From Chiwan, we reached Kathmandu by bus. The long-distance tourist bus terminated on the outskirts of Kathmandu so we transferred to a crowded city minibus. Disembarking this bus is when Wes made a big mistake. Carrying his winter jacket and a bag of food and water in his hands, he set the bag on the sidewalk and threw the jacket over a signpost to free his hands to retrieve backpacks off the minibus roof. With packs strapped on, we hurried to our hotel with jacket still draped over the signpost. Realizing his forgetfulness 2 hours later, Wes returned to the minibus stop but the jacket was gone. Wes loved that light-weight yellow Northface jacket. Bummer, bummer, bummer. That's a $400 mistake. We hope some lucky Nepali stays warm this winter.

Wes was depressed about losing the jacket for over a week. Northface no longer sells the same style. Where would he find a replacement? Most clothing sold in Kathmandu is low-quality duplicate that tears after a few uses. In Bangkok, our next stop, camping stores only carry thin summer jackets. Bummer again.

Then Wes' brother, Evan, did the coolest thing. He works at Patagonia, the outdoor sportswear manufacturer. He asked Wes to browse the online catalogue at http://www.patagonia.com. After selecting a jacket preference, Evan offered to buy a replacement with his employee discount. What a terrific brother!

Back to our adventure, we were in Kathmandu for one full day. During our short stay, we talked to Purna, the owner of the Eden Jungle Resort in Sauraha, Royal Chitwan National Park, about creating a web page for his business. We gave him a cheap price quote for 20 hours of work. The price, design, and services were agreed, and we completed the page by the next morning. Purna will select a web host on his own. When they're uploaded and available online, we'll link to it from our "Links" page.

The next afternoon, we departed for Bangkok.