Monkeys, Temples and Goddess, oh my!

​Today was spent preparing for tomorrow’s flight out to Lukla, as well as a healthy dose of sightseeing.
 
We started our morning at the Monkey Temple, which was true to its name - we saw a couple hundred monkeys during our visit. More interesting, though, was the temple complex itself - we walked up 360 stairs to the top of a hill where a beautiful view of the city unfolded beneath us. Worshippers and tourists alike crowded the complex, and after an hour we descended back into Kathmandu.
 
Next stop was Durbar Square, which is the religious, cultural and historical centre of Kathmandu. We spent an hour and a half touring the complex and were lucky enough to see the Living Goddess, Karuna, come to the window and grace us with her presence. She became a goddess only 11 days ago, so this was one of her first public appearances. Durbar Square was one of the hardest hit areas during the big earthquake of 2015, and many of the temples here were destroyed.
 
We are now packing up, as we must divide our trekking gear from our climbing gear. Our climbing gear will go directly to base camp, while the trekking gear will accompany us up the valley.
 
Tomorrow’s flight for Lukla will leave around 7:00 am,  so we must leave the hotel at 5:45, at which point our holiday ends and the expedition begins!