"Trump is an asshole"

It's Easter Sunday here in a country that's almost entirely Hindu. No church bells, Easter eggs or families in their Easter finest. Just me, watching the orange sun rise glowing





through the smog, waiting for breakfast to begin and for another day of exploring this manic city. I'm a tinge sad not to be with family on this holiday. All the more reason to get out and going. The distraction will do me good.

Yesterday I awoke early, had a quick bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee and then ventured out into Kathmandu. Oh my goodness. I knew the pace here would be different but wow. It's crazy. Absolute chaos; buzzing scooters, barreling trucks, ceaseless honking,








left-driving traffic (for those that choose to follow the rules), dirt, smog, shrieking vendors, impoverishment, aggressive and endless beggars, deafening noise. Complete sensory overload. It was disorienting and unnerving and though I had to stop a few times to get re-centered, I enjoyed every minute of it. Every minute that is except for the pollution. The air quality in Kathmandu is a big problem.



My throat is already sore. When I blow my nose what comes out is black. Many people wear hospital masks. I'm tempted to get one too.

After wandering the Thamel district, doing some people watching and visiting a few temples, incredibly, I was able to find my way back to the hotel. I hung out by the pool for a bit watching a photo shoot for a new hotel brochure and chatting


with the young Nepalese models. I then took a brief nap before meeting Nick, a member of our group who also arrived early. He and I had arranged to get together for a walk to a guest house that I had read was a great spot to watch the sunset.

Nick and I met in the lobby at 5. Thankfully he had bought a map. The guest house was three miles away. Even with his map, it was a navigational challenge. Wandering through neighborhoods, weaving across traffic filled boulevards and frequently retracing our steps, it quickly became clear that we had mis-timed our adventure. I had thought we would easily make by the necessary 6:15. Not a chance. By 6 p.m. we had only made it half way. We continued on but with no street lights, it quickly became dark. We never made it to the guest house but we got close. Around 7, we saw a long private driveway leading up to Hyatt Regency hotel adjacent to a world heritage site. We decided to call it quits and go into the Hyatt for a beer. A good choice. A bit of luxury in a place surrounded by scarcity and hardship. As we thought about it, even if we had gotten to our destination in time, we doubted we would have seen the sunset. The smog was just too thick.

Nick is a thirty something Brit who now works in Kuwait after spending a year in Quatar. He is on a project remediating the oil spillage that still exist from the fires lit by the Iraqis 20 years ago when George Bush Sr. drove Saddam Hussein's army out of Kuwait. The project is massive. Nick showed me the images from Google Earth. The spills are the size of huge lakes and there are many of them. It will be many, many years before the project is complete.

Nick owns three mountain bikes and a road bike and races often, in Kuwait and in other countries. Oh boy. I pray I don't hold him back on our trip. I dread the thought.

After a couple of Nepalese lagers at the Hyatt, we hailed a cab back to the Thamel district where we went to Ship Restaurant and Bar, a place ranked high on Trip Advisor. We had a couple of more beers along with a great Nepalese meal of rice, mixed vegetables, spinach, curried sauce and crispy bread. Delicious. During the meal I abandoned Nick for ten minutes to introduce myself to the large group of folks, mostly Americans, who were sitting at a nearby table. It turns out that as part of Habitat for Humanity, they were on a mission to help rebuild a missionary in the mountains. The devastation from last year's earthquake is everywhere in Nepal. Organizations like Habitat are here to help. It's going to be a long, slow process of recovery. I admire this group's dedication and willingness to assist. I enjoyed chatting with them.

My flight on Friday from Dubai was mostly routine. The only incident of note was my interaction with the airport security agent. When I showed him my U.S. passport he muttered, "Trump is an asshole". A bit surprised I made eye contact and he added; "He's a racist jerk". No argument from me. I told him "if Trump wins, maybe I'll move here to Dubai." He seemed to like that. He nodded, stamped by passport and waived up the next traveler.

I've matured. In previous trips I might have engaged him in a little debate. I can't stand Trump either but I do enjoy a spirited discussion now and then. However, this was not the time. This guy was fired up and the United Arab Emirates is a strict place. I wasn't about to risk a verbal spat, not when my long awaited adventure was so close.

Later this morning Nick and I will transfer to another hotel to meet up with the rest of our group. Our first formal gathering will be for dinner tonight. Tomorrow we take an organized tour of Kathmandu together before catching a small plane to Pokhara on Tuesday morning.

Happy Easter everyone.


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Location:Thamel Marg,Kathmandu,Nepal