Planning for Nepal

September 19^th, 2026

Kathmandu, Nepal

Woke today at 8:00AM and got showered and dressed.

Went up to 5^th floor to the restaurant for the included breakfast and met up with Avo again.

Nice place with a good sized indoor seating area, and a smaller outdoor patio, which is where the omelet guy was working to build your omelet of choice.

We talked about various things while eating and then he left to pack, but will return when done.

While waiting, Ganesh, a local partner who will help me with some trip planning arrived, and then Avo came back soon after.

We discussed various ideas, and settled on a possible plan and then Ganesh made several calls to try and work on the logistics to get something going in a few days’ time.

Avo left again so he could get prepared for his departure at noon, he has to fly out and head to another country to start some scouting for a future ride to be offered there.

I stayed with Ganesh till we had all the details worked out for the bike trip and a day trip around the city for tomorrow.

Once done, I went back to the room and started writing the blog for the previous travel days, then when he messaged me, I went down to the lobby to say goodbye Avo and talk a bit with Ganesh before he left

Back to the room to finish the blog and upload it, and then played around online a bit.

By this time, I was getting hungry, so gathered my stuff and left the hotel to walk around the local area.

I had seen an interesting sandwich shop just a block away on Google Maps, but when I walked by, it was a small take out only shop, and quite busy, so decided to find something else to eat.

I walked a bit down the road, looked at some art from a local, nice stuff, but not anything I need anymore.

Turned down a small alleyway to check out some T-shirts. Guy was friendly, but kept talking about how he had not had any business today.

I found a cool looking shirt and when I asked the price, he asked me what I wanted to pay as I was his first customer in a while.  Without thinking I said out loud that I would probably pay X for the shirt in the states, so he agreed to that price, probably twice what he would have asked for…doh!

He then did not give me any change (small amount owed), instead giving me a small Nepal Flag patch, but as that was actually something cool, I was happy with it.  And the price paid was not bad, just did not take advantage of my location and get it cheap. 😊

I bought the shirt as I will probably need a spare anyway, I usually pack 1 less so I have room to buy a shirt if need along the route, though this time the shirt is not really related to my trip, but still cool.

I then walked back toward the hotel, then around the corner to check out other places along the road.

The area is mostly hotels, small food shops, and huge amount of retail, selling all kinds of things.  Lots of travel agents as well.

I browsed a few book/map stores, thought about buying a paper map of the area we will ride, but probably not needed since I have the guide.

Stopped at a small shop to buy a coke and then wandered a bit more.  Checked out most of the money exchange places, the rate was pretty close among them all, varied by only about .8, so not a huge difference.  I will probably get more money tomorrow, though might try the ATM to see what its rate is.

I went back to room to drop off the shirt and coke (bought it for later), then walked back over to a restaurant around the corner I had seen.

Kathmandu Burgers.  Looked good, familiar food, with a local twist.

Had the special, which was two patties, one ham, one chicken, both breaded it appeared, toppings and on a toasted bun.  Had some fries and a coke with that.

Was a good meal, and cost just over $5 for it all.

Sat outside and watched the traffic while I ate.

Quite hectic at times, narrow one lane roads.  The cars and bikes mostly are one way, but do see some bikes going other direction, and rickshaws and pedestrians going both.  You just walk on edge of road, no real sidewalk, occasionally a small patio in front of shops, but those are only short sections.

Had a few people trying to get my attention from street, some kid begging for food I think, another guy either wanting, or asking if I wanted something to smoke, I believe, and a few that I just ignored and did not even look at.

A few women, all with a single child, sitting on road begging as well.  Makes you wonder if this is real mothers in need, or just all part of some group to get money out of tourists.

As I had little local currency, I am not going to be “donating” anything today anyway, so ignored them.

After lunch I returned to the hotel, checked out the window display of shop near hotel that sells knives and such.  They had some really cool looking khukuri blades, but not something I have room for, and travelling around with it would make things complicated.

Back in the room I answered a few messages, then scrolled online for a bit.

My lower back was hurting, so I laid down on the bed to stretch it out, and withing moment I must have zonked out.

I woke up 4 hours later!

I was not super hungry, but needed some food, so walked upstairs to check out the dinner options at the restaurant.

Got seated, looked over the menu and decided to order what I thought would be a small starter, and a main course.

The starter, chicken mo-mo’s, was about twice what I thought it would be, but the small dumplings were really good, and had 3 sauces to work with as well.

The main course was a chicken dish.  It came out with pasta and veggies, all sizzling on a very hot plate, putting off steam!

Very good though, but now I have had more food than I should have.

I only drank water to help though.

Then they asked about desert, and like an idiot, I asked to see what they had.  Ended up getting a brownie with ice cream.  Should not have eaten that much extra, and wasn’t really that good either, not bad, just not great.

Once done, I thought they might bring me a check, but instead asked if I wanted coffee or tea.

I decided to get a nice chai with milk to finish off the night.  Was okay, but liked the stuff in India better.

I then got up and walked to counter to pay for my dinner.  I went ahead and paid now instead of charging to room since I am still not quite sure how the room is setup, do not want it getting billed to the tour company since they booked the nights and paid for them for me.

I then came back to the room to work on stuff.

Got the payment in for the bike ride trip, so good to go there.  Still working with other tour company to get final payments for a trip I will do in a few weeks, needed an updated invoice for some missing options.

I tried on the shirt I bought earlier, which was largest size he had.  Sadly, it is a bit snug across the chest and definitely over my fat gut.  Shoulders and arms are good, so perhaps as I lose some weight it will fit better.  Will need to be careful with washing, as it’s a 100% cotton, so will probably shrink.

Tomorrow I will do a tour of the city, checking out at least 4 main sites of local significance.  This will be by car with a driver/guide.  I will pay the guy cash tomorrow for that trip as it is smaller amount I have funds on hand for.

Will meet with the local tour guy again tomorrow I think when I pay him, so can get some final questions answered, and will meet again on Monday with the bikes and guide to figure things out before we leave on Tuesday morning.

Now that I have this typed and ready to go, will get it online and then probably go to bed since I need to be up a bit earlier tomorrow.

Or I might start editing the next episode of the Arctic trip instead, depends how tired I fell in the next 30 minutes.

Catch ya down the road.