First full day in Kathmandu

Woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of what seemed liked hundreds of dogs barking all at once.  A little later, the gaggle of crows and pigeons joined in and finally the honks from the morning traffic at about 5:30 am.  Normally, we’d be annoyed at something like this but, as we were in Nepal with no set schedule, we found it pretty amusing  (We’ll try to capture some audio of this tomorrow morning…).

Our main objective for today was to buy the remaining gear for the trek.  Anything “critical” we brought with us from the US--good, worn-in hiking shoes, wind/water proof outer shell, a couple pairs of hiking pants/shorts, polarized sunglasses, etc.  Everything else could be bought in Kathmandu for much less.  Today we bought: another upper base layer, thermal lowers, upper fleece, water purifying tablets, warm gloves, warm hat, bandanas, sun hat, rain pants, detailed map of Annapurna region, head lamps and sandals.

Things to get tomorrow: backpack, trekking permit, bus ticket to Besi Sahar.sleeping bag liner, hiking poles

Things to rent: sleeping bag, down jacket

 

 

 

Nepalese school kids lining up to the beat of a drum (visible from the window of our hotel)

 

 

Researching and planning our trek

Thamel district of Kathmandu

 

Locals playing cards