Left Chitwan on December 3 to go to Kathmandu. Crazy bus ride was supposed to take 6 hours, but it took 11. Accident caused a 2 1/2 hour delay and bad roads the rest. You never expect to arrive on time in this country so you just take it as it comes. The roads are so poor that the vehicles take a tremendous amount of abuse and break down frequently. Was sad to say goodbye to Sarina and Doris, but maybe someday we will cross paths again. Arrive around 6:30 at the hostel. Hadn’t been there in a month but they remembered my name. Don’t know how people do that. I have very little to do in Kathmandu, so it will be a lazy stir crazy few days. Had a nice supper with Flo and Tavis. They head out tomorrow and then I will be alone again. First time in Nepal and in a while. Need to get into the travelling by myself mode again.
Got up on December 4 with the idea to find a good internet place so I could do my diary. The wifi at the hostel can be good and sometimes not so good. Went to a coffee shop and spent the morning uploading pictures and catching up on the diary. Went to lunch with Tavis and spent the afternoon with Flo. Tavis left for the airport at 3:00 and then I spent the next 3 hours with Flo until she left at 6:00. Was a little lost after that so I went walking around Thamel (tourist area) for a while. Came back and talked with a girl from the Netherlands until about 10. Went to bed wondering what I would do tomorrow. I think sleep late for once!
Another lazy day in Kathmandu. Wanted to shore up some things for Thailand so after a leisurely breakfast with my Dutch friend I headed to the Himalayan Java House for good wifi. Spent a couple hours booking a plane ticket out of Bangkok and doing internet stuff. On the way back I decided it was time to shave my beard off. Found a barber who did a great job and voila a clean face again. Got more negative responses than positive, so I may grow it back in Thailand. Got back and spent the afternoon reading before having a late supper with Isabel (Dutch lady) and a few others. Turned out to be a bad choice of food. I woke up at 1:40 am with a stomach ache. Proceeded to vomit on 3 separate occasions until 8:00. The last was really bad as I had felt bad and was going to get up when I got a calf cramp, had to keep from puking while I massaged the cramp out. Got up quickly and felt really dizzy. My bathroom was busy so I went into the hall to the public bathroom. Was so dizzy I passed out in the hall and woke up on the floor. Managed to crawl into the bathroom and vomit quite violently. Seem to be okay after that, so I ate rice and drank water to stay that way. Will catch the plane around 1:30 pm tomorrow December 7 for Thailand and eventually a beach. Can’t wait as it is getting too cold to wear shorts here!