Visitors!

My parents came to visit on July 14th, staying through the 25th. We met them at their hotel, and I thought they would be too exhausted to do anything, but they were geared up for activity. Shehrish and I decided to plunge right in, and took them to Thamel for lunch. I could tell that both were shocked walking through the chaotic streets. I think I forgot that begging children, drug slinging and traffic coming from every direction is not the norm for Winston-Salem. We had lunch at OR2K, and my dad found sitting indian style on the floor to be too much. After lunch, we went to Durbar Square, and both described the walk as 'sensory overload', as they were seeing and hearing many new things while walking the backroads to the temples. I remember being shocked by things upon arrival, but nothing surprises me anymore. We were immediately interrogated by a guard and asked to pay the obscene price for white people, and promptly left. I usually get by without paying, but I guess three white folks with backpacks and bright T-shirts threw up a flag. We took a cab to Shehrish's house, and some street kid was harassing my mom for money while we were stopped at a light. I usually just ignore them, but this dude was persistent, and I shooed him away with a pushing motion as he was hanging on the window. He proceeded to slap me in the back of the head, and everyone had a good laugh at my expense. Later that day, we had dinner at Handlebar, met Shehrish's family and called it a night.

The next day, we went to Swayambhunath, or 'monkey temple', in KTM. I had never been, and was expecting another run of the mill temple with a few monkeys around, but couldn't have been more wrong. Swayambhunath is an AMAZING Buddhist temple originally founded as a religious site in the 5th century with amazing statues and a massive stupa at the top. The walk up to the top is quite steep, and monkeys run all around, playing and eating. At the top, monkeys run around everywhere and the area is loaded with goregous statues, prayer wheels and wooden carving. A basic knowledge of Buddhism or having simply read Siddhartha will leave one drooling over the massive amounts of Buddhist symbolism and mythology. I was angry with Shehrish for never having taken me before, as the temple is easily the coolest thing I have seen in KTM to date.

Bhaktapur and Nagarkot were the next day's activities, and both were nice. We had an informative tour guide for Bhatkapur, which would have been great if his English had been decipherable. The city itself is amazing, ancient temple upon ancient temple and amazing artwork everywhere. One such temple is dedicated to eroticism, and depicted numerous positions that would make the Kama Sutra blush. The tour would have been more enjoyable had it not been rainy and muggy, but was nonetheless quite nice. We then got in the car and drove to Nagarkot, a high city that boasts amazing views of the valley. Unfortunately, monsoon season weather obstructed everything, but it was still neat to feel as if you were above the world and on top of the clouds. We had lunch there, and then headed back to KTM. That evening, we had dinner in Thamel amid a wicked rainstorm. While walking back to get a cab, a drug dealer offered my mother hash and opium, which she politely declined. Other than seeing some guy arrested and whacked with a baton, the night was pretty low key, and we went to bed early to rest up for Pokhara.

Shehrish and I woke up around six and were at my parents’ hotel by seven to head to Pokhara. Nisha was picked up on the way. We had planned to raft for a stretch of the trip on the Trishuli River, and saw that it was rushing and muddy from all of the rainfall, great conditions for whitewater rafting. Shehrish and Nisha were apprehensive, having never rafted before, but both loved it. The rapids were surprisingly good; we were told to expect class 3 rapids, but there were many class 4's as well and the river was ridiculously turbulent. At one point, I jumped out of the raft and floated onward for a stretch with no rapids, which turned out to be a really bad decision. The cheap SPF 20 sunscreen I had liberally applied must not have been waterproof, as I subsequently battled the worst sunburn of my life, to be continued. We got to Pokhara that evening and dropped my parents off at Fishtail Lodge (nice) and went out to find a cheap hotel for ourselves (terrible). After beer and pizza at Moondance, we called it a night.

Early next morning we got up and drove about an hour away to start trekking. The weather was cloudy and muggy, less than ideal conditions for trekking. The first couple of hours we basically walked straight up, which was quite difficult until I got used to it. The four-ish hour walk was nice, and we got to our camp in late afternoon. I was fortunate to find an aloe plant growing nearby to slather all over my sun-baked knees, which were beginning to blister. Everything was cool and misty, as we were literally in the clouds at high elevation. After dinner and having some ‘rahksi’, potent local alcohol, with our guide, we called it a night. I awoke the next morning to find blood all over my ankles and bed sheets, a Silence of the Lambs-like moth on my pillow and a blister the size of a golf ball on my right knee. I had brought in leeches with me to bed, squashed the deaths-head moth presumably with my face and nearly collapsed upon standing with my severely burned legs. Undeterred, I ate breakfast, lanced my blister and we were on our way. Everyone covered their shoes and legs with salt to discourage leeches. The hike that day was beautiful despite the cloudy conditions. Being monsoon season, everything was a vibrant green, and trekking through the Annapurna range reminded me of scenes from Jurassic Park. We went slow as everything was slippery and wet, but made it to our next camp late that afternoon. Our camp was gorgeous and we had spectacular views all around us. I showered for the first time since leaving Pokhara, and discovered a trio of leeches feasting on the back of my left knee. The next day we awoke to an absolute deluge. The rain was heavy, and onward we went. Highlights of the day included a landslide five feet in front of us, a leech the size of a cigar stuck to my mothers leg, crossing a slick, thin log bridge, where falling (which easily could have happened) probably meant death either by drowning or getting mangled on rocks, and having one of the most satisfying meals of my life after trekking 6-7 hours. It was only ‘dal bhat’, which I eat almost every day, but I have never enjoyed food more. Upon getting back, the girls and I hit up a bar to celebrate the end of our adventure, and the next morning we headed back to KTM.

The last days in Kathmandu were spent shopping for gifts for my parents to take back and having dinner at Bhumi, the Newari restaurant where I ate lungs and tongue on my second night in Nepal. My parents were somewhat reluctant to try things, but both ended up enjoying all of the food, including the lung. The next morning they came to check out the school before leaving. I think they’re laid over in Korea now, and I hope they enjoyed everything!