My Day to Enjoy Dwarika’s

From the itinerary: day at leisure.

I have 3 things on the docket: a massage at 11 to try to get the cramp out of my lower back, I'll exchange some $$ for showers in the tea houses and meeting Deven at 4pm for the expedition briefing.

Weather - sunny and in the 70s.

I slept really well after my treatment last night. On my way to breakfast I met the neighbors and took a picture of the door handles of the royal suite- my guess is that this is where King Charles stayed when he was here. The maid asked us if we wanted to have a look and it was quite amazing...triple level, 2 balconies, a huge bathroom.

Breakfast was also fit for a king- here is the menu.

I had juju royal yoghurt- a yoghurt made using traditional methods- and Chatamari- Nepali vegetable rice crepes

Here are some random photos of interesting areas of the hotel, which was really rather like a small town...

The tiger moving game looks interesting- it's a local game of strategy. If I can find one small enough I may bring one back. In the early evening the Mina birds come out for their chorus

Trying to get my back muscle to relax, I decided on a special Ayurveda massage called Kati-vasti. They massage the troubled areas, relax it further with hot towels, then apply gram flour dough rings which they fill with hot oil. Again I fell asleep and the oil was quite hot, but I did feel the warmth seep into the sore tissue. I wouldn't say it fixed the problem, but it does feel better. Here's a photo of the rings after she took them off

The front desk said that there was a temple out to the right - 15 minutes walk, so I decided to brave the city and try to change some cash. I didn't understand why he suggested taking a mask until I hit the streets and experienced life outside of the hotel.

The hotel is situated on a very busy street and I am happy to say I made it across the street which is a small miracle. Basically I crossed with a group of locals- I don't think many tourist walk too far here. In fact I didn't see any tourists....

I didn't remember where to change money, only later remembering they do banks here. Anyway I walked on and saw a sign for a garden across the street- this time there was an overhead cross walk (thank goodness). As I saw the entrance I also saw about 20 police in riot gear, so decided to continue on and not go to the garden.

The temple was a bit of a disappointment, but it was located on a quiet side street and I walked down for about a block. I saw a western union shop, but they told me "no" to exchanging cash.

Along the way there was a public well which I was glad I didn't need to use

And I saw my first of many monkeys. The others I saw were quite sad and one was really diseased- so sorry I can't unsee that.

The riot situation hadn't progressed much as I walked back and I survived crossing the street. Then I finally stopped at the bank where they did exchange some money. This was a very involved process where I had to sign copies of my passport and a copy of the US bills I was exchanging. It was good to get back to the quiet serenity of the hotel.

Had my briefing with Deven and met Shekhar, my porter (no photo yet). It seems like it will be a simple trek,

but even so am feeling nervous and excited- more on the route tomorrow. I got my duffle, sleeping bag, and down coat. He brought 1 pole and promised to bring the second one tomorrow (along with the microspikes in case of ice). I guess I should feel re-assured he thought I only needed 1 pole....

He says we should have a pretty trip- the flowers are in bloom and there should be animals, including deer, mountain goats, and perhaps, 🐻🫣

An early dinner - my favorite: vegetable momos, thikpa and ginger/honey tea. Before signing out for an early night I had a soak.

Hopefully this will get me on track for an early start tomorrow.

A note about journaling - I should have access to WiFi for the beginning, but I may be delayed in uploads when I get closer to the top, so can't promise updates each day:)