Hey Annapurna Base Camp!

Today is my last day in Kathmandu before embarking on the next trek.

I'm ready to climb Everest. Oops, I just forgot one little detail. I do not have the skills. My God, if I had them I might go as far as prostitute myself to gather the money required for the climbing permit and expedition costs. And pay for my sins for the rest of my life, I suppose. As it stands, however, I can only go a little bit closer to admire it from the base camp.

I'm going for a morning stroll through the city. I love that. I get to experience what most tourists probably miss. The moments when the city awakens to life. When shop owners sweep the streets; the vegetable vendors arrive in the squares with their produce on the bike or rickshaws; the garbage trucks are being filled up; the bakeries are bringing their fresh pastries out from the ovens; the women make flower garlands in front of the temples and so much more. It is very quiet in the beginning and the streets look deserted, but in a couple of hours they will be bustling with life and the honking will be almost continuous.

Today I see a rickshaw overflowing with fresh meat. Maybe a buffalo ?
I watch some people carrying huge bags filled with empty plastic bottles. Maybe recycling?
The temples are decorated with marigold garlands. What other holiday did I miss?

I walk around temples, along the food stalls and vegetable vendors and try to "steal" some more pictures. I then enjoy a breakfast up on a rooftop terrace with great views of the city and the temples.
Only after I charge my batteries can I go in, away from the sun, away from the colours, away from life to sit in the internet cafe and experience my frustrations. And they are plenty. My harddrive is about to die. It started slowly with the display fading away within 30 seconds or so after starting it. Now it seems to be dead. I can just play with the buttons and make the led lit randomly.

On the way back I have to solve a few logistical problems among which the plane ticket from Kathmandu to Chengdu (on November 24) where I can get my Tibet permit. The new prize Dalai Lama has just received has made life harder for Tibetans, Buddhists and the individual travellers like me. However, only for the tourists there are ways around it. And that has - as always - to do with money only.

As I'm hurrying back on the narrow busy streets I hear someone calling me. "Hello! Hello!" I do not respond to these calls any more. I don't need taxi, rickshaw, guide or anything else. But then I hear: "Hey Annapurna Base Camp! Annapurna Base Camp!" Now that sounds better! And I stop and turn around. And there he is: a young man sitting in his rickshaw and smiling at me. Hey, what are you doing here?
We met on the ABC trek where he worked as a porter. Isn't this wonderful? Meeting people and smiling faces in a far away foreign city? Makes me feel more at home.

Anyway, unless I'll succomb in front of the computer this afternoon (trying to upload more pictures and post some more stuff) tomorrow I'm heading off for the Everest trek.
I have cut down on my stuff, no more thermarest, no more bivy bag, no more water filter and no guidebook (just the copies of the relevant pages!). It's a very popular trek, there are lots of people doing it at this time and the infrastructure is similar to that on the Annapurna Round. So I'm off for another 2-3 weeks in the wonderful Himalaya. I have a heavy book to read and enough pens to scribble.

I'm off on vacation from cities, cars, traffic and internet cafes. The only regret is that in spite of all the hours spent I didn't manage to upload all pictures and post all the stories.