It's Official, We're Smitten!

I must officially announce that Doug and I are in love with Nepal!

Yesterday we extended our visas so we an get more, more, more! Today Doug begins a nine day mountain bike tour and I've opted for something a lot less strenuous.

Tomorrow I head for the water and go white water rafting for two days and then on to Chitwan National Park for Elephant Riding, Canoeing (there will be at least one rendition of "My Paddle's Keen and Bright"!), Nature Walks, and who knows what else. I'm really looking forward to seeing a new side of Nepal, as the wildlife we saw along the trek tended more towards cows, water buffalo, chickens, yaks, dogs, and other trekkers and there is the hope of seeing Tigers in Chitwan.

Today is our second full day back in Kathmandu (Doug is off on his trial day of mountain biking somewhere close) and it's been thrilling and fun to be back. So much of our time in Nepal has been shaped by Bishnu and his magical abilities to make everything happen. He had our hotel booked for us when we came back from Pokhara and he set up Doug's mountain biking and my rafting and Chitwan experience. He has friends everywhere and is working on setting up his own business, so he is very well connected.

On our first night back in Kathmandu, he invited us over to his house for Dhal Bhat. Dhal Bhat is the main meal in Nepal and we housed quite a bit of it on our trek. The way it is served varies slightly place to place but it's basically a large pile of white rice with some kind of vegetable curry (usually not spicy and on the trek it was always potato based although it seems to be cauliflower based in the city), a small bowel of lentil soup, and some sort of pickle. The pickle is always really spicy (except for one place where it was a chutney) and is some sort of vegetable that is pickled. When we were closer to the valley and there was spinach available, we'd have the delicious treat of some cooked spinach as well. Dhal Bhat is served all you can eat style where they bring you the first plate and then come back with more of everything and load you up. When we were trekking it was exclusively vegetarian, although on the menus here we see that you can get a wide variety of meats with it.

And let me tell you, it's amazing. After walking up the Nepali Stairmaster for hours, we found ourselves starving at lunch time and we would just house Dhal Bhat. It is delicious, very easy to eat, and the perfect way to try to fill up after burning countless calories.

So when Bishnu asked us over for Dhal Bhat how could we say no? At 7 Bishnu came and picked us up at the hotel and we walked over to his flat. We met his daughter who is 5, his son who is 1 and a half, both of whom are totally adorable.

We played with his kids and hung out with Bishnu and another relative while his wife cooked up a feast - this was no trekking Dhal Bhat! We had the traditional cauliflower curry and lentils, with a special chicken curry that was more of a yellow based curry and a delicious mutton curry that it was a red based curry. Clearly it was a celebration that Dad was home! A few more relatives rolled in and out while we were there to join in the feast. It was so delightful to have a home cooked meal and to be able to meet Bishnu's family. The hospitality and generosity of the people here are one of the many reasons it's easy to love Nepal. Thanks Bishnu and your family! It was a meal to remember for a life time.

Yesterday he sent us off to his friend's restaurant for lunch. Everything on the menu was about a dollar, so I assumed we could eat tapas Napali style. I ordered us a potato dish, some paneer tempora, spring rolls, masala papad, and some dish where I had no idea what either word meant (turns out it was beefy jerkyesque water buffalo). Never blinking an eye, after I had placed our order, the server turned to Doug to see what he would be having. I explained that I had ordered for us both and that we would get more later if we needed it.

Well what a surprise when each dish was actually a full on entree! It certainly made me wonder the server was thinking when he thought I had ordered 5 lunches for my self - as it was it was 5 lunches for 2 people. Luckily Bishnu came back to find us and ended up helping us eat all we had ordered. It was all great and the best $6 (total) lunch I've ever ordered.

Tonight Bishnu has made reservations for the three of us at a Nepali restaurant. It will be our last chance for happy hour together, as he'll be off on a new trek when Doug and I come back to Kathmandu. I'll let you know how it goes - but with Bishnu there hopefully we can manage to order a mere one meal a piece!