Welcome to Thamel. Don't get run over.

I spent day 1 in Nepal in the tourist district of Thamel, a noisy, congested maze of crazy taxis, even crazier motorcyclists, and nearly identical stores and trekking agencies. Thanks to an outdated lonely planet map, I was lost for the first hour, but finally oriented.

I visited the KEEP office, a local non-profit promoting mountain responsibility, and I met friendly trekkers while reading trip reports. I then went to find trekking partners on a variety of message boards in the city and online at trekkingpartners.com. Then, back to KEEP with another question, where I ran into the guy who runs the trekking partners website. He is a cool Canadian and we set off to find a bar I couldn't find earlier w my map, and ended up with a beer, rooftop city view, and two hours of conversation, which was a lovely introduction to Kathmandu for me. Also, I ran into my French pal from the flight, Luk. Although I enjoy staying at the mountain fund and think Thamel during the day is exhausting, it seems to be the place to be, so I will need to stay there after my trek!

Here is my official trekkingpartners.com photo. I'm hoping it looks friendly so I rope some trail pals.