Days 19-26: A Recovery In Kathmandu

Day 19: Snacks In a Bed

What a treat…masala dosa for breakfast. Cooked by our favourite chef who proudly wore the apron gifted to him by Pete all those months ago.

Follow that up with a rip-off version of Pringles, chocolate digestives, bed and tv on repeat.

Add in the joy of moisturising feet, showering multiple times and enjoying not wearing a backpack.

Thoroughly relaxed and in search of somewhere that didn't serve dal bhat, we headed to Durbar Marg and a rooftop restaurant we had spotted on a walk before our trek. Three stories up, we were greeted by a lovely rooftop restaurant with comfy couches, fairy lights and great service. For $40 we had multiple beers and margaritas, pizza, nachos and wedges. If only my stomach was feeling 100% to enjoy it. The thought of dinner in Phortse still made me awful queasy every time it came to mind.

Day 20: Oh So Sick

In the middle of the night, I woke Chris. I was really sick. Really, really sick. I will avoid adjectives, for your benefit, but let me just say...diarrhoea. I was up and down for hours.

When morning came, I was no better. The day was spent in bed with stabbing pains in my stomach, trips to the bathroom and flicking between one hundred or so channels that were mostly in Nepali and Hindi.

Chris, the gentleman that he is, grabbed me a big packet of the closest thing to Saos he could find and watched me intently whenever I suggested I perhaps branch out and have a chocolate cookie to break up the monotony. Saos on repeat.

At one point, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I shuffled to the bathroom. What I saw was a grey, hunched figure who looked a hundred years old. I scared myself as I quickly realised we were in Nepal and I was really really sick.

Evening came and, after eating some pain killers, we deliberated over what the best thing for me to stomach would be. We settled with going back to where we ate last night, crossing our fingers that it wasn't the food there that had resulted in my sickness in the first place. At least I could get something a bit western and not spicy. Give my belly a rest.

Day 21

Lunch at Travellers Cafe in Thamel meant a delicious blended mocha, onion rings and enchiladas. We really were enjoying a break from the limited menu of the mountains.

When we headed out in search of dinner, we were greeted with spits of rain that were instantly absorbed by the dusty footpath. The erratic passing headlights showed that the wind was picking up a season's worth of dust and thrusting it through the air. Unable to keep it out of our eyes and mouths, feeling it crunch between our teeth, we headed back to the safety of our hotel for dinner before our coughs got even worse.

Day 22: A Long Way From Bells Beach

The joys of a modern age. On the iPad this morning, we lazed about and watched the surfing, live from Bells Beach. When that finished up we wandered around Thamel, did a little shopping then settled at Northfield Cafe, which happened to be where we had celebrated after reaching Dingboche on our hike five years ago. We ate, drank and listened to live Nepalese music.

Day 23: A Familiar Face

It was a lazy morning watching TV and looking online at possible housing options. We had decided to cut our trip short and return home to Australia. My multiple sicknesses and feet we couldn’t bear to put back in boots, our heart just wasn’t in it right now.

Back at Northfield Cafe, where we were remembered and ushered to last night's same table, we snacked and drank until it was time to meet Kath, Chris’ aunty. How bizarre it is to see a familiar face in such an unfamiliar part of the world. Kath and her friend Meri were doing a tour that would take them to Base Camp and Kala Pattar, from where we had just come. We shared tips, tricks and stories over dinner and promised to catch up again the next day.

Day 24: Patan

I felt the first frustrations of being in a dirty, third-world city sneaking into my consciousness today. We walked to Patan and on the way battled enough dust to almost fill our lungs to the brim. We passed a man passed out in the street and stinky rivers clogged with pollution. It made me sad and I held back tears as I wondered about how some of the people here live their lives. After an hour or so of walking we entered the winding alleyways of Patan and spotted a little barber shop. For the equivalent of $1, Chris got himself the best cut-throat shave of his life.

After a quick walk through Durbar Square we instead enjoyed the backstreets where the locals shopped. The dust soon drove us away though as we headed back to Kamaladi to get clean.

We caught up with Kath and Mari in the evening and spent some time helping them buy a few last minute items. When Mari headed home for an early night we took Kath to the old favourite...Northfield, for some dinner before we walked her, and then ourselves, home. The walk home was familiar now. We knew each crazy intersection well. Each dusty, cracked footpath we followed with ease. We smiled with familiarity at the man on security who welcomed us home each evening. It really was a nice way, in the relative cool of the night air, to finish off most days.

Day 25: The Monkey Temple

We ventured into Thamel for a big breakfast before we did some last minute shopping then headed out to the famous monkey temple. We climbed the steep steps and were granted views of the vast, smoggy city of Kathmandu.

Its rectangular prism homes in every colour of the rainbow were mashed together between rivers and factories. Then, on top of the hill on which we stood was a crisp white temple complete with resident monkeys, dogs, huge numbers of tourists and some guy making a music video.

On the way back to our hotel we stopped in one final time to see Charan, the spice merchant Pete befriended when he was here last. While Charan finished serving a customer he said a few words to a passing man who soon returned with two piping hot glasses of masala tea for us to sip on while we waited. We grabbed the last of our spices, exchanged gifts and were on our way.

In the evening, as a celebration, we dined at Mezze one final time before heading home to grab some sleep before our day of travelling tomorrow.

Day 26: Farewell Nepal

The message that we needed the hotel’s taxi for 8am apparently got lost in translation. Never the less, once the staff worked out how to use the eftpos machine, they sent the security guard into the street and he quickly hailed us a random taxi to take us to the airport. The price was even bargained for us so we squeezed our many bags into the tiny hatchback and crossed our fingers as it struggled up the slight hills all the way to the international terminal. As usual, we were so early that the checkin counter wasn’t open. We should have basked in this time however because once we were checked in and through the multiple security scans and pat-downs, we were herded into a tiny space with hundreds of other potential flyers to await our aeroplane. After a couple of hours of watching the clock, we sat on the runway, waited for the darn weather to clear and finally took off about an hour later than planned.

That was it. Nepal had come to a close and, just like last time, we were leaving earlier than planned and slightly worse for wear. The difference was that this time we had achieved our goal, hiked to incredible heights and pushed our bodies in a way neither of us expected. We had seen the most beautiful scenery and now we thanked the mountains, once more, for allowing our footsteps.