Kathmandu Chaos

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October 24
Well I'm finally here in Kathmandu, Nepal! and it's as crazy and chaotic in some sort of weird semi-organized way!

The flight from Bangkok of just over 3 hours presented 2 amazing sights. First the Ganges river delta on the south coast of Bangladesh was amazing as it spreads so far and it's easy to see how when the river overflows its borders there are millions, even 10 million people who are displaced.

The second of course was an iuncredible vista of much of the Himalaya range...It's a stunning perspective of 9 of the worlds 10 highest mountains!

The Immigration process at Kathmandu airport is a little reminiscent of India...lots of forms and paperwork and lines. i had managed to not have a passport photo for the visa handy so I had to go line up for a photo...but of course quickly discovered he only took Nepalese Rupees so I had to line up at the money exchange first of course!..hahah...it didn't take long and I was in the van and heading to the Kathmandu Guest house..the first guest house in Nepal..and a legend, landmark and icon...i was quite looking forward to staying there!

The sights and sounds..and yes the smells..were so intense it brought back many fond memories of my trips here in 1990 and 1991. The traffic is the personification of organized chaos..there are no stop signs or traffic lights and there are rickshaws, cars, motorcycles, pedestrians (no sidewalks either) cyclists and people pushing carts through narrow streets and yet somehow everyone manages to get through....the honking that accompanies this though is not to be believed...NYC looks very tame by comparison..the cacophony on sounds is compounded by the whistles of the traffic police who are ritually ignored!

When I arrived at the Kathmandu Guest House along with 2 others we were told apologetically that they were overbooked by 5 people and that unfortunately we would have to be put in other hotels for the night and then could come back the next day. I subsequently met at least 10 people who had had the same treatment on that same day. This is evidently standard fare for the hotel! In one of the more bizarre coincidences as there are at least 300 or 400 hotels in Kathmandu if not many more, the hotel they put me up in was the Excelsior...a hotel that I had stayed in happily in 1990 and 1991!!....AND the owner not only recognized me but actually remembered my first name! i felt like I was home!...and didn't go back to the Kathmandu Guest House

There is of course alot of poverty in Nepal and in Kathmandu and it is especially evidently on the very young kids to run around the streets begging perniciously. It's pretty easy to have a soft spot for these kids but i know that giving them money just reinforces the syndrome. However i quickly was approached in my first couple of hours in KTM by a young very thing lad who said he was hungry and so i said fine...let's go into the food store nearby and i will buy you something to eat...at least that way I felt i was being constructive....well he wanted a box of powdered milk..which I thought was pretty neat so I paid for it....395 Nepalese Rupees (NR) and took a couple of pictures and off he went. I was then assaulted by 2 of his buddies who wanted the same treatment but i actually had no more NR at the time and they were way too pushy for my liking. Anyways they followed me for about 10 minutes and once they realized I wasn't going to give them anything...they told me that the lad was going to sell the milk for 225 NR and would buy glue and sniff it. Ugh...I felt so badly.....first day in Nepal and I'm clearly out of practice...I've seem the young lad several times since with his face in a glue sniffing bag.

On a happier note it is a trekking mecca and people from all over the world are here. There are many restaurants and trekking shops. I've interviewed several guide/porters as I think it wise to take someone along on this trek and will decide this morning. I've been able to rent a good quality sleeping bag and down jacket which i will likely only need for a few nights as the weather here still fairly warm. KTM is high of 30 low of 16 C and the higher elevations will likely be below zero but we are only at significant altitude for probably 6 nights or so. Also staying in tea houses and eating in them along the way makes it a bit warmer than tenting. There are alot of fake trekking wear here all with the proper logos on them. My favourite is North Face which one vendor confessed to me was "North Fake"!..:-()()

There are also a couple of acronyms I've heard since arriving
INDIA...I'll Never Do It Again
NEPAL...Never Ending Peace And Love

There is apparently a surplus of tiger balm, rickshaws, hashish, women and other drugs based on the number of solicitations I've had here!..hahahah

The political situation which has been traumatic over the past few years seems to be under control from an outsiders perspective but locals confide that they are still very concerned that things are not settled with the Maoists and that further turmoil is likely. It's such a shame as this country has so many attributes and is in desparate need of tourist dollars.

I'm not sure if there are any places along the trek to update this blog but if there are i will of course try!

Hope you are all well!

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Comments

[Mary]

sounds amazing
Loving the travelogue........I'm not surprised the hotelier remembered you from last time.....Kathmandu chaos ....sounds like quite the exciting place!

[Sara Scheiner]

Hi
Your walk sounds great and I am very envious. Good luck with it. No blue skies here today - just grey, windy and rainy. Bob and I have just got into the Moonwalk, a walking marathon around London during the night next May with everyone wearing bras. Not exactly the Himalayas but the best we can do at the moment. All best wishes Sara and Bob

[Len Ruggins]

An Excellent Read
Your blog is most interesting and makes for excellent reading and entertainment. You should seriously consider writing a travel book. Keep the diary going. Len