Mero Saathiko Naam Nick Becks Ho and A Pictorial Extravaganza

Okay, let's start with the pre-arrival of Nick Becks. While me and a couple of friends, who shall remain nameless for reasons forthcoming, were waiting for Mr. Becks at the Tribhuvan International Airport we experienced a power outage that consumed the entire airport and lasted nearly 20 minutes. Keep in mind, it was about 11:30 pm when the power went out so the entire place was pitch black. As I would find out later, Nick was luckily already on the ground and waiting in the customs line when the lights went out. A perfect beginning to any stay in Nepal should begin with a power outage followed by an intense thunderstorm. Once Nick made it out of the airport, it began raining heavily and the lightning wasn't far behind. PERFECT! I have never been so happy to see a friend as I was at that point. Anyways, it rained for most of the next day but we didn't allow that to stop us from going to Bhaktapur and Thamel. The following day we went to Patan, Swayambhunath Temple, and even fit in nine holes of golf, where Nick was only a few inches from a hole-in-one and I was a few seconds from quitting golf. During the round of golf we came upon a crowd of people on the course. There is a portion of the course next to these back to back par three's where the jungle and a dirt road converge and there is an opening in the fence, so people routinely use the path as a shortcut to wherever it is people go. (I'm not the Lonely Planet guide, people.) Apparently a couple of punks had thrown a brick at a young woman's head and hit it squarely. They promptly robbed her of everything that was in her purse as well as her brand new mobile phone. One of the golf pros broke his club while chasing them after them, and I'm not sure if he was able to do any damage to the criminal, but I'm assuming he did as the club was broken right at the base of the shaft. It's a smallish community near the golf course, not in terms of number of people, but in terms of actual community where everyone knows everyone else's business. At this point, one kid had been arrested, and the girl was taken to the hospital after passing out. Now onto the pictures.....

I believe this guy has something to do with good luck and healthy eating. Or it's a pig with dried rice stuck in it's mouth

Rainy day, but still some cool things

I HATE the rain and cold, can you tell?

It was so rainy that we had to use these rocks to get to the bus ticket office

I do love Patan Durbar Square. Favorite place in KTM

A thousand words?

Look at the thing on the thing. Like I said, I'm not a writer for Lonely Planet

Nick Becks at a Buddhist temple

Ring my bell

Sometimes you just have to look in the right places to see something cool

This was day two of a festival for women involving marriages or blessing of marriages

Sweet

This probably has some meaning

Women would get a bunch of stuff blessed and then torch it.

Large Stupa at the "monkey temple"

Nick Becks and some tourist next to her

Witko looks angry, but it's my natural look.

In case you think about hopping a wall, think again.

This woman carries rocks on her back for most of the day. How's your job?

Kathmandu looks so nice from afar. It's like a butter face.

 So next we go to Pokhara, then to Chitwan to ride elephants into the jungle looking for tigers. More to come, folks.....