Day 1: 31 July 2011 [Delhi to Kathmandu]

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Left home at 8.30 a.m sharp in the morning for IGI airport,Delhi for flight to Kathmandu scheduled to take-off at 1.45 p.m. Reached airport T3 fairly early and merged with the group of 70 people that arrived from Ahmedabad at the same time. Got emotional for having to part with family members for a long time and with no guarantee to return back safely. Met Swamiji and other people who were going to be with us for the next 15 days. Check-in and security formalities got completed and we headed for the waiting lounge to wait for the boarding announcement. T3 is well constructed and fairly big with lots of duty free shops providing a good opportunity for window shopping and a good time pass. After going from one automatic passage to another and getting tired, we sat on battery operated vehicle to go to the boarding gate. Announcement was done and people headed to board the flight. We settled in our seats and tied our seat belts as per the instructions. The flight started to depart and we prayed to God for the well being of all of us. Suddenly we heard a cracking noise and the pilot applied brakes at once. We got afraid but were calmed down by the crew who told us that a tractor had come in the path of the plane and so the noise. The duration of flight was 1 hour 15 minutes and we reached Tribhuvan Airport,Kathmandu at 3.00 p.m. sharp. The airport was comparatively small one made of red bricks and wooden mirrors installed on every pillar inside. We were made to fill the immigration form and then after baggage claim and security check, we headed for the hotel. We could see the mountain range surrounding the city as we moved through the town in bus. We checked in at Royal Singh Palace Hotel...near to four star hotel with decent amenities-luxury rooms with bathtubs, centrally air conditioned etc. We were handed over a red duffel bag and a blue backbag and told to transfer all our luggage in that. Suitcases and other baggage had to be left in the hotel as we proceeded further. The food was very bad...sweet and sour chapatis made of maida and the sabzis which had no taste added to the difficulty. We could sense that we would not be getting good food from here on. Even the tea was made of goat's milk and smelled bad. The beverages were very costly...tea 160 Nepali Rupees with two versions- Indian (all ingredients mixed) and Separate (all ingredients separate). The market had all the well known brands but the prices were 1.5 times higher even after the conversion to Indian Rupees. We transferred our luggage in duffel bags and went to sleep.

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Photos

Switchboard in Room
Peculiar switchboard with Chinese alphabets.