BC.

And to my surprise, a cremation ceremony was taking place.

It was fascinating, but yet uncomfortable to watch.  We were on the opposite bank of the river and I felt like we were imposing on a private time, but my guide assured me it was fine to watch.

When it came time to light the fire, I had seen enough.

On we went to the Kathmandu Monkey Temple.

The real name is Swayambhunath, but it is known as the Monkey Temple (which is also easier to pronounce) as there are monkeys, considered holy, living in parts of the temple.

The temple did offer me some trekking exercise, as there were many steps to climb.

I'm not a real fan of monkeys, so was pleased to see only a few of them!  In fact I didn't take one photo of the monkeys so this one is from the internet.

By this time, jet lag was catching up to me so we stopped for the day.  The plan for the next morning was to leave the hotel by 4 am to view the sunrise from Nagarkot.  It is supposed to offer a spectacular sunrise view of the Himalayas...that is, when the weather is clear.

 We arrived at the viewing point about 5 minutes before sunrise.  There were lots of tourists already there.

Just as the sun crested the mountain, a large Japanese man standing in front of me started jumping up and down waving a Japanese flag.

It had rained during the night and clouds were still lingering, so not a clear view today, but still pretty.

 There is an observation tower to climb....

 ...for views of the Himalayas and the river valley below....on a clear day that is!

After the sunrise we traveled back toward Kathmandu and stopped in Bhaktapur, an ancient former royal capital a few miles outside of Kathmandu.

This lady was fetching water from the well.  Note that the container she is using formerly contained anti-freeze.

The well

We saw some of the devastation from the April 25, 2015 earthquake that devastated the cities as well as causing horrific avalanches above Everest Base Camp.

These buildings are being braced up...

There was a large market area with vendors selling their goods.

And craftsmen making clay pots...

Outside the ancient Hindu Chagunarayan Temple.  The temple is the oldest still in use in the Kathmandu valley.  The buildings were badly affected in the 2015 earthquake and restoration is still ongoing.

At this point I suggested we call the tour quits and head back to the hotel.

The trekking group members would all be arriving by this afternoon.  It was time to meet my roommate and prepare to start the trek.

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