In Kathmandu I booked three nights at Bird's Nest Hotel which touts its central location and continual electricity capacities thanks to a couple of large generators on property. Nepal in general suffers from intermittent brown outs and there is need to conserve electricity at the household level because of a weak infrastructure system. As such things like hot showers on the regular can be hard to come by. I remember in Guatemala showering with basically a 'soft hose flow' worth of cold water, and after awhile it was something I didn't really notice (until that last night in a Guatemala City hotel with a Seinfeld-esque horse hose shower!). Aside from exploring a new region and friendly people, and getting some data for my thesis, I am kind of excited about the challenge of living out of a backpack in an environment with amenities quite unlike our own.
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On the health front, Nepal is notorious for giving travelers unpleasant digestive issues due to poor food handling practises and water which isn't as clean as it could be. Nathan bought me a very cool UV light gadget which filters particulates out and then zaps bacteria and viruses with the light. This way, no matter where I am I can do my best to have access to clean water. Otherwise several guide books and blogs I have read simply recommend that if you don't want to get sick, don't eat very much. Good times!
