Nepal - Bhaktapur

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We arrived into Kathmandu after a crazy flight through Abu Dhabi (where Garfield was always trying to mail Nermal), which was a bit of a crazy airport (with a mosque inside the restrooms), but it did have free internet terminals available! The last leg of the journey was problem free, except for the slightly off-putting guy sitting next to Shane holding a mask up to his face the entire flight -- keeping germs out or in? I'm sure we didn't catch whatever it was... We arrived in Kathmandu late and cleared customs painlessly and met our guide, Shree, who drove us to our hotel in Bhaktapur, right outside Kathmandu. Crashed out and awoke to find Bhaktapur a bustling little village full of shops and street vendors. Went for a cultural tour of the city with Shree and another American tourist, Veronica. He shared with us many insights into Nepalese culture, such as many of the daily customs and traditions, which many people follow even if they aren't particularly religious. We saw lots of temples and pagodas, many of which were hundreds of years old. We walked through the pottery district and saw a huge mound of pottery that had been buried in hay and ash, which is then lit to fire all the pieces. The same way they've done it for centuries. In the evening we enjoyed some native Nepalese food at a local restaurant and tried the local Everest beer. A great introduction to Nepal!

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Photos

hotel view
with veronica, from utah, and anjuli, who works for the hotel