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Published: April 16th 2008
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So I arrive at the Kathmandu airport, I’ve filled out my visa application form (you can buy the visa as you enter the country) and I’m expecting to find an ATM in the terminal to get some Nepalese Rupees for the visa fee, as I have no cash on me. There is a currency exchange counter, but no ATM. They also won’t let me buy the Rupees with my credit card. What to do? There is a very long line for the visa processing and I don’t want to wait for an hour just to explain my predicament. I walk to the front of the line and luckily the man processing the visas tells me that I can leave my passport with him, go through customs and get some money from the ATM, located outside the terminal building. This seems a little dodgy, but what choice do I have?
I walk past the baggage claiming area not realising that I still have enough cash in my checked backpack, along with a passport photo needed for the visa. Before I even get to the ATM several cab drivers mob me and tell me that the ATM is broken, which upon closer inspection is in fact the case. One of them offers to lend me the money for the visa in exchange for letting him drive me into town for free and inspecting the guesthouse he works for, with no obligation to stay there. Once in town I could get money from an ATM and pay him back. This seems more than a little dodgy, but what choice do I have?
I reluctantly accept the loan and go back inside the terminal where I remember the cash in the backpack. Well, I figure, at least I can pay him back straight away. I grab my backpack, pick up my passport and get back in the queue for the visa processing. As I’m waiting in line I start to undo the three number combination lock on my bag. The pin number doesn’t work. This however is a problem I’ve encountered before on several occasions when using the lock as additional security for my rooms in guesthouses and bungalows. (After a while I had figured out that when the lock is open and I accidentally turn the numbers at that point before closing the lock, then it changes the combination needed to open the lock. Make sense?) So, unlike the first time this happened, I don’t freak out, as usually only one of the three numbers has changed by one digit. On this occasion two of the numbers have changed considerably and I cannot open the lock. (Funnily enough, when I locked the bag back in Bangkok, I was very careful not to accidentally change the original combination. By now I have lost faith in the lock and chosen not to use it again.)
So at this point I have the money needed for the visa, but I cannot get into my bag for the passport photo. Amazingly, while the terminal doesn’t have an ATM, they do have the facility to make instant passport photos. As they have chosen not to charge people an arm and a leg, which they could easily do, I have enough money to pay for the visa and get some photos taken. I do so and get back in line, which is still very long. I start playing again with the lock and after a while actually get it open. I get the cash out of the backpack and, as I’m the last person in line anyway, head over to the exchange counter and get the money changed into Nepalese Rupees.
By now the line has moved a bit and within a short while I’m at the front, proudly handing over my visa application, passport photo and money for the processing fee. At this point, the man informs me that they do not accept Nepalese Rupees as payment for the Nepalese visa processing fee. They do accept Euros (which I had just changed into Rupees), American Dollars, Australian Dollars and several other currencies, but not Nepalese Rupees naturally. No worries, I’ll just change the money back I say. (Surely there’s a profit to be made from changing currencies back and forth right?) However before I can head back to the exchange counter, a friendly Aussie (who else?) in front of me pays the fee on my behalf and I give him the Rupees. Five minutes later I hold in my hands my Nepalese visa. Easy.
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Kez
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Fun at the airport
Sounds like Kathmandu airport was quite an experience. Great descriptions though and I know exactly what you mean with the combination on the locks - I had trouble with one of mine last year when I went to NY. How nice that the Aussie person helped you out though. Have fun!