Back in Kathmandu

Day 21 – Thursday, 5th November 2009

We started our journey back to Kathmandu very early in the morning. We had a very long way ahead of us. The Sherpas managed to put all our bags and camping equipment in the bus and on its roof, we took our seats, a few porters joined us and we were eventually ready to go. The road was much better than the one we travelled at the beginning of our tour.

We stopped in a town called Mugling for brunch at around 10:00. The meal was simple but tasty and nourishing. We had dal bhat, that is lentils with rice and vegetables. Mugling was a proper town, full of life and with thriving local businesses – people were constantly either buying something or selling something.

We spend a couple of hours in a huge traffic jam in the Kathmandu Valley. This was very unpleasant, as it was hot, the smog was unbearable and we were tired in general and couldn’t wait to get to our hotel. Finally, we reached Kathmandu, were we could once again catch a glimpse of the city’s people, architecture and street life from our bus windows. This is a poor and chaotic city, noisy, crowded and absolutely crazy. The Patan district, where our hotel is situated, is completely different to the rest of the city, with its European styled villas and gardens.

We got to the Summit Hotel around 14:00, but it took a while before we got our bags and room keys. It was so strange to suddenly experience the luxuries of having a bed, a wardrobe, and a shower again after three weeks of living rough! Rafael immediately went for a swim in the hotel pool and I stayed in the room to sort out my clothes, take a bath and call my parents after three weeks of no contact. They were over the moon being able to hear my voice again and knowing that we were safe and sound.

We went down to the hotel bar and had a little snack and drink before meeting the rest of the group for dinner at 18:30. We went to a restaurant near our hotel, called Masala, which served mostly Indian food. We spent a lovely evening laughing and recounting the last three weeks and all of our adventures. Group photos were obligatory, of course. The saddest part was saying goodbye to our Sherpas. We will miss them!

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