Nepal Trek: Last Day of Hiking - Back to Kathmandu

The night was warm at the lower elevation, but I slept okay and got up about 6:30am for a good breakfast of ginger tea and a roasty (a savory potato pancake topped with an egg).  We packed up and got on the trail by 8:30am for the hike back to Nayapul, and then the drive to Pokhara.  My legs were a bit sore from the previous day, but the weather was again beautiful and the scenery was enjoyable.

We reached the main dirt street of Nayapul at 11am and then loaded up in the van and enjoyed a leisurely drive out of the valley, over a mountain ridge, and down into the next valley to the tourist town of Pokhara.  After a very relaxing lunch sitting next to Phewa Lake, our guide took us to the airport and we caught the short Yeti Air flight back to Kathmandu.  A driver met us and drove us back to the Shanker Hotel, where we washed up and went out to dinner for enchiladas (yes, enchiladas).  We got back to the hotel about 9pm and I was asleep by 10pm.

The next morning, our last full day in Nepal, we met for a long breakfast at 8am.  I was hobbling around a bit on sore legs (going downhill is tougher), but we took it easy in the morning.  I wanted to see the Swayambhunath, or Monkey Temple, so we took a taxi through the twisting, crowded streets up the hill to the site and enjoyed walking around, seeing the people, the holy Buddhist structures and the monkeys.  Dating back to the mid-600's AD, Swayambhunath is one of the oldest religious sites in Nepal and overlooks the Kathmandu valley.  We then walked down the steep stairs to the street and took a taxi back to the hotel.

After a quick lunch, we walked around the Thamel area and did some souvenir shopping, including some brisk haggling over the price of some kukras, the famous curved Gurkha knives.  Yak wool blankets, silver jewelry and t-shirts rounded out our purchases.  We also stopped by the Himalayan Glacier Trekking offices to express our gratitude to the manager, Narayan, for the great service and experience.  Returning to the hotel, I sat outside in the gardens for several hours, simply relaxing and reading a book.  We ate a nice dinner later in the evening and packed up our gear in preparation for the long journey home in the morning.

After a good night's sleep, we had breakfast and got a nice surprise when Ricci, our guide, showed up with the driver and we said our farewells before going to the airport.  Thirty-six hours later, after a flight to Delhi, India (and a long layover), another flight to Amsterdam, and yet a third flight to Minneapolis, we finally made it home.  It was a great adventure that I'll always remember, and it has me thinking of what my next trek might be.