Day 133: Still On a High...but back down low

...in the luxurious Kathmandu.

Returning to civilization has been wonderful. Funny what we ended up missing while trekking:

--Went shopping...we do not actually look very much like normal girls at this point, but sometimes we forget about that and do girly things anyway. Claire also got her legs waxed...and her underarms until she randomly broke into tears. We have no idea why wax had this effect on her, because she gets waxed always and doesnt think it really hurts. Lara came back from more shopping to find her all teary in some dirty back room, completely baffled by what was going on, assuming some cruel beauty treatment, because Claire always has sketchy waxing experiences overseas. Turns out Claire's just a bit nuts as she kept telling Lara in said back room. No worries anyone: she is just fine now, and keeps reiterating "Dude...our lives are nuts" in a very happy way.

--hung out with 2 French dudes (Malcolm and Abel) at this amazing vegetarian READING cafe. We were regaled with stories of the french reality TV show "Peking Express" in which contestants had to get from Paris to Beijing on 1 Euro a day...this led them to beg off the Russian mafia and spend nights in heroin factories. Needless to say, this would not show on American TV. But Claire is desperate to join. Lara would admit to being desperate to join, if she did not have Claire as the scapegoat of her otherwise strong feelings for things in blogland (maybe you can guess that Lara left the internet cafe and Claire is adding to this post). Msybe Lara would also eat meat, too, and love it.

But back to the French people. We heard about their former drug habits, life on the island of Martinique (heavenly, apparently), and a near arrest in New York for smoking a hand-rolled cigarette (he begged off by explaining that "in France it is different!" and "my English is not very good!"). Finally, though, we know a French TV Editor (this Abel) who would like to drive a US car from New York City to California. We explained that CraigsList was an excellent source of information for this, but then thought that someone on our blog might know someone. And so. You know. If you need any such car driven, email us of course and we will tell him. ClaireandLara@gmail.com. He can maybe give you a DVD of Peking Express for the trouble, or Claire can send you the one she gets off him in Paris next month

--Dropped off laundry. Back in a normal hotel, everything suddenly seemed bedewed with yak essence...as if we had been sleeping among the herd instead of taking pictures of them from an appropriately safe distance (hear that, Mom? Safety first!!!) We know you all want to come hang out now...everything was fine until Lara astutely made the observation that we actually had NO clothes except the ones on our backs (one pair shorts, two shirts, one skirt, appropriate underclothes) to wear until Sunday, and we have a date event before then.

--Got a Chinese visa...and vowed never to get visas in the US again. Instead of standing in line or dealing with red-tape about tickets, we walked in spent two minutes filling out an application and walked out. It was cheaper too...WHY DID NO ONE TELL US ABOUT THIS?????? This is our second visa that we have gotten with the ease of butter not in the US.

--Spent lots of time on internet reveling in newfound blog fame. And trying to get pictures to upload...get excited for new graphic-heavy blogs (we hope we hope we hope but we are also realistic). Thought for the millionth time in life (Lara is usually the instigator of this particular line of thinking), that we need a personal secretary. Or some small animal with a highly evolved brain that could do things like call airlines for us.

--Spent other part of internet time scanning future bridesmaid's dresses for our fabulous friend's December nuptials and saying to eachother "What body type am I anyway?!!!?". This is a challenge for oh so many reasons, and we will be requiring help...

Off to try another Mexican food place...So far have yet to find passable option in Asia. Shocking, we know. and pizza with yak cheese also leaves something to be desired...sometimes, we miss Europe. Or home. Sometimes.



Oh, and here is a picture of our friend, Lawyer Lana, whose birthday it is today, and whose arm you can see awkwardly in the photo at a VIP concert of Justin Timberlake's last night in San Diego.