Just a note: I haven't ha the chance to get online in quite a while, so I am writing this blog from a journal, so I am writing it here as if I am typing it on the day I wrote it.

So I have arrived in Kathmandu, but just me. No bags. But more on that later. The flight from London was extremely smooth, as was the changeover in Delhi, and we arrived in Kathmandu, met Guarav, the AV representative here in Nepal, and I am now settled into the Turong Peak Guest House here in Kathmandu. Yesterday was pretty much a write off, we wandered around Thamel (the touristy part of Kathmandu) a bit, and had some dinner at the guest house. Thamel is filled with trekking shops, which reminded me quite a bit of how there are Starbucks and Second Cups on every street corner at home, here there are trekking shops everywhere you look. After dinner (dal bhat and rice) the entire group went to the Rum Doodle, the bar frequented by those who are intending to climb Everest. The drinks were fantastic, although my first one was pretty much exactly the same as those I had on New Year: lots of alcohol with a little coke for colouring. I had the chance to try some Nepali beer, which was quite good, and, appropriatly named Everest beer.

Today was tourist day. We went to Prithipatanth (I think I spelled that correctly), a Hindu holy temple, where cremations take place. It is along a river, which is the holiest river in Hinduism. There were quite a few people there who had done pilgrimages to see it. Next was Bouddanath, a Buddhist temple, complete with tons and tons of prayer flags, which were quite beautiful. Lastly was the holy city of Patan, which was built around the 13th century. It was absolutely beautiful, but my favourite part was that when you walked into a courtyard, the sounds from the street were immediatly lost, and it was very quiet and peaceful.

After playing tourist it was back to the guest house for dinner and some shopping. Because my bad hasn't been located yet (the airline has no idea where it is, let alone when I might get it), I did some shopping for warm clothes, as the training course that starts tomorrow is up in the mountains and apparently quite cold. The weather here in the valley has been beautiful, around 15 degrees during the day, and not dipping too much at night. It has been sunny and beautiful, which has been wonderful.

Kathmandu is very unlike anywhere I have ever been before. The buildings are built right next to each other; there is nothing like a house with a lawn and a garden, so far at least. The well-built and poor buildings are right next to each other. The street fronts have all been shops (we had the chance to see quite a bit of the city while driving around today, so this is not just the touristy parts), with people living above and behind them. There are very few sidewalks, so you walk on the side of the road while jumping out of the way of cars, and very very few street signs, so you have to be sure to remember your way by landmarks. As a whole I quite like the city, but I am looking forward to getting into the countryside tomorrow!