The Himalayas ahhh… what a wonderful and magical place. 

We flew into Katmandu on a hazy cooler than usual kind of day in March. 

Our friend Tanner was still traveling with us at this point but would be leaving us after Katmandu.

Being fly by the seat of your pants kind of folk, we didn’t have a plan for our stay in Katmandu, and when a local travel agent stopped us on the street, we stopped to listen to what he had to offer. 

He spoke of a beautiful hotel high up in the mountains with a lovely view of Everest. 

The price was high but seemed fair for what was being offered, and the pictures showed a magical palace like hotel with the majestic Mt. Everest clearly seen in the far-off distance.  

It was a magnificent drive up thin, winding mountain roads lined with gorgeous rice terraces to our destination.

We were really excited to spend a couple of days relaxing in a beautiful retreat. Especially after all the chaos in India. 

We arrived and without beating around the bush, the first thing the three of us noticed was the view. 

But where was Everest? It was a pretty clear day and if Everest was there, we were sure that we would have been able to see it. 

The next thing that caught our attention was the rather dingy and outdated state of the palace like hotel. 

Pretty plain Jane were the words that came to my mind, but of course trying to stay optimistic we followed the man who showed us to our suite. 

Being high in the mountains, it was colder than we expected, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that there was a fireplace in our room. 

That was all that seemed pleasant though. 

We got settled in and went up to the office to ask for some firewood to build a nice cozy fire.

The man told us that there was a problem with the chimney being clogged and that a fire wouldn’t be possible. 

With our bubbles burst, the reality of the situation started to sink in. 

We had payed in advanced a small fortune for what was told to us would be a magical experience, but in fact was turning into a cold and viewless experience. 

Now, our friend Tanner is, hmm how do I put this, a unique individual with a rather hot temper that you don’t want to be the recipient of. 

We witnessed this temper several times during our travels and we were about to witness it again. 

In a rage he marched up to the front desk, with us trailing apprehensively behind. We could only imagine was about to happen. 

Let’s just say we had our fire that night. A bit smoky, but at least we were warm.

We went to the local market and bought a cheap bottle of booze, some local made Nepalese winter hats and a deck of cards.

 We sat in front of our smoky fire playing cards and drinking our sorrows away into the night. 

The next day back in Katmandu we tried for hours to hunt down the dodgy travel agent who had sold us the dream turned nightmare.