WEATHER: Just right sunny and 24C
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Meeting my new roomie and she
R-O-C-K-S
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Cant think of a single thing
WORD OF THE DAY: Feeling the LOVE
I saw another bus of people depart this morning from my
window. I wish I had an urge to trek,
but it is just not in me to do so. So
again I wish thus group safe travels. I
learnt after yesterday’s breakfast surge to not go down before 9am. I haven’t mentioned that I have had a knock
on my door every morning after 8am asking if I had any laundry. I had packed a bag last night of stuff to get
washed and it was weird to think this could be the last time, well maybe one
more, that I would have some-one else do my washing. That is a sobering thought having to my own
laundry again. Ughhhhhhh. Is that a
reality check or what? So after my washing
was collected at 9am, perfect timing, I headed down to breakfast and all the
trekkers had left and there were just a handful of people. Now this is how to have breakfast. I checked in at reception about where my new
room would be and if it was ready for me to make my move and it was,
surprisingly attitude girl was all over it, and handed me a key telling me, not
sure with a little bit of mock in there, that I was on the same floor, I was
just 2 doors down from my current room.
Dang it, the bitch had kept me on the same floor. This firth floor will be the death of
me. It was funny I actually got a
message from Kate today and I replied back telling how this hotel reminded me
of the one that we shared in La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, so
we were at around 2900m altitude, and we were on the 6th floor of
that hotel with no lift. We were puffing
there let me tell you!!
So even though reception chick is still rude, she gave me
my new key and I said I’ll move my gear and then bring the old key back and get
this she actually smiled!!!!! She also
mentioned that my roomie Jessica would be joining me shortly. So I headed back to pack. I’m going to leave a bag here of things that
I won’t be needing. Just think if I get
funny looks on my ‘normal shorts and shirts’ what looks I would get if I donned
a dress!!!! OMG I wonder if that is scandalous? I have a feeling I will not be needing
dresses, cardigans, roman and ballet crocs and a whole plethora of other
things, so I am more than happy to leave them for my return. I am not sure on what our mode of transport
is for the tour but a lighter bag is always a plus, especially as I am still
waiting patiently for my arm to heal.
The beauty of being on the same floor I could make multiple trips
without too much fuss, so maybe I got the last laugh today with reception Nazi.
Ha ha ha. I popped a sticky note on the
new room telling Jessica that I was in room 520, I would hate her to come all
the way up to the room to find it locked, head back down 5 flights to find no
key at reception, would be a pain but as it worked I had successfully moved all
my stuff and within half an hour a knock came at the door.
I opened the door to my new roomie, Jessica, and I knew
straight away that we would get along famously.
It is funny when you just know these things sometimes and being a fellow
Australia is always a good sign. I found
out that Jess has been in Nepal for the last 5 weeks and she has climbed
Everest and the Annapurna trek and her Tibet tour had been cancelled and she
booked on this at the last minute. Well
lucky for me I say. So we chatted for a
while and before I knew it I had told her about my breakup from Zeme, my move
to Ethiopia and how I ended up travelling for 20 months. All that and I hadn’t even known Jess for
more than an hour. Goodness she probably
thinks I am some sort of freak, but I tell you it felt good to speak to
some-one. We headed out for lunch at 12
and as the weather was so beautiful, we decided to look for a roof top
restaurant where we could enjoy some of the sun’s rays. We ate, we shared a beer, and I couldn’t help
it I filled Jess in on the whole Zeme saga.
She must be thinking I am a real nutter by now and I apologize in
advance Jess but I will make a promise and a vow that I will not keep talking
about the whole sorry mess the whole trip.
I feel I have now got it off my chest and I feel like a weight has been
lifted just speaking it out loud to some-one.
A stranger no more, who I have only known for 2 hours but it just felt
right and comfortable. Maybe I should
have offered to pay for her lunch as a ‘Dear Debbie’ thanks.
When you travel with people it really makes a
difference. Walking down the same street
I did on my own yesterday even feels different.
I am a people person and I like to have company, so it was great to know
the company I have for a roomie is a ‘keeper’.
We agreed on a lot of stuff and we seem to share the same values on
things, so I think I have at least lucked out on my traveling bud. Fingers crossed for the rest of the group
tonight. With the room change I have
found that the internet connection hasn’t worked in the new room, but I’m okay
with that now that I have ‘people’ now to converse with and I won’t be so
reliant on my computer now. Which isn’t
a bad thing. I just have a blog to load
and that was about it.
Jessica went to pop her washing in and get a well-deserved
massage after trekking for 5 weeks, 8 hours a day (crazy) and I just chillaxed
in the room till out meeting at 6pm. So it
was time to meet the new group. Jess and
I were going to compare notes on what we thought of everyone after the
meeting. From experience I have learnt
that first impressions count, there is no doubt about that, but I have also
learnt that it can take people a few days to come out of their shells, people
grow on you, people to show their true colours etc….. so as important as it is
for a first impression I certainly hold judgment now on people till at least
the first 4 days. There are always people
you aren’t going to get along with, or heaven forbid people don’t like you
(WHAT) but that is part of group travel and you just need to deal with it as it
happens. This is my 23rd tour
in 20 months and I have to say I have been quite lucky with groups and people (a
few bad eggs) and I am thankful for all the experiences I have had, good and
bad. This will definitely be the last
tour for a while as I try and settle in a new country and start a new
life. I do have a backup plan and it
dies involve a 2 month tour in April, but I hope that I won’t have to use that
plan and finally settle down for a little while and have somewhere that I can
call home……
The new group looks great. First feel vibe is good and besides having a trekking
champion in our mist (Jessica) we also have an Olympiad. Sam represented Australia at the Olympics for
synchronized swimming and it was funny as I watched back home the telecast of
the synchronized swimming and thought how amazing it looked and there was a
couple of Russians and their routine I clearly remember just how awesome they
looked. So I bombarded Sam with all
sorts of questions and I feel proud to be traveling with someone that has
worked hard to represent our country.
Being an ex-athlete (I was in the AIS for 2 years for squash) I know
what sacrifices sometimes have to be made.
Satcha is our guide and we will also be having a ‘trainee’ as such that
will join us for the last stage of his training which makes a group of 10
people plus Padama and Satcha makes 12.
A nice size. We would have only
had 6 if the Tibet tour hadn’t of been cancelled last week. There is a Congress meeting on in the country
and the government has closed the country and all the foreigners were kicked
out, so Intrepid had to cancel their tour.
Oh well Tibet’s loss is our gain as Jess wouldn’t have been on this tour
if that had happened and it has been great to have her around to help me take
my mind off all the other stuff that has been going on.
So Nepal Encompassed officially started today and I think
it will be a great tour to officially finish my World Odyssey on. So sending smiles from Kathmandu and I want
to let you all know that I am doing okay.
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