Checking things out...

So the gang's all here. If you can call three of us a gang. It's me (who you know, presumably), Karen and Allan. Karen's 34, and kind of on a quest to find herself after her divorce. Super nice, but trying to convince me to go trekking, which I'm unsure about. Allan's somewhere between 50-60, and a douche. Sorry Mom, I don't know what else to say. He's not un-nice, but he's just been everywhere, knows everything about everything, won't hear anything against his opinions without getting really upset, and talks constantly. And all his stories are about him winning fights, fending off lustful ladies who want his bod, or single-handedly rescuing African villages. He's even mentioned his IQ on 2 seperate occasions. No, seriously. Don't know how much longer I can stand him.

Managed to do some walking around to check out the area. Here are some photos:

Notice anything off? This made me go "WTF?" but the swastika's

apparently a hindu symbol for interconnectedness or something.

There's also a symbol identical to the Star of David meaning

knowledge. Not two symbols you usually see together, but that's

Nepal for you.

A view from our rooftop of some of the city. Even though

it's the capital and most modern city in Nepal, not one

single Western-style office building exists here.

A view from a rooftop café in Thamel. Thamel's the

tourist area of Kathmandu. We went out to a pub there

last night and got a taste of true Kathmandu culture:

drunken Brits bellowing along to "Wonderwall".

Some kids near our house. They play in the streets and

yards a lot. They look kind of somber, but it was all crazy

giggling, followed by serious pose, followed by giggly

excited shrieking at being shown their photos.