13/14--Day 11--Decompressing in Kathmandu--01/10/2022

We woke up leisurely on the 1st, the first time in the last many days that we had that luxury. I am sure each of us first pinched ourselves to make sure we hadn't all been dreaming, and when we realised we hadn't, we savoured the exquisiteness of the collective achievement of the last 11 days.

After breakfast, we set off to tour the city-- visiting Pashupathinathji first and then Buddha Neelkanth temple with its deity reclining in the water filled tank. Then followed by a visit to the massive Buddhist Stupa and a bit of desultory shopping in the numerous shops that lined that area. Post which, we visited the Narayanhiti Palace, the former residence of the King and the Royal family, now called the Palace Museum. We admired the grandeur of the palace and felt sad when we saw the place where the massacre of June 2001 had taken place, killing the King, Queen and most of his immediate family. It was all the more poignant as Rathika and I vividly remembered Queen Aishwarya and Crown Prince Dipendra who we saw at the KTM airport during our last visit together to the country-- back in October 2000.

We came back to Thamel and had a delicious lunch in the Third Eye restaurant. The evening was spent buying various curios and items of clothing, and ordering the EBC tee shirts for all of us. Vidya came into her own here and her bargaining skills were so good that after having done the common shopping, other members of the group requisitoned her services to bargain for them individually 😆

We returned to the hotel for drinks and dinner, this also being a farewell to Raj, was would leave early morning. I had to  retire early from the festivities because of a toothache, and went off to bed, but not before seeing Raj in his room and wishing him godspeed.