Anyway, saw some things that I would never forget. There were four legs sitting in a pile by the road. Couldn't figure out where the rest of the animal was. We also saw a rat rummaging around the garbage. I had never seen a rat in real life before. He looked quite grungy. Robert said that this rat looked like those rats on the movies, except the movie star rats were actually rubbed with grease to make them look slimy. On the cuter side, we saw two kittens inside these dark apartments. They kept on meowing. Eveline also took a picture of these nice children looking at us from a window above. Eventually we got tired and ended up in this coffee shop of the Hotel Annapurna, where Eveline and I had banana splits and Robert had this 'Rose Sherbet' which turned out to be a glass of rose flavored liquid. He was quite disappointed. We decided to take a quick nap at the hotel when we returned because it was not time for happy hour yet. I was trying to read excerpts from the Nepal guide book to Robert but it became very difficult as it was getting dark and the brown-out (from 5 pm to 7 pm) was in effect. The room was FREEZING cold, so it was nice to cuddle. At 6 pm, we walked down the four flight of stairs to go to the hotel pub where Eveline and Eric were waiting. We knew that they offered free snacks, so we demanded lots of peanuts and Papad (chips). I had told Robert about this local Nepalese beer, the Iceberg, and he was trying to persuade me to share one with him. Good thing I stuck to my other choice because he and Eric shared one, and it definitely tasted quite different. Later, Tenzing dropped by to bid us farewell and also wanted our comments regarding the trip. We told him that we really enjoyed the trip although we thought that it would have been nicer if our guide spoke more English. We missed out on learning about the local cultures and customs while we trekked. Tenzing told us that he had lots of groups coming in that day, and had been at the airport several times. When Tenzing left, we decided to head over to the hotel restaurant for dinner. I wanted Tandoor chicken in a curry sauce with saffron rice and some vegetables. Of course none of that was in the menu, but they managed. But, in the course of making our dinners, they set the kitchen on fire (that was what we thought anyway). The waiters all just kept standing there smiling at us. It was so smoky. Robert called me 'Meg' because I was so picky about the food, just like Meg Ryan's character in the movie 'When Harry Met Sally'. This was our last dinner in Nepal, so the boys decided to 'drink and be merry'. Eric then got all philosophical and started asking me questions about what I thought about the Japanese buying out the businesses in America. And he was really quite serious. Good grief! Eveline then told me Eric always became very philosophical when he had too much to drink. He did the same thing to her one evening in Holland while she was frantically trying to pack for their holiday starting the next morning!
Our last day of vacation!! Robert and I got up EARLY to catch a mountain flight on Everest Air, while Eveline and Eric decided to visit the 'monkey' temple. Pabil Tours picked us up bright and early from the hotel and brought us to the domestic terminal. Robert was all excited at the prospect of seeing Mount Everest! Needless to say, the plane was delayed for nearly an hour. The entire flight was only supposed to last an hour anyway, not too bad for US$120 each. Well, at least the people watching activities were not too bad. One of the larger airplanes had an engine problem, so we got to see them load and unload this large group of passengers. Good thing that they found that one of the engines were not working properly while they were still on the ground! Anyway, our flight was finally ready. It was a 14 to 15 passenger plane, and we all had window seats. Robert and I were a bit worried because there was this group of VERY large Americans for our flight. Even the women were double my size! The plane was quite nice. We had a stewardess that passed out mango candies. She then gave us maps that profiled the different mountain ranges, and also periodically pointed out the names of the mountains we were passing by. Everyone had a chance to walk to the cockpit to get some pictures. Robert went there once but could not get a good enough view for a picture. I stayed in my seat since I did not want to chance getting nauseas. You could feel the excitement building as we neared Mount Everest. All the passengers were busy switching seats so they could get better shots. It was wild! I was one of the few that stayed put in their seats. All of a sudden, the stewardess came by and pointed out Mount Everest to me! It looked just like the picture in the map I had. Wow!!! We circled Mount Everest area twice. The plane dipped so low in some spots that I could clearly see the rocks on the trails below! Robert got as many shots as he could of the mountain. Problem was that from our vantage point, Mount Everest just did not seem to the highest mountain. All in all, I thought that Robert did a great job in his photography. Now we could boast that we have seen Mount Everest!
We hurried back to the hotel to have a quick breakfast and pick up our luggage before we had to go back to the international airport again for our flight back to Singapore. Eveline and Eric joined us for our meal. They had a great time at the temple and even did a little more shopping. It was really nice having the local agents arrange all the ground transportation. This vacation was truly worry-free.
The Kathmandu International Airport was much better than I expected. The waiting for the flight was relatively uneventful except for the snack-bar guy who tried to rip us off. Eveline was the smart one. She was always very careful about her Rupees. I was off on never-never-land. I had taken a dramamine pill before my mountain flight to prevent nausea but I was getting very drowsy from it.
Back in Singapore finally. It was nearly 10 pm when we landed. We were still in good spirits even though our vacation had ended. But what an adventure it was!
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