Kathmandu - The Good, The Crazy, The Entrancing

Twenty years ago while hanging out on a Kathmandu rooftop cafe, above the roiling madness of humanity down on the streets, I imagined bringing my future children here someday. At that time it's possible Nicolas was walking on those streets below, but I just hadn't met him yet. Now all four of us are here taking it all in together, each of us in our own way...

Acacia: "Omigosh it's so noisy! Why is everyone honking? Oooh! Look at those pretty backpacks! Can we go back and see those? That's the royal palace? Cool! There's so much traffic! Are there lanes? Which side are we supposed to be on? Why are there so many thousands of electricity lines going to every telephone pole? It's all looped up. It's a bit messy looking, don't you think? Everyone has dark hair. Look there's a cow next to us. It's going faster than the traffic. Not very sacred to shoo it away from the fruit stands, is it? Whoa! That's a monkey on the electric wires! Tiger balm? Cayenne loves tiger balm. Hey Cay, you should get some. I just saw a monk. Jeez! How are those motorcycles fitting in between the cars? Their mirrors are already almost touching."

Cayenne: "This place is nuts."

For old times' sake, of course.

"I  love all these baggy pants. Can I get a pair? Ooooh check out these leg warmers! They're awesome. These prayer wheel earrings are so cool! Look back out at Kathmandu. Can barely see the streets but you can still hear the horns. Why is that man lying in the road? Oh man, he doesn't have fingers. Or toes. I wonder what happened to him."

"He has leprosy."

Silence.

Cayenne's favourite part of Kathmandu was away from the traffic and tourists, and drenched in colour.

Our hotel's rooftop

If you look closely at the mountain horizon, you can see a hint of white. That's Langtang, whose base we'll be walking to (and from) for the next 12 days.

I'm hoping for lots more render-them-speechless moments.