a quick post from Reba

Holy cow. I just read through the rest of the team's posts. It seems that I am traveling with a team of gifted writers, my oldest daughter included. I am grateful I will have a wonderful travel journal with these blogs when I get home.
This morning we got up and out at 6 am to get breakfast and get on the lake before the sun got too hot. As we walk up the street from our hotel there is the occasional shop owner opening up to start the day, but mostly everything is closed....even breakfast places, much to Ella's chagrin.
We were joined by a large dog wearing a collar. A healthy-looking male who trotted along with us, weaving in and out of the 6 of us. Emerson had not joined us yet. It wasn't long before another couple of dogs, who seemed scrappy and steet-wise, joined the parade. One was a cute female dog who seemed sweet. Jane and Jenna have warned us not to touch any dogs, and the girls remember this now. But we talk to them and they wag their tails and trot along......then more dogs peel off from their intended paths to hook up with the women and dog entourage. Yeah, you can see it coming, can't you?
First came a few warning growls and positioning of bodies between the female and the other males. Jane told us to stop and let the dogs go on ahead of us, or we were about to be in the midst of a dog fight. We stopped. So did the dogs. We walked faster. So did the dogs. We crossed to the other side of the street....and here came the dogs. They seemed intent on hanging with us, even with the distraction of rivals in the mix. We even stepped up into the outside section of a restaurant (it wasn't yet open) and several of the dogs even followed us there, continuing to snarl and growl at each other.
Finally, the dogs lost interest as we got further up the street. We learned that no one serves breakfast in Pokhara before 7 am. We decide to head back to find Emerson, by now it is 7 and we knew we could find somewhere to eat. We choose a nice outside table by the lake and order black filter coffee (not Nescafe) and scrambled eggs. Jenna and Ashley order banana porridge and Jane ordered an indian breakfast. She's all spicy, all the time!
Three of the dogs find us again. They came right up on into the restaurant, wagging and waiting on a handout. We resisted the temptation to feed them, but our young waiter who was so polite looked at Jenna and said, "Your dogs, Madame"? Jenna sweetly told him no (her face revealed, "Sure, I brought them with me from America!") and he ran them out, and they were not patient enough to wait for us to leave.
We finished our breakfast, discussing our all-time favorite films then our plans for the day, which included renting boats to paddle to the little island of shrines in the middle of the lake.
I'm not sure what kind of internet, if any, is in Jomsom and beyond. If possible, we will post again. If not, the next time you hear from us will be when we return from our trek.
We miss everyone back home, and love you even more.
R