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October 28, 2007 – Two More Team Members Join Leila and Ang Temba
As is often the case with BAI Nepal Adventures, our trip began at Fire and Ice Pizza, near the Thamel trekking district of Kathmandu. David and Mike joined Leila and Ang Temba for a Kathmandu style “Dominos” or “Pizza Hut” style lunch. David is on staff at the U.S. Embassy in During lunch Mike and David got a jump start on tomorrow's orientation by asking lots of questions. After much coercion, Temba finally revealed that the normal start to the day would be about 6 AM. Mike said that would be highly acceptable as he is normally at work by 5, so he could actually sleep in.
Since David lives in Nepal, he has a car as was able to provide Mike with a sample of the daily driving adventure. In a city with about six traffic lights and virtually no traffic rules to govern the myriad of trucks, buses, taxis, "tuck-tucks" (little three wheel buses that can hold about four folks unless you really need to get twelve inside and a couple hanging off the back), motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, pedestrians, dogs, and last but not least - the sacred cows, it was quite an adventure. Not to mention, they follow the British standard and drive on the left side of the road. Fortunately, there are so many vehicles, the average speed hardly speed is no more that 10-15 kilometers per hour. So we had an informal beginning to our trek today, and we feel that we are off to a good start.
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After lunch Leila served as a shopping guide for David and Mike as they "trekked" into Thamel. In just one stop, they were able to find all the minor items that were left, such as sleeping bags, gloves, back pack, etc. Thamel, the center of the tourist area in Kathmandu, provided a virtual treasure chest of shopping opportunities, which was pretty much lost on David and Mike as they turned out not to be very much into shopping.