nepal...it's only the beginning

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August 1st, 2008

Waiting in queue to check in for our flight, Bangkok to Kathmandu, we had our first taste of Nepal. Every cart was loaded with at least 10 tiny bags, or 3 oversized ones. Bags were created out of tape. I want a tape bag next time. Also, no real line was formed! Closest to the counter wins.

Flying into Kathmandu was not what I was expecting. It was very flat, even once we began our descent. Then suddenly there were some mountains, and the huge valley that the city of Kathmandu (pop. 740 000) lies. Many of the buildings are a similar height, about 3-5 stories. Made with bricks and have usable rooftops.

The taxi ride into our hotel was an eventful one. A Brazilian guy kinda latched on to us and 2 others and suggested we take a taxi together, about 1.50$ each. All was fine until he upset the driver and they were in a shouting match threatening to call the police. A little dramatic if I do say. We finally got into "rush hour traffic" and were swerving around motor bikes, pedestrians, bikes, rickshaws, other cars and buses (with people on top of course).

One of the most interesting things we saw was the line up at the gas station. The taxis were lined up down one side of the road, more than a hundred. The motorbikes and autorickshaws were lined up coming from the other direction. We were told it could take anywhere from 5 hours to one day to get gas. Amazing. (when we were leaving Kathmandu the gas station was closed but the cars were still parked in line, no gas left.)

Got to our hotel, Kathmandu Peace Guest House, which has turned out to be amazing. The people working there are so kind, and have been very helpful. We spoke with the Travel Guy, who we booked our Trekking Trip with for September (Global Adventure Trekking), as well he booked our flights to Bangkok and our transport to Varanasi for tomorrow.

We wandered around Thamel, the tourist district, today. There were many kids coming up to us, wanting to talk, and showing us the way to get to Durbar Square. This boy said he wanted to be a doctor and that he was the smartest kid in his class.

As expected we were constantly hassled to buy, take taxis or rickshaws or to have a guide. We both had a red dot placed on our foreheads, and told that 85% of Nepalis are Hindu.

There is still more exploring to be done, but off to India tomorrow!

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Photos

a free photo
i could have paid 10 Rs... yea i'm sneaky

dotted dale
the first of many attack dottings

view of Kathmandu
from the Kathmandu Peace Guest House

A temple
not sure of the name