Well, we hopped on a bus to Nagarkot at 7200 feet elevation to get great views of the Himalayas and to get a little exercise. It's such a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu, but a lot cooler. The bus ride up here was uneventful. Just the typical hairpin turns and occasional clutching of the seat as an oncoming bus hurdles towards you on the extremely narrow road... But what's a few more gray hairs, right? We got off the bus and drank in the crisp, fresh air. We've even stayed a few nights more than we initially thought because the people and atmosphere here are perfect... even without a t.v. in our room. :-)
Nagarkot is pretty low key and even though it's supposed to be peak tourist season, we only see a handful of tourists come up here for day trips from Kathmandu. The town itself has only one crossroad, and there are lots of little"restaurants" serving up momo's (dumplings made with rice noodles), thukpas (noodle soup) and chowmein. Many of these restaurants are in people's homes, so you can play with their kids while you wait for your food. There are a lots of trails that leave from here to other towns and when we leave, we plan on trying to hike back to Kathmandu that way. For now, we've been happy hiking in and out of the valley as well up to the"tower" for good views of Mount Everest.
Main crossroad in Nagarkot.
View of Mount Everest from the tower we hiked to. It looks lower than the peaks surrounding it because it's much further away.
The Himalayas look like they are rising out of the sky... Not even attached to the foothills and mountains below. Just crazy beautiful. Jo, your camera would have come in handy!
That's me trying to hit the strongest WiFi spot in the room so I can upload pictures and write the blog. Jamie and I are always trying to find the best spot - hoping the power and the internet don't go off