Still on the first day, we went back to the hotel for another rest and a swim (and a camera battery re-charge) after the afternoon of sightseeing. Our driver picked us up for a dinner out at a touristy place, with a set menu and a folk-dance show. There was only one other table of customers as it was the off season, but the place was nice, a sunken dining area ringed by a dark-wood mezzanine. The food was quite good. Our guide joined us for the appetizer plate, of which I was the only one to eat the tiny dried fish that looked like it used to be someone’s pet goldfish. It was gross. I’m forgoing any future Fear Factor moments. The rest was typical Nepali food, much like Indian. Some spicy curried vegetables, some chicken, lots of legumes, and the unique-tasting pickle relish familiar to Indian food fans. Rice, of course, but also potatoes, and a thick sweet yogurt for dessert. I tried the Chai Massala, spicy Nepali tea. We spent more on a bottle of Chilean red than on the rest of the meal combined. The dancing was surprisingly enjoyable, for a touristy cheese-fest. The costumes were pretty, the dances were all different, and the dancers seemed lively and un-jaded.
The driver dropped us back at the hotel after, and it took me about half an hour to notice I’d left my purse at the restaurant, total yikes. It had my wallet with all credit and other cards, and worse, my passport with my irreplaceable UAE visa. As we hadn’t booked the restaurant ourselves or navigated there ourselves, neither of us remembered the name of it (we are so spoiled!) It took a panic-inducing half hour to get the tour manager, Raj, on the phone (World Cup Football game on!), and no one at the hotel could help us figure out the name of the restaurant. I was sure it started with a U…maybe UT something? I was hyperventilating by the time we got Raj on the phone, and he promised to phone the guide and/or the driver to get the name of the restaurant and call us right back at the hotel. I paced and Jim talked me down for a further excruciating half hour with no phone call until Jim finally phoned Raj, to learn that he’d tried to call but the hotel operator wouldn’t put him through to our room. The good news, the restaurant had my bag and was keeping it safe for us. I actually wept with relief.
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