Back to Nepal

After an aborted attempt to travel from Nepal to Tibet because of a Chinese government decision to close Tibet, yet again, Brian Polden and I decided to go to Nepal anyway and do another trek. Our trusty guide Satish Man Pati soon came up with a plan for a trip to Mustang and Dolpo. An isolated area in NW Nepal, culturally Tibetan.

I flew via Bangkok, with reasonable views from the plane...

...and after a night there, flew on to Nepal. It was a very cloudy/misty descent into Kathmandu.

We were met by Satish at the airport and whisked off to the Tibet Hotel

Plenty of character in the lobby...

..and hallways..

..with comfortable rooms.

There was little evidence of earthquake damage from the plane, and walking around town. Although tourist numbers are still down, it seemed business as usual around Thamel.

..although this building obviously wasn't faring so well.

In the evening, Satish's family were putting on a celebration for his Everest climb, and we were invited. It started with endless supplies of nibbles and beer..

...then sash presentations to Satish and his family..

...we were invited up to get our "spots" and a fish and an egg!

Then a slide presentation by Satish of the climb, the photos were spectacular. Here he is with Pasang on top, the ultimate selfie..

..plus the advertorial..

..and a poor representation of the view.

Then more snacks and whiskey, and when we declared ourselves stuffed to the gunnels, out came a thali plate!

Luckily we convinced them that Brian and I would share one. A great start to our adventure.