Just like that tasting Nepali Milk Tea

These first weeks in Kathmandu are flying by. Within the first week I easily found my way around the neighbourhood. I discovered what to buy at the supermarkets and what to buy at the neighbours. I got a sort of routine and even found my new sport: Bollywood dance classes.

Every morning I wake up, not from my alarm, the dogs, birds or the bells ringing but from the beautiful sound (please read sarcasm here) of people scraping their throats and spitting on the ground. Apparently this is called the Nepali cough. I get out of bed, get dressed and go downstairs to make my breakfast. Often this involves quickly going to the neighbours to buy some fruits or eggs. At 9am I walk to the office with Eline. I work on my projects, talk with the team, enjoy lunch made by Kampala Didi (sister) and around 5 we walk back home. From 6 tot 7pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I go to Bollywood class. And then I cook dinner, alone or with my roomies. Pretty good life right!?  And this is what I would explain if one asks how my days normally look.

However, I’m not really good at staying in the normal ways, luckily because else I would have less to say in these blogs.

My first week in Kathmandu meant a lot to discover, although I think this will still be the case in my final week here haha. So on Thursday night when a fellow backpacker Benjamin, who I ‘met’ via FB from the Netherlands, asked if I wanted to join a pub quiz in Thamel, I gave in to my spontaneous YES and hopped on a Pathao scooter taxi to the pub. In the Netherlands there were those nights that accidentally escalated … seems that does not just happen in the Netherlands. The pubquiz was difficult but fun and I met a lot of people from Benjamin’s hostel. Towards the closing time of the pub and after a few drinks… I asked the waiter where to go next. He immediately recommended L.O.D. Club and pointed to a table “That’s the owners there! I talk to them, say you are coming” I said sure haha. The owners were just leaving but one came to our table and the waiter introduced me, next thing I know my name is put on the list plus 6, so that all my new friends could join. I’m usually not a clubber since Maastricht offers only bars to go out, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when we arrived at the club. “Ow My God” was literally my response when we entered (for free cause we were on the list hihihi) the biggest, beautiful, modern club ever! The music was good, the lights were amazing and the drinks way toooooooo expensive. Unfortunately I had to work the next morning which meant that I went home after an hour or so… but what a night hahaha.

Another example of me saying Yes without a second thought was when Hedda told me about the Kathmandu Trail Series. On Saturday the 9^th of November, there would be the international KTM trail run. Hedda said if we would call this number me and Eline could still join. Hedda goes with her kids there and friends so we could drive with them. We applied and found out that it was more or less a sort of running race distances were 4k 7k or 15k. Thanks to Anuj who organised it we choose to do the 7k. I still didn’t really have a clue what a trail run entailed… Saturday morning 6.15am we met with Hedda and her friends and drove to the Pullahari Gompa. Eline and I drove with Simon who would run the 15k. We had the most interesting conversations in the car until I started to get scared for the run because I figured out what a trail run is… Simon had run 100km marathons and stuff like that and was going for the CHALLENGE of 15k trail run. A trail run is not easy running but up and down and difficult paths etc. I hadn´t run since the Strong Viking Run… HELP. Thank god my anxiety turns into being over enthusiastic and excepting my fate of probable failure hahaha and in the end, I freakin nailed it woop woop.  Eline, she way more a runner than I am haha, got second place of the woman. And I am very proud to have finished the 7k within 55 minutes. It was even so much fun that I want to join next time again and do the 15k in January/February. After our run we joined Hedda and the kiddo’s on the 4k run in a relaxed jogging/hiking pace. The views during the runs were absolutely beautiful.

 My Sunday was filled with a lot of nothing and relaxing haha. I enjoyed the sun on the roof and went for a coffee and a cupcake down the street. Via FB I got in touch with a Nepali guy who works for newspapers and used to have a lot of inters doing their thesis here in Nepal. He seemed legit and nice so I agreed to meet him at Patan Durbar Square in the evening to take pictures of a traditional dance for a Hindu festival. Ram turned out to be indeed a nice guy willing to help me with photography. The festival used to be for a king visiting the square but even with the king long gone, the festival is still alive. It had to do something with a man who was half lion. I couldn’t here the exact explanation since there was loud music and a lot of people. The dance was very traditional and in all honesty not very spectacular after 5 minutes. I enjoyed the liveliness of the square at night time and all the lights, the carts with roasted peanuts, people selling balloons and my conversations with Ram who was able to tell me many new stories.

Even though I found my way and a possible normal daily routine, there is much to say yes to and to discover. Stay tuned for the exceptions of my second week 😉

Namaste