Just like that a monkey crossing the street

Have you ever seen a monkey crossing the street?

After my first morning in the office on Monday I was free in the afternoon to discover the city a bit more. And so, I used Pathao app, a sort of uber, to get a bike ride to Thamel, the backpack center of Kathmandu. Responsible and self-conscious as I am, I adjusted my ways to the Nepali and jumped on the back of the motorbike without a helmet, like every other passenger on a bike. The traffic in Kathmandu is insane! The streets are filled with cars, minivans, busses, lorries, bikes and a million motorbikes. Sometimes we would drive fast and go past all the cars and then suddenly everything would just stand still. I felt super safe surprisingly and also very aware that one mistake would probably kill me but, sometimes you got to trust the driving skills of Nepali… right? The bike riders are very skilled, I can say that after my few rides in Kathmandu… uhuhm, and they will pass each other through the narrowest openings perfectly steering their mirrors a millimeter distance past the other bikes. Safe and sound I got dropped of in Thamel.

I roamed around for a bit through the busy streets and met with a travel agent of Asian Heritage to discuss some ideas for my stay here in Nepal. Never in my life have I seen so many outdoor shops together as in Thamel. The tourism in Nepal is really aimed at the hikers and trekkers of the beautiful Himalaya. Next in line for most shops in a small area, are the bakeries. I didn’t know, but people love their little bakery shops here in Nepal. Thamel is furthermore filled with bars, clubs and ‘authentic’ Nepali giftshops. A nice place to shop and go for a drink and if you are looking for drugs Thamel is your spot! I think I got approached at least 5 times ‘you buy marijuana???’, I said no and moved on.  I went from alley to alley and ended up in a big street where I had to think twice, I didn’t smoke marijuana right?!…. Cause I was looking at a monkey crossing the street in the electricity lines. Thank God I saw another guy staring. Didn’t expect to see that but enjoyed the weirdness. I know that it’s a sign of wild animals having to cope with humans taking away their natural habitat and making them adjust to urban life, which is awful and should change, but I couldn’t not be joyful spotting a monkey crossing the street.

Back at Buddharooms I met with Sajna and Bikki, the owners, and joined them to their gym. The gym was unexpected expensive, more expensive then at home. It was a nice gym though, it had everything I needed and with big windows it looked nice. Big big big plus that almost made me consider a membership, were the hot showers and steambath. I didn’t hold back with working out and felt fine even though I was the only foreign girl there haha. Satisfied after the work out and hot shower I walked home by myself in the dark. I felt like dancing in the street while I listened to my music and so I did. I arrived home safe and happy and fell asleep. The next day I would officially start in the office, exciting!!!!!

Namaste

Ps. I’m almost used to not throwing toilet paper in the toilet but to throw it in the trashcan. This is like a big win hahaha