Blogs from Kathmandu, Nepal, Asia - page 153

We arrived today in Khatmandu after spending two lovely days in Darjeeling. Mountains, clouds far lower than our guest house room, awesome food and teas, plus a slight touch of british heritage make up the picture of this superb site. Arriving in the famous Toy Train (7 hours to cover 80 km), we left the dark clouds of the polluted Calcutta and entered a natural paradise. This morning we arrived in Khatmandu by plane, which was not at all expected, but the only alternative was a 22 hour bus, stopping 6 hours at night in the middle of nowhere to avoid entering the maoist attacks area. So far this is a charming place, much more touristic than Darjeeling and many parts of India, but very well maintained in its traditional ambience. We’ll try to spend no ... read more

Kathmandu was next for a few days meeting up with Michelle from Columbia and seeing the monkey temple with Sharon - well and truly entering the emotional phase of my trip after going through the political and religious. I was pretty tired and took a few days to recharge and do some reading. Kathmandu had some great restuarants and interesting people. ... read more

Talk about sensory overload! I finally arrived to Kathmandu. Seeing as the furthest I've been from the states is Mexico, this is quite a different experience. The mountains are beautiful and the city is organized chaos. The waste management system is pretty much non-existent, so the city isn't the cleanest. It's strange...this place is so far from Western civilization, yet Eminem is blaring in the streets. The children are so beautiful and the women wear saris that are all unique. Old women squat on the side of the street and drink what looks like dirty water out of bowls. I'm staying in a hotel for the first 2 nights while the other volunteers have orientation for teaching English, or at least that's what the person who picked me up at the airport told me. He ... read more

This is one of those assignments that I didn't look for. Rather, this assignment found me. It came at a time when I was seriously mulling over quitting my job, just like I did about 2 years before. Well, as I said, it has been brewing for the last 2 years. Back then, the company sent me to Tokyo for a 2 week "business" assignment. And now this. Free Trip to Kathmandu: Why Not? Soon, I realized no one in the company wanted this trip. Much inclined to urban settings, they would rather grab assignments that would bring them to America or Europe, rather than to Nepal. That is not exactly my take though. I mean, Kathmandu has always fascinated me especially since the advent of the hippie cult. I am certainly no hippie, but somewhow ... read more

A rickshaw driver took us the 3 km over the Nepalese border into Birganj (the joint border town with Indian Raxaul) and in time for an early morning feed. From there, along with 12 others, we passed through Immigration and Customs with a minimum of hassles. We encountered a magnificent sunrise at 6am as we walked across the border into Nepal. Our clocks were put forward by 10 minutes. We were immediately hassled by another rickshaw driver in our efforts to get a truck all the way into Kathmandu. We were offered a 9am ride for 15Re (a buck and a half), which we stupidly knocked back, a move we were to later regret. We finally gave away the attempt at a free hitch (or even a 15Re one!) on any truck by 11am, and along ... read more