Our trip to Nepal was our longest stop-over during this mission. We were here for six days and they were packed to the hilt. When we flew from Bangkok last Thursday, we were able to see Mt. Everest during our final approach to Kathmandu's airport. What a majestic sight – it concerned me a bit however, that Everest was about at the same height as the plane. I never would have ever thought that I'd have an opportunity to see Mt. Everest. The Himalayas were amazing as well and the mountain range would pepper our experiences throughout the trip. They were always there, looming in the background (and sometimes even the foreground).
Upon arrival, we went straight to the office to prepare for our work. Thankfully, we were staying in the Yak & Yeti Hotel, which is attached to the office. The office is in a former royal palace. The architecture was stunning, but the government does not have the funding to truly take care for it. After a few brief meetings, Chris and I headed back to the hotel to unpack. We decided to take in a local meal for dinner (not the least of which because the food in the hotel was expensive). 
The hotel recommended a traditional Nepali restaurant a 10 minute walk from the hotel, so we set off on foot and quickly realized we were taking our lives in our own hands. While the traffic in Hanoi was challenging, the traffic in Kathmandu was just plain dangerous – it didn't really matter where you walked (and there weren't that many choices), you were in danger of being hit by scooters, cars, trucks and everything else that is mobile. Nevertheless, we made it to dinner unscathed and proceeded to climb up five stories in this ancient building so that we could witness the native dress and dance customs of Nepal. The entertainers performed dances from the various families of Nepal. They also wore their traditional family clothing. Each region of Nepal houses a particular family. Marriages in those regions are typically arranged and the families rarely cross castes or families. The meal was good – Nepali food consists of "curries" like you would find in India and other dishes like you would find in China. Nepal is situated between the two countries, so naturally the peoples and cultures share some commonalities. One dish that I had at least once a day was called "momos." Momos are pasta pouches filled with anything from vegetables to chicken or buffalo. They were quite good and I'll have to find a place to buy them in Washington when I return. The other local delicacy that Chris and I tried (and by trying I mean we touched our tongues to it) was a local rice wine. Both of us agreed that the local rice wine would be better used to clean open wounds – really, it probably would be used for that purpose anywhere else in the world.
I spent the next morning training the staff on First Aid, which went well. The staff were grateful for the information and we had a lot of fun as well. The best part of the day was yet to come however.
One of Chris's former employees when he was in Qatar was a British Ghurka. He and Chris still keep in touch and Chris found out that his wife had just had a new little baby boy. Gangaman lives in the Cayman Islands now and works for one of Chris's friends. He hadn't seen his family in 10 months, and asked that Chris stop by to see them if he was in the area.
It was the weekend in Nepal, so we decided to get out of the city, head to a tiny lake village and relax a little. Ganga-Man's family lived there and they offered to be our host and show us around their town of Pokhara. To get to Pokhara meant either a five to six hour bus ride or a 20-minute flight – we took the flight. The airline was named Buddha Air, and we felt very safe flying with the Buddha. 
Upon arrival in Pokhara, they met us at the gate, draped shawls over our shoulders and presented us with flowers – it was quite a welcome, one I won't soon forget. They took us by taxi to our lake-side hotel and then proceeded with the grand tour. We took a boat across to the tiny island in the middle of the lake which had a Buddhist temple on it. It was a beautiful ride and we were able to see the Himalayas rising up in the background. The took us to the local waterfall, with its gushing glacial waters, and then to a cave carved out of the ground by the rushing waters. Then it was time for dinner and we headed into downtown Pokhara for some momos and a curry. Upon returning to the hotel, we took a long walk around the lakeside and did a little shopping for our families. What a whirlwind. For some odd reason, Chris and I agreed to get up by 4 a.m. the next morning in order to climb Sarangot (in a car) so we could see the sunrise over the Himalayas – specifically Mt. Annapurna and Mt. Machupichue. We were tired, but the view turned out to be spectacular. I've never seen anything like it – wow. Eventually we headed down the mountain and proceeded to eat our way through the late morning and early afternoon before we boarded our flight back to Kathmandu.
Gangaman's family hosted us for lunch at their home before we left – we all ate entirely too much, but the company was great and we learned a great deal about their culture and their family. The flight back was uneventful, but we were able to identify the mountains that we had seen that morning.
Pradeep, our Country Security Manager in Nepal, hosted Chris and me for dinner at his house. As you can see, food is a strong theme of this story. By the time we made it to dinner at Pradeep's, we were already full. After dinner, they had to roll us back to the hotel – too much good food (and lots of momos!).
On Sunday, Pradeep took us up to Nagargot, a foothill of the Himalayas where you can view the Kathmandu Valley on one side and a beautiful farming valley on the other. It took nearly an hour and a half to climb (by car again) to the top of Nagarkot, but the views were spectacular. The switchbacks, however, were less than spectacular:-)
That evening, Chris and I headed into the "New Road" district of Kathmandu to do a little sight seeing and some shopping. That part of the city is quite old and some of the most amazing of the more than 5,000 temples in Kathmandu are situated there. We took quite a few pictures while dodging traffic and then we walked around the Thamel area and found ourselves at the Kathmandu Guest House, which is world famous for hosting celebrities, actors, pop stars and hippies. Did I mention that this is where I would stay my next time in Kathmandu. We sat down for dinner (no, I didn't have momos this time) with a American cover band playing in the background and wonderfully cool temperatures. We both, at about the same time, remarked how nice this would be if we only had our wives with us. Despite the hectic traffic in Kathmandu, the people are very laid back and easy going…it was a pleasure being there. When we left to go to the airport today, we both felt like we'd be back. There is a lot to see and there is a lot to learn.
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