Tuesday April 14th, 1987
I was woken at 5.45am by dogs barking and children screaming. I felt wide awake, so I wrote a few pages of my diary and then slept again until 8am.
Feeling hungry, I had breakfast in the restaurant next door. I ordered scrambled eggs on toast, but when the meal arrived, I immediately wished I hadn't! The eggs were grey and tasted sweet, so I only ate the toast. Ugh! The breakfast made me feel nauseous, and I paid the 9-rupee bill and left hurriedly!
I'd arranged to meet Corrie at 9am and make arrangements to call home from The Ambassador Hotel, but Raju told me he was ill. Hearing this, I began to worry as I dreaded the same thing happening to me.
Raju arranged a bike for me to rent, and I decided to cycle to the Ambassador Hotel. Following the map was futile, so I relied on my own instinct. The cycling was very easy; the Nepalese drive on the left, so I felt at home! I had to dodge the odd cow or beggar, but once I'd found the main road, I cycled fast and immediately found the hotel, which was beautiful and set in lovely gardens away from the main road.
I waited half an hour, and then I was able to get through to England. Unfortunately, it was 4am at home, but Mum and Dad didn't mind at all; they were relieved to hear from me! I heard them clearly, but they told me they could only hear half of what I was saying. Anyway, it was great to talk to them and let them know that I was alright.
After the phone call, I cycled past the Royal Palace and then back to Thamel, admiring the views as I went. Back at the Guest House, I bought water and Coke and sat in the garden, which was quiet, cool and peaceful. I read and decided to skip lunch. I preferred to go hungry rather than eat the food!
Today was very lazy; I slept in the afternoon, and then I went out to hire a sleeping bag and a kit bag for tomorrow. I packed and went back out to buy postcards. I was delighted to see Doug and Derek, and they invited me back to the Himal Cottage to see their room. It was a lot smaller than mine and extremely basic, but the view was better and looked out over old Nepalese houses and tall, thin palm trees. They said they would post my cards for me, and we arranged to meet for dinner, which I was pleased about.
I had a lovely, hot shower at the Guest House and washed my hair. The shower was a tap on the wall next to the toilet, and the water drained away through a central plughole. It was certainly an experience!
After my shower, I went back to the Himal Cottage and admired the view with Doug and Derek. For the first time, we could see the surrounding mountains. The Thamel area of Kathmandu is packed with restaurants, some good, and some not so good! We picked the Utse restaurant, which specialised in Tibetan and Chinese food and sounded safe.
We drank Jasmine tea, which I wasn't keen on and had chow mein and prawn soup to start. The food was delicious, and we ended the meal with apple pie. The bill came to just over 100 rupees, which was about £3.50... amazing!
We walked around Thamel, and I saw a beautiful Gurkha knife that was perfect for my Dad, but when I was told the price, 250 rupees, I said no and walked off. The man kept following me, varying his price, but I still refused. In the end, feeling fed up of being followed, I offered 100 rupees, which was accepted!
We carried on strolling around the shops, and various stall-holders tried to sell us Tibetan carpets. I bought a map of the northern area of Pokhara and Kathmandu in a fantastic shop that had hundreds of books about Nepal, India and Tibet.
Our evening was rounded off back at the Himal Cottage with a whisky and a discussion about Buddhism. Doug knew a lot about the religion, and the subject fascinated me. We had also learnt that today was the first day of the New Year in Nepal.
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