McLean

Monkey Temple

This is my first trip to Kathmandu and it's nothing like I would have expected. I'd always thought of it as an idyllic tiny outpost town on the gateway to the biggest mountains on earth, which I guess it could be, but it's also a major city. Judging from the street solicitors, the common currency seems to be cheap Swiss Army knives, Tiger Balm, carved elephants and hashish. Cows wander around with immunity, dogs are just part of the landscape and there always seems to be an ebbing flow of people, bicycles, cars and rickshaws circulating in some universal pattern that leaves you wondering 'Where is everybody going?'

The few car rides we've taken since we've been here constitute a lifetime supply of close calls for an average American driver. On our ride from the Hotel Nirvana to the Great Escapes trekking agency yesterday, I tried to count how many times the driver used his horn, but lost track after 15 blasts in the first five minutes. Between the din of the horns honking, the roar of the two-cycle engines, and the screaming birds, the city seems to roar to life at about 7am and not shut down until around midnight. After spending a few days here, my general impression is that it's one of the best, and at the same time, one of the most overwhelming, cities I've ever visited. Our main concern right now is to survive the four-day layover (our Tibetan visas don't kick in until the 17th) in good health so that we can start the actual climbing and skiing aspect of the trip with healthy lungs and stomachs — something that is easier said than done considering how much there is to explore and do here.

Everyone has a slightly different agenda today. Alex and Conrad have been up since 3:30am writing postcards and drinking Peets. Later, Kris, Hans and Alex are going for a bike ride, while Mark and I check out the famous Monkey Temple. Dave, Mike, Kent and Conrad are using the momentary lull in the city's background noise to do a rooftop interview on top of the Tibetan Guest House. In the past few days, grandiose evening plans have been fizzling out, at around 10pm, due to the 12-hour jet lag that we've been up against.

— Andrew McLean, MountainZone.com Correspondent

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