Everything is dheri ramro!

Last night’s dinner by candlelight and thunderstorm at Annapurna Activities was filled with wonderful food, laughter, and hospitality on the part of our host, Pashupati. I think we were all a bit disappointed when the lights came back on, the rain stopped, and it was suddenly time to head back to Hotel Crown, where most of us promptly tucked in for the night.

This morning, after a breakfast of fried eggs, toast, potatoes, and milk tea at Hotel Crown, we ventured back to Annapurna Activities for a language lesson from teacher, Chet. We were introduced to a number of basic greetings and phrases, practiced our pronunciation, and learned about Nepali culture. I think the kids’ foreign language teachers back home would be very impressed with how quickly their students took to Nepali.

After our language lesson, we went for a lunch of fried rice, momos, pakodas, noodles, and chips chile — or french fries coated in chile sauce. From there we walked down to the lakefront and “ferried” our way over to Barahi Temple which is on a tiny island situated a short distance from the shore of Phewa Lake. There we received tilaka, which is a mark made of red paste that is a blessing of welcome and honor to guests and is placed on the forehead by a Hindu priest.

Back on shore we stopped for some free time and shopping and are currently relaxing back at Hotel Crown before we head off to dinner.