Last Wednesday, we moved from Bhaktapur back to our apartment in Kathmandu for our last week in Nepal. Breakfast was great again at Hotel Traditional and our taxi was right on time at 11am to take us the short 30 minutes or so to Kathmandu. We settled back into the apartment and made the short walk to Avocado Café for lunch – walnut and ricotta cheese salad for Sandy and I had a Greek wrap with a bowl of vegetable soup. We got our grocery shopping done and worked out in the gym downstairs. I needed to get a new pair of casual shoes and Sandy found a cool place near the apartment that sells locally made shoes that represent different ethnic groups in Nepal.
We were both in the mood for sushi, so we went back to Koto, which was one of our first restaurants when we got to Nepal a couple of months ago and had several rolls. Koto is on Durbur Marg, the main boulevard of Kathmandu and about a 30-minute walk from our apartment – one with which we are very familiar.
Thursday, I was up early and went back to play pickleball with the Nepal Pickleball group at 6:30am. The rest of the day had us basically at the apartment working on plans for while we are in Sarasota. Sandy did her workout in the fitness center downstairs. We got a nap after being up so early. A couple we met at our hotel in Bhaktapur recommended a restaurant in the Thamel area called Forest and Plate. It turned out to be a great recommendation – I had grilled chicken and Sandy had steak and shrimp. We made some calls to confirm upcoming doctor appointments in Sarasota when we got home and watched some TV. I read my book (Kathmandu by Thomas Bell) for a little while and we were asleep by midnight.
Friday was like Thursday, except no pickleball. Lots of time doing things around the apartment and then we went out for a typical Friday night. A beer place opened very close to the apartment that we wanted to try – it is called Tap Town and they have seven Nepali beers on tap. We did flights so that we could try all of them (some we already had at other places). They served popcorn and wasabi nuts with the beer and they had a good variety of American music playing. They also have cold chocolate milk bottled – I haven’t had chocolate milk since Mongolia and this was a good one, too. It’s a cool spot.
Afterward, we walked over to Casa Mexicana for dinner. We had been there once before and enjoyed it. We both had pork burritos and horchata, and a new drink they have created with fruits and cinnamon. Kathmandu’s air quality is not great. The air today was exceptionally bad as farmers were doing their annual field burning in India and Nepal. After we got home, we did some more logistical stuff – calling about appointments and booking travel for upcoming trips.
Saturday morning, we walked to a nearby park and did a four-mile run. We were asked not to run inside the park, but there was a good sidewalk on the outer border and the run was great. For lunch, we went back to Avocado Café and had the same meal we had a few days ago – salad, Greek wrap, soup. We had fun plans for the evening. We met Dikesh, his mom, his aunt, and his two-year old niece for dinner at Bagaicha. It was such a fun time. This was the place we went to during our first stay in Kathmandu with the 17 restaurants all under one roof and you can order from any of them regardless where you are sitting. We had fun ordering a variety of non-Nepalese dishes. It was a unique experience for Dikesh’s family because they obviously tend to steer toward Nepalese food. Some of the items we ordered included chicken enchiladas, pasta alfredo, pasta Bolognese, sushi rolls, pineapple fried rice, bacon-wrapped chicken, fruit platter, and birthday cake because mom’s birthday was the day before. Great experience with lots of laughing.
Sunday, we walked over to Bodhi Café for breakfast and Starbucks time. We both had English breakfasts and enjoyed our reading time. Sandy worked on laundry for most of the afternoon, which took a lot longer than normal as the machine seemed like it was draining water at the same time it was trying to fill the drum with water for both the wash and rinse cycles. We headed back to the Thamel area for dinner – we ate at Fire and Ice Pizzeria. This is one of the top pizza places in Nepal. It was really good – a bit pricey for this part of the world and it definitely seems to cater to the tourist crowd. We finished up laundry when we got back home.
Monday was an outing day. Dikesh met at our apartment at 9:20am and we taxied to the entrance to Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park. The park is guarded by the army, so it was a little different being greeted by men with assault rifles. They were friendly enough. We started our hike up the hill at around 10am and it took two hours to get to the monastery at the top. It was a good workout with some steep sections but a good trail along the way.
There are lots of animals in the park but they were all hiding from us, except one snake that was around four feet long (Dikesh grabbed Sandy so that she didn’t step on it). The animals include bears, leopards, monkeys, many kinds of birds, and others. At the top, we enjoyed the views overlooking Kathmandu and a couple of Himalayan peaks beyond the hills. Dikesh introduced us to a national game called Goats and Tigers. It’s kind of similar to checkers where one player has four tigers on the board and the other player can place 20 goats on the board alternating moves with the other player. If the tiger eats five goats (done by jumping over a goat), the tiger player wins. If the goats can get the tigers into a position where they cannot move, the goat player wins. We packed peanut butter and banana sandwiches for each of us and enjoyed those before we headed down.
We then taxied to Dikesh’s neighborhood. He showed us an overlook with more great views of Kathmandu and a carnival-type atmosphere and then we walked to his house. He and his family planned a going-away party for us. We arrived early, so it gave us a chance to relax and read for a while before the rest of the family started to arrive. His mom had been there for most of the day to start preparing dinner, which was dal bhat – and once again, delicious! We learned from Dikesh that his rent (with utilities) is around $150 per month. He gave us a lesson on the Hawkins Map of Consciousness.
We got to meet Dikesh’s older brother and had excellent conversation with him while he was working to repair the lock to Dikesh’s apartment. Dikesh had forgotten to give his mom the key so she had to break in to start preparing dinner. As more people arrived, Dikesh had gone out to pick some things up and he came back with his friend, Gia. She also met Dikesh at Durbar Square and has done various day trips with him. She is from China and it was great to meet her and learn more about her story. She is another one of those travelers that we sincerely hope we get to meet again during our travels. Just like with Sarah’s going-away party, we had cake and sparklers, we danced. Dikesh got us both very thoughtful gifts – Sandy received a singing bowl and I got a wooden board game of Goats and Tigers. Another fantastic experience to tuck into our memory bank. We taxied home and we were in bed a little after 11.
That brings us to today – our last full day in Kathmandu. I was up early again – one more morning of pickleball. The group was so kind as they wished me well on my journey and heartily welcomed me back whenever I get to return to Nepal. We did one more small load of laundry and then we walked to the Seeing Hands Massage place. We had the same therapists as last time (Saroj and Ganga). This time we did 90-minute massages instead of two-hour massages. I asked Saroj not to hurt me and I think he hurt me even more than last time. At times, I thought the table was going to break because he was pushing me through it. Sounds relaxing, doesn’t it? Oh well, I guess it’s what my body needed.
After the massage we walked back to our neighborhood and chose Cherish for our last dinner in Kathmandu. We had popcorn, avocado smoothies, grilled salmon, pomegranate salad, and mashed potatoes. We got some to-do items done back at the apartment and watched an excellent segment about Bhutan on 60 Minutes and then went to bed around 11.
Tomorrow, we leave Nepal after spending two months here (interrupted with our 16-day stay in Bhutan). I wasn’t sure what to expect of Nepal, other than I knew the landscapes would be stunning (and they were!). I’ll most remember the hospitality and kindness of the people. It’s hard to describe the feeling when you interact with a stranger and receive a friendly smile, even just passing on the street. It has the most genuine welcoming feeling you can imagine. Multiple times, I was told that Nepali people view travelers as gods in a sense, and that could not be more evident in how they make you feel. I’ll miss the people of Nepal and of course, the family we got to know the most – Dikesh’s family. I sincerely hope that we can make a reunion happen in the future and Dikesh gets his wish of visiting America.
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