By Tuesday morning we had sufficiently recovered from our jet lag to begin exploring Kathmandu. Mike, another member of our R.E.I. group had also arrived early, and was willing to join us on our outing. We were placed in the capable hands of a young guide named Naryan, who provided a great introduction to several parts of the city we would not see with the whole group later in the week. Originally from the hill country of eastern Nepal, Naryan arrived in the capital as a young boy to attend an all English school, although he spoke not the first word of the language. He was a wealth of energy and information.

We began at Pashupatinath, Nepal’s most sacred Hindu shrine. Its location on the Bagmati River makes it also Nepal’s most sacred Hindu cremation site. We arrived at the end of such a ceremony, just in time to witness the ashes being swept into the almost dry Bagmati, where they would be carried south to join the Ganges.

Naryan next took us outside the main city for lunch at a hillside restaurant overlooking the beautiful little Newar village of Bungamati. After eating, we had a stroll though the quaint town that reminded us of medieval Europe, with traffic free streets and friendly people.

Naryan also took us to up to Nagarkot, a resort area located at the northeast rim of the Kathmandu Valley. Passing a wedding party along the way (boarding a bus for the trip to the bride’s village), we hiked to the top of Nagarkot’s 2,164 meter summit, where we were treated to our first ground based (and somewhat distant) views of the central and eastern Himalaya. Quite a panorama, with on a clear day, five of the world’s ten highest peaks on display.