Kathmandu Nepal- a dream come true

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After a great stop over in Doha, Qatar where i had to spend the night at the Movenpick Tower Hotel, courtesy of Qatar airways ( yeah it was rough 😊, down comforter, down pillow, a flat screen tv, more toiletries then i could possibly take with me, etc.... way more luxury than i had seen in three months!!!) so anyway, in the end it is just a bed, and i slept well 😊 and then it was on to Kathmandu in the early morning!

After a 4 hour flight, we saw the Himalayans on the left, with Mt. Everest sticking through the clouds, a great view of the Anna Purna Range and need i say more, i was thrilled and full of anticipation!
After spending about 1 hr in line waiting for the visa at the immigration desk, i was finally able to get my luggage meet my guide Puru and we drove into the city!! Thamel is the district of Kathmandu where all the trekkers stay, full of hostels, guesthouses and hotels and one trekking outfit next to the other. The shopping is unreal, i have never seen so much fake ( as in made in Nepal) North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Alpine Lowe, you name it gear! And of course i got sucked in to the shopping rage immediately and "splurged" on a 700 fill down "North Face" jacket that looks, feels and wears like the real thing. Really cool! and I am sure it will come in handy in the next two weeks during the Everst Base Camp trek!

So now here are a few pictures from my sightseeing tour in Kathmandu and the surrounding valley today and then i am off to get some sleep before the alarm will go off at 4:40 am to get ready for the 6:30 flight to Lukla and then the trek!!! Cannot wait and hope to be able to send a few more blogs out from Namche Bazar in a few days!

cheers every one SL

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Photos

prayer flags in the wind
at the Bhundanat Temple - - refuge for lots of Tibetans who live here in exil

the Monkey Temple
the Stupa of the "Monkey Temple"

a young monk lending a hand
amazing to watch the monks while chanting or praying inside the beautiful monestaries