Mon, 5,14.  Nine new members.  Team Leader Sanjeev.  One member has been on 32 Overseas Adventure Travel trips!  Her partner is her son, who appears my age.  All but two are doing tomorrow’s $220 flight to Everest.  (Yesterday eight sherpas reached the top in preparation of the season’s climbs.  We passed a statue of the first female sherpa to reach the top.)

Boudhanath Stupa is large.  Surrounded by shops run mostly by refugee Tibetans.  A nice variety of souvenirs for once.  Demo of painting.  Drive to Patan, a city adjoining Kathmandu.  Famous “Durbar Square” (Palace).  Lots of earthquake damage.  Lunch was dumplings containing water buffalo (“buff”).

Onramp, Nepal-style.

Boudhanath Stupa. The gold top was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. Rebuilt.

Prayer candles (donations). Tibet uses yak butter. Bhutan Cow butter. Nepal? Vegetable butter.

I printed this photo for her. She was so excited!

Begs the question: There are Child Labour zones? Hope not.

Beams hold up buildings damaged by the earthquake.

They are rebuilding.

Progress.

The woodwork is incredible.

Companies spend millions on fancy fountains. Nepal uses a water bottle with holes.

Sun, 5/13.  Flight from Bhutan to Kathmandu, Nepal.  Sat on the wrong side of the plane, so no view of Everest.  Getting through the Airport was a breeze, contrary to our warnings in Bhutan.  Small airport for a metropolitan population of 4 million.  Unusual rain, but it helped cool the place down, so I’m not complaining.

Nepal suffered a 7.8 earthquake in 2015.  The roads are therefore simply horrible, owing to the priority to rebuild housing and historic sites.  Construction work on the roads is very evident.  For the three months of monsoon season work is curtailed, so they’re racing against a deadline.

Hotel (Resort) is outside the city in a guarded area.  Has spa, golf, etc.  Plus a bar with an outdoor patio looking out into a courtyard.  I was having peaceful alone-time for the first time in a week, slowly consuming a burger, my first piece of solid meat also in a week.  Suddenly a monkey scampered down a rain gutter and grabbed the remaining half of the burger.  Shocked laughter by everyone.  I remember saying “be my guest” as it retreated back up the pipe.  I shouted to a (laughing) security guard “Where were you?”  The staff immediately offered to replace the burger, while I moved to a table further from the outdoors.  Welcome to Nepal.

I spent the balance of the afternoon doing nothing at all.  The remaining members of the Nepal tour arrives tonight.  Tomorrow we begin touring, with a visit to a temple.  I am very, very tired of temples, but I believe this will be one of the last.  Most of the Nepal tour is about nature and farming.  I hope.

The monkey looked like this: (without the baby)