Yesterday's missing post - we were at the end of the Universe

Hailey went to a place called Mother Theresa this morning. It is an elderly home for people who do not have families and/or are less fortunate. She and one of the other volunteers spent the morning doing laundry by hand, cleaning dishes etc. We have been told that this is one of the most rewarding volunteer jobs as you really feel like you are helping someone. Without the volunteers the small staff that work there would have to do it all themselves.

After a morning at work we took the public busses to Nargarkot to go to The Hotel At The End Of The Universe (One bus from Maharanjganj to Bhaktapur then a second from Bhaktapur to Nargarkot). It took 2 hrs 45 min hours on the way home vs. almost 4 hours on the way there. It is about 32Km away from Kathmandu.

On the first bus on our way to Nargarkot the bus got so crowded that there was standing room only. A lady put her grocery bag on my lap. The bus attendants collect the money as you get off the bus but they also continually yell at people to move back so that they can squeeze more people on. He got in quite the yelling match with this particular lady because she was blocking people from moving back. She of course did not want to go back any further because she was quite happy to have her bag sitting on my lap. LOL well at least I didn’t have to stand for the hour and a half.

On the 2^nd bus I sat beside a lady with a young child. She was sitting a bit sideways which I realized when I sat down because there was barely enough room for me to squeeze my big hips into the seat which I normally fit in quite easily. Eventually when she decided I wasn’t so bad she eased up and gave me some space. Her son was very cute. At one point she gave him a bag of cheeseys to eat.  When he was done she just dropped the bag out the window. This is not at all uncommon in Nepal (or India for that matter).

We arrived in Nargarkot which has a significantly higher elevation 2,195 meters than Kathmandu 1,400 meters and the view of the mountains is amazing, that is why we chose to go there. The hotel was only 1,500Nrs (about $17) and included breakfast and dinner. Breakfast and dinner included means there is a restaurant where you can buy your food! The sunrise and sunset here are suppose to me amazing however it was rainy in the evening and foggy in the morning so we were unable to experience either. After breakfast the fog cleared and we were able to see the peaks of many of the mountains for the first time. We have been seeing ‘mountains’ all around us however the Nepali’s have told us that those are not mountains, they are hills. Now that we have seen the snow peaked mountains I understand.

We spent the evening relaxing and reading ‘The Kite Runner’ which I had brought on my Kobo (Thanks Nancy). The bed was very comfy, there was a hot shower and we had our own bathroom with a real western toilet. 24 hours of heaven.