This morning we were up early thanks to our Nepalese body clocks and a power cut which meant the fan stopped working at 6am. We decided that with a big day ahead of us we would be needing a big breakfast. Unlike Pokhara, there was little open in the early hours of the morning so we struggled to find anywhere to eat at all, let along somewhere with the big breakfast we were craving. Eventually though, wandering the streets paid off and we found North Field Cafe selling a range of big brekky options for reasonable prices.
The boys, quite taken with their steaks last night, ordered steak again this morning, this time with eggs. I went down the more traditional route and stuck with bacon and all of us gave the banana muffins, that they served as well as toast, a try. The muffins were a good choice.It was a huge meal and definitely set us up for the day that lay ahead.
Our first job was to get our trekking permits. Hopeful that the travel agent we spoke to last night would have been able to land us some flights, but unable to check as he didn't open until 10am, we dropped off some laundry before going on foot through town towards Nepal Tourism Board to get our trekking permits.
The process of acquiring trekking permits went smoother than anticipated and, as Anando pointed out, went much smoother than it would have if we were in India. We paid $20 USD each for a TIMS permit and 3000 rupees for the Sagarmatha National Park entry ticket. Anando on the other hand, thanks to being an Indian national, paid just $6 for the TIMS and can buy his national park permit at the entrance of the park in the mountains for a reduced price. Lucky bugger.
By the time we made it back to Thamel, after Chris purchasing another gadget (this time in the form of a solar panel charger) it was around midday and stinking hot. We arrived at the travel agent we had visited yesterday to be told that, because he hadn't heard from us at 10am as planned, he had given our tickets away. Apparently we would have to wait until the 5th to fly out. This guy had annoyed me from the beginning so, when he said that nobody in Thamel would be able to find us flights leaving tomorrow, I was on a mission to prove otherwise. It didn't take long either.
While the boys waited and chatted with the guy I walked a few doors down and found a lady willing to sell us flights to Lukla for tomorrow...a feat that we had been told was impossible. I grabbed the boys and we relocated to this lady's office, basking in having won the battle and being able to pay in Nepalese rupees rather than USD like most places were asking.
We went home and thought we'd quickly try and re-schedule our flight from KL to Melbourne and book our flight from Kathmandu to KL. This would prove more difficult than ever imagined. Our saga with AirAsia developed into our calling Mum and having her call them and pretend she was me so we could try and work out the best way to get us home. After countless phone calls back and forth we rescheduled and rebooked so that we would now arrive back in Melbourne on the night of May 3rd. A month earlier than originally planned.
Hours later, once we finally got our new flights confirmed, we set off to finish our errands. We stopped in to grab our airline tickets only to be told that we owed more than originally quoted. The lady who was there earlier had given us an exchange rate that the boss did not appear happy with. He wasn't going to pull the wool over our eyes though. We refused to pay more and, when we checked the exchange rate later, were happy that we had as the prices he was quoting had been pulled from thin air.
It was 4pm by the time we ate lunch but was yummy all the same. We found a local-looking Tibetan restaurant and ate vegetable chowmein, fried chicken momos and even sampled Anando's water buffalo momos. Tasty, cheap and a little rough around the edges...exactly what we look for in an establishment.
By this stage it was doing its regular afternoon storm thing so we went back to the hotel to wait it out. By 7pm we were ready to load up our camel packs with cheap mineral water, buy the last of our bits and pieces, get enough money out to support us for three weeks in the mountains and get dinner.
We settled on Cosy Cafe and had spaghetti bolognaise, carbonara and a delicious little pizza. The last taste of Western food for a while I imagine. We will be returning to Cosy Cafe upon our arrival back in Kathmandu to try the mushroom fries and more.
Back home we finalised our packing, enjoyed one last hot shower each and climbed into bed. Tomorrow was to be the beginning of one gigantic adventure which would test us both physically and mentally. Woo hoo!
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