Drinks

Last night was spent eating "real food" again. And drinking beer...Everest beer, of course.
The Yak and Yeti hotel is crowded with trekkers coming and going on all sorts or Himalayan hikes, the bar is crowded with a diverse group--young fit people all the way to the old group of travellers who are wearing freshly purchased shirts from the Magellan catalog and matching fanny packs. And then there is our ragtag group of people in their 20's all the way to their 70's, all feeling we have earned the right to be a little loud with our story telling. Everything from the trek is much funnier after several beers.
The festival of Tihar continues today in the city. We may take a stroll to Durbar Square and then later have lunch at the Rum Doodle, a must-visit place in the city:

Lonely Planet review for Rum Doodle Restaurant & Bar

Named after the world’s highest mountain, the 40,000½ft Mt Rum Doodle (according to WE Bowman, author of The Ascent of Rum Doodle, a spoof of serious mountaineering books), this famous bar is still milking a dusty (1983!) Time magazine accolade as ‘one of the world’s best bars’. It’s long been a favourite meeting place for mountaineering expeditions – Edmund Hillary, Reinhold Messner, Ang Rita Sherpa and Rob Hall have left their mark on the walls – and a visit here feels like a bit of a pilgrimage for mountain lovers. Trekking groups can add their own yeti footprint trek report to the dozens plastered on the walls. The restaurant serves up decent steaks, pasta and pizza and there’s often live music. You can eat here free for life – the only catch is that you have to conquer Everest first!
DURBAR SQUARE- The streets leading up to Durbar Square were massively over-crowded and over-stimulating. I begged someone to accompany me to this must-see UNESCO Worl Heritage site, and Jon graciously agreed to be my escort even though he had already been there when we were in Kathmandu three weeks ago. Thank God I was not alone! Wow-the streets are a noisy maze and the powerful smell of incense and colors of Tihar overwhelmed my senses. I didn't feel unsafe, like afraid of being pickpocketed, but I felt like if I make one wrong turn I might be swallowed up by the city and lost forever. We met up with Andy, Abby, Steve, and Derek at the Rum Doodle, and, as is customary for all trekkers to Everest, left our decorated and signed Yeti print hanging over the patio!