Nagarkot to Kathmandu

We had an incredible few days in Nagarkot, easily continuing our trend of wishing we had more time - this instance wishing we could have headed up closer to the Himalayas. Despite the prevailing fog, we woke up to the expected astonishing view of the sunrise, thanks to eastern facing windows that helped sold us on our hotel.

Followed briefly by breakfast while enjoying the same view (Mt. Everest included)

(it's the little one in the distance)

We then hopped on the bike to follow the tightly winding, sometimes absurdly steep road to the highest point in the region which would offer an even more astounding view of the mountains and surrounding valley/fog basin. It's been great to finally ride such an iconic bike - it's a little heavy and a bit lazier than the Honda's I've ridden; I definitely scraped the footpegs on the road a few times leaning into some of the many tight turns on these roads. I had a long conversation with a guy at the wedding-related gathering we went to (crashed) the other night about how Enfields were perfectly suited for long drives on ridiculously windy, hilly roads - their low revving, torque-y engines thwart any attempt to speed or accelerate too fast - you're basically forced just to loll along with the steady, unmistakable "thumpthumpthumpthump" and enjoy the ride (as much as you can while you're dodging the countless potholes, baby goats, and speeding tourist buses that graciously give you a few inches of space to get by them on the single lane "highways". Parking among the makeshift snack/drink stands at the base of the stairway (winded us again) to the lookout point, we made our way up to the platform to find a few fuzzy friends enjoying the warming sunshine and spent plenty of time ourselves soaking in the incredible view. 

That's the life

A rare picture of the both of us

This was worth the thick layer of dust that I was covered with after scritching him for a bit

With, sadly,  less time than we would have needed to make it to any of the further destinations on our original itinerary, we resigned ourselves to spending the rest of the day enjoying the sun and the views while alternately lazing and wandering around Nagarkot. We hiked up to a small shrine near our hotel that topped the nearest hill to take in another sunning sunset. From this distance, it's stunning how the setting sun lights up the tips of the panorama full of peaks before turning the horizon a hazy purple.

I'm going to leave this one big

I promise, this will be the last of the mountain pictures (maybe until the alps)

 Dinner at the hotel was a fresh and well made, but odd mix of chicken chow mein (quite common here with all the Chinese influence), Malai Kofta, and an honorable attempt at spring rolls (under-seasoned giant pastry rolls, it turned out). We enjoyed it by candle light as while Kathmandu gets a rationed 14-or-so hours a day of electricity, up here it seems more like 4. While a bit romantic for us, it can't help but remind us what a different life it is here (beyond the otherworldly scenery). While politicians back home are playing the game of 'who's the European-style socialist today', it's a bit sobering to read about what the Maoist Nepalese government is not doing about the cooking gas and petrol shortages (don't worry mom - we're being safe!). Needless to say, the more we see of the world, the stunningly beautiful and incomprehensibly difficult, the more I realize our immense privilege and the more I cherish the incredible kindness we've been finding in so many people.

We're back in Kathmandu for another relaxed evening - some sightseeing and lunch with Surabhi tomorrow morning and then the short flight back to Delhi for a night before on to the Taj Mahal. Hope everyone's well back home!