Beyond Thamel with a Dutchie...

We wandered around for a bit and then returned to the hotel to meet up with Marieke, the leader of the International Gold Award trips to Nepal that both Veronica and Terri’s daughter Lauren took separately several years ago.

Marieke, now a lecturer at Cambridge with a PhD in Linguistics, was in Nepal for the summer doing a research project on how to save some old Nepalese dialects used in remote mountain villages that are starting to disappear. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but she offered to take us to do some shopping...

...and to photograph the four of us.

She led us out of our pedestrian haven into a fascinating nearby neighborhood. She was like a mother duck leading her ducklings across the street. 

She brought us to a small outdoor shop where she knew the owners, and I bought a fleece jacket made in Nepal and Kent bought some shorts. Carlin and I both regretted not buying ponchos that afternoon.

We stopped for drinks at Gaia, one of her favorite places, where I enjoyed a Himalayan Red Craft Beer. It was very sweet when the owner of the trekking company and two guides stopped by to meet “Veronica’s mother” because they remembered her fondly.

We made our way back to Thamel, doing some shopping along the way.

We had dinner at the Northfield Café and Jesse James Bar, which was much better than it sounded.

I had the first of many meals of dal bhat, the traditional Nepali meal of lentil soup, rice and vegetarian curry. It was great to see Marieke―she’s quite a remarkable young lady.