Nagarkot, Bhaktapur, and the Suspence Killer Gang

The hostel life is all about making new friends from all over the world, which is what happened at the amazing Aloobar1000 hostel in the middle of the Thamel region of Kathmandu.  A group of 10 of us (the Suspence Killers, as we called ourselves at the end of this overnight adventure) made an impromptu decision to go to a town called Nagarkot, a place famous for its views of the Himalayas.  We booked an overpriced van through the hostel that fit all of us, and we roadtripped through steep and windy mountain roads up to the small town.  We stayed in a hotel that fit all ten of us in one giant room in the basement, and paid just over $1 per person for the night.

Because it was cloudy and foggy almost the entire time, this was the best view we got from the hotel (can't complain but it wasn't the snow-capped Himalayas):

That night we started a bonfire in the fire pit on the top of the hostel, and drank and talked and took pictures until midnight when the owners told us that we had to quiet down and go back to our room. That was when the real festivities started, and we played many epic rounds of King's Cup in the middle of the room. By then we no longer had chasers left, and resorted to playing with just a Nalgene bottle of gin in the middle of the ring of cards. It was a total riot, especially when a massive cockroach friend, who we named Diego, started to rampage around the room to add to the excitement.  That night was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

What better way to start out the next morning, still extremely hungover for some of us, than riding on the top of a local bus to go back to Kathmandu! Technically illegal, but so much fun.  I made the mistake of sitting closer to the front, which meant if I wasn't paying attention I would get smacked in the face by low-hanging branches, or get clothes-lined by telephone wires.  The first happened fairly often, but the latter, thank goodness, didn't happen to anyone although it was a legitimate concern.  Pictured below are 8 out of ten of the Suspence Killers

This was my second time in Bhaktapur, and below is Durbar Square on a normal day. This time around however, there was a huge festival, meaning every inch of ground was covered in bodies. It looked like a sea of black hair and colorful saris, with the occasional 6-foot foreigner sticking out like a sore thumb in the crowd. There were dancers with sticks hopping around in giant snaking lines through the ground, jumping to the beat of bells and drums, singing and yelling things that I don't think anyone understood.

All the colors!