Starting our Geckos Tour

I awoke on Saturday morning, only feeling slightly better than the day before. Clearly this wasn’t just case of traveller’s tummy and something a little more serious.  I consulted my bible (aka Lonely Planet Guide) which had a great section on illness and realised it was definitely Giardiasis and that I needed antibiotics to see any kind of improvement.  Thankfully, like a number of Asian countries, you do not need a prescription to obtain medication, so Andrew offered to head to a nearby pharmacy and get what I needed to get better.  He kindly joked that he would also see if it was possible to source some adult nappies – he’s such a nice husband! He returned a short while later with what I needed as well as a whole heap of bottled water, and also had arranged for our laundry to be taken care of – 6kg cost us the princely sum of $7AUD including a tip. He’s a good little house husband.

I took my first dose of antibiotics and went back to bed (the place I’d spent the most time in Nepal so far) to rest and let the drugs kick in.  Andrew went wandering and, for the first time he has volunteered to write a little on the blog;

As Kel was crook in bed, I decided to fly solo and take to the streets of Kathmandu.  Walking south from Thamel, I wandered into the coolest market place selling things from whole pigs and goats (with the head fully intact to prove it was actually what it said on the wrapper) to grains, vegetables, dried fish, spices and herbs.

The smells in this market were amazing as popcorn was being prepared along with a host of other interesting steamed and deep fried momos (dumplings), simmering garlic , chilli and onions in hot oils as well as some other not so pleasant smells that included nearby garbage, and human poos and wees.

I stumbled upon Ratin Park and the Queens Pond which is a weekend meeting place for the locals similar to the botanical gardens.  The locals are treated to a bit of free entertainment – there was magicians, musicians, acrobats and story tellers all trying to make a buck from tips.

In Ratin Park, a game of cricket was being played with hundreds of punters lining the boundary watching the players who displayed quite a bit of skill despite the conditions.  The pitch was a bit of dirt that had painstakingly been rolled with a heavy roller then swept with a hand brush.  The outfield resembled a gravel car park and the grandstand looked like a music bowl type stage with concrete steps to form the seats.  There was some bloke with a microphone that was commentating and it seemed that the only words he knew were “lovely stroke” and “great fielding”.  Richie Benaud he was not but how awesome was it to witness this in Kathmandu – a place I had never ever expected to see a game of cricket!

On the way back to the Hotel I was again asked many times if I wanted hashish and “smoke” and it is starting to get tiring.   I am also starting to wonder if I look like the type who would partake in such a thing!  (I never inhaled, Mum and Dad).

Overall my thoughts on Kathmandu are this – its dusty, dirty, smelly and a little crazy but to experience it has been something I will never forget.  Despite its failings, the people are great, the kids are adorable, the thunderstorm we had the other night was awesome, the food is amazing (despite its impact on poor Kel) and I look forward to experiencing the rest that Nepal has to offer, outside of the capital!

Okay, back to me! After Andrew returned to check on me, he went out and grabbed some fried Momo’s before we were due to meet up with our tour leader Tek to have our briefing about our Geckos Tour.  Tek looks all of about 30 but has been doing this job for 15 years.  We have one other person in our group (three of us in total!), Belinda who is a year older than Andrew.  I had to laugh, you just cannot escape Commonwealth public servants like myself; Belinda is a lawyer with FaHCSIA in Canberra. Small world! We are expecting another 5 to join our group once we get to Chitwan, as they have been trekking in the Pokhara area beforehand.  We had a run down with Tek on the details for the next couple of days and I must say, provided I improve (I’m seeing slight signs already), I think we’re going to have a fantastic time.  Whilst I am more than capable of arranging tours etc myself, it will be nice to have someone else doing all the leading and I just get to sit back and not worry about the finer details.

Tomorrow we are to explore a few other sights in Kathmandu, for half the day with the rest free time before we depart for the 6 hour journey to Chitwan National Park.  I hope I’m almost fully free of the requirements of a 100m radius of a toilet, by this time!