DAY 369: It was the second day of my recuperation since The Incident on The Everest Trail, but that didn't mean I couldn't get up and walk around. Perhaps it was advantageous for me to be recuperating during the big Dashami festival (which took place mostly outside the city) because traffic was low in the usually lively Thamel district (picture below), and I didn't have to keep dodging the busy traffic of bicycles, motorcycles and cars all competing for king of the road in the narrow bazaar streets.

NABA CAME TO MY HOTEL that morning to square off the money I still owed Himalayan Glacier since I only paid half up front. Times were different back then when I had book the tour with his schmoozing associate Davi; it was a time when "breathtaking scenery" was just a figure of speech. Anyway, Naba and I worked out everything together on a calculator and I paid the difference, which excluded that return airfare I would have taken on a plane if I hadn't gone back to Kathmandu in a rescue helicopter. Although I didn't expect the multi-thousand dollar rescue helicopter ride to be included in the "Rescue Service" included in the tour price, I questioned what it did cover. Naba said that it merely covered the costs of the phone calls used to call the helicopter service, but not the actual service. Seemed a bit of a cop out, but at least Naba snapped his fingers and made it so the entire rest of my stay at the Hotel Florid would be comp until I left Kathmandu.

I made the effort to get up and try and walk around the neighborhood. I was still dizzy and it was hard to focus on things, but I could feel that I'd get better after some more rest. I knew my "super powers" of blending as a Nepali was coming back because I noticed all the beggars ignoring me and going straight for the more fair-looking tourists. No matter how much the foreigners got all "spiritual" by donning Nepali clothes -- it seemed to me like it was more like a fad for them -- they didn't fool anyone.

I leisurely spent my time browsing through Thamel's many bootleg DVD and CD stores and its used bookstores. As low-impact as that was, after a while it got exhausting for me, and I decided to treat myself to a nice big American-style hamburger and fries as a nice nostalgic pick-me-up. It was served with hot sauce and garlic chili, which gave it a bit of Nepali flair.

I spent most of the rest of the day recuperating in my room, listening to CDs, writing and catching up on sleep. I wasn't 100% back yet, but I'd get there slowly but surely.

If this is your first taste of this Blog, please forgive me for how lame this entry is; I didn't have much going on as I was recuperating from an almost-fatal incident on the trail to Mount Everest, which you can read about here.