Mile-High Pub: Happy Hour in the Himalayas

KATHMANDU, Nepal, May 9, 2008 -- Potent cocktails, a packed house and a cover band playing Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" should have been enough to get the party started.

But really, it was a pint-sized Nepalese girl (approximately eight years old) and her contagious dance moves who got the crowd moving.

Within a few moments of the her unusual twirling jumps — think figure skating without the skates — several dozen adults fought for space on the dance floor, some standing on chairs, throwing back their heads and shouting along.

Most of the grown-ups were here to blow off steam after completing exhausting treks in the region. While the Rum Doodle is a place where locals and ex-pats meet for a drink, it is, above all else, the place to come after a climb.

Part party place, part history lesson, the Rum Doodle is unlike any other.

"Many people come in here and they don't have fingers," said Yog "Yogi" Rajbhandari, manager of the Rum Doodle, describing his clientele. That's because losing digits on hands and feet is a common side affect from the severe frostbite many climbers suffer.

Nestled at the foothills of the Himalayas and crushed in between China and India, Nepal is a hiker's paradise, offering a launching point for attempts to climb the world's highest peaks, including the tallest of all, Mount Everest.

The Rum Doodle is decorated with Abominable Snowman paper "footprints" that climbers sign, sometimes adding a story or two about their adventures. The walls are decorated with newspaper clippings with headlines such as "Bigfoot Killed on Mount Everest" and "I Love Bigfoot." A shrine to the Hindu god Ganesha is surrounded by lit candles. A tent on one end of the bar makes for a romantic-looking make-out spot.

Throughout the bar are protective glass cases displaying the signatures of climbers, including Sir Edmund Hillary, Rob Hall, Gary Ball, Tenzing Norgay, Ang Rita Sherpa, Vemura Naomi and David Breshears. It is believed to be the world's largest collection of mountaineers' signatures. Former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter ate here in 1985. Carter's signed footprint is on the wall.