We arrived in Kathmandu about 10 days ago and I fell instantly in love. The city has a great vibe to it. The streets are narrow and hectic with a 100 things going on at any one time. Walking down the streets at night time you can here music playing from the windows of many different bars. The first night here my brother and I walked around looking for some good tunes. We heard Jazz playing from an upstairs window and decided to check it out. We walked down and long dark alley and up a narrow staircase hoping we were going in the right direction. The staircase led to the music. The bar was painted in pastels and people were sitting on the floor jamming to a local jazz band. The scene could have been taken out of a Kathmandu bar from the '60s. Long haired expats and locals mingling together to enjoy a night in the infamous Himalayan city.

Luke and I grabbed a seat on some cushions and fell under the trance of Kathmandu. When the music ended we tried to make our way back home. We knew we were not more than 5 minutes from our guest house yet the confusion of the streets turned it into a 45 minute trip. When the city was built there was no such thing as city planning. The streets were laid in every which way and everything looks the same. Needless to say our first night in the city was a little confusing.

At night time the city took on a different feel. The vibe seemed to change. The Maoist from the country side have recently all come down into the city (not all but a lot). Once everything closed down for the night the city had a not so safe feeling. Nepal has been in relative peace for the last 2 weeks but the tensions lie just under the surface. At night time this was much more apparent.

After my first night here I decided 10 days was not near enough time to experience this amazing place. I have some good friends with whom I worked with in Nantucket who are from Nepal. With a little prodding from them ('zak why don't you stay longer, we'll show you around our country?' "OK") I have extended my ticket 7-14 days. I am not sure when I am going back to Thailand because there were no available seats. I was put on the waiting list however and I'm sure I'll get back sometime. In the meantime I am going to experience Nepal. I kept a journal from my tr eking in the mountains which I will post soon. Once I get back to Thailand I will upload some pictures. Until then...