Nepal needs Your Help

We just had a wonderful dinner at the Killroy, a nearby place recommended by the locals. We were joined by the owner of the local tour company, Bikram Pandey (see video) and Shikharr, one of his senior employees. It was so great of them to join us. Bikram is one of the leading voices in Nepal and India in trying to get post-earthquake tourism back on track. He was genuinely grateful for us coming on this trip and recognized us as pioneers in jumpstarting the Nepal tourism recovery. This country really needs your help. It's a magnificent place. If you enjoy extreme hiking, trekking or biking, this is the place for you. Please come and bring your friends.
Shikharr was sharing stories about Everest climbs and the effort necessary to get to Basecamp and the Camps 1-5. The physical toughest, the mental strain, the time and the money are insane. Shikharr organizes trekking and biking trips all through the region. He does an amazing job.
There were many other stories and a bunch of laughs. Now I'm packing in preparation for an early wake up call and a short flight to Pokhara where we will start the day white river rafting. Fun.
Today, after a morning of sightseeing, a nice lunch and a trip to the bike shop to check out our mountain bike, we returned to the hotel. After dropping stuff in our rooms, we went to the pool to relax for a bit. Awhile later I was half asleep on my cot when I heard Stephen say, "The only good thing about being bald is that you know it's raining before anyone else." I opened my eyes as Nick added, "Oh yeah, it's starting to rain. Holy shit, look at that cloud. Pretty ominous." It wasn't ten second later that a violent wind gust blasted us from out of nowhere. Cushions started flying, trees were bending, the hotel's construction canvas was shredding, workers scrambled and the other poolside guests sprinted for shelter. I'd never seen anything like it. It was completely calm one minute and 80+ mph winds the next. I could tell by the workers demeanor that this was unusual for them too. I was a little slow in taking video but I did capture a few seconds towards the end. See link.





Th accompanying rain is just was needed around here. It knows the smog and pollutants out of the air, at least temporarily. The dirty air really takes a toll on you. Besides the sorest throat and the coughing, your body gets covered from head toe. After taking a shower this afternoon, the water left in the tub was a reddish copper color. Gross.
Our sightseeing tour took us to the Monkey Temple (named for all of the monkeys running around) and Dubar Square, the site of the Royal Palace built in xxx. Unfortunately several of the buildings in the square collapsed in the recent earthquake.
Hindu has 32 million gods and 27 million people in Nepal.



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Location:Kathmandu,Nepal