Kathmandu - Part I

I'm working on the photos. Here is my journal entries for now to give you a taste of what is going on. Its pretty crude, sorry.

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SFO- Dropped by Pema and got beer and a wine in the airport. Waited and waited. 1:05 am departure but got to airport at 9:30 pm. Crummy vege food on plane but the “Hindu Meal” was excellent. Slept a lot, watched some movies. Lady next to us must have gotten up and down 30 times on the flight. Arrived in Taipei at 5:30 am China time, +15 hours of San Francisco time. Smooth flight, no issues, China Airlines gets my two thumbs up.

Taipei- Most excellent landing. Smelled like China in the terminal. When we got off the plane we had to go through security and go through metal detectors, why?, dunno. Already had boarding pass for next leg of journey so we just had to kill 4 hours! Namgyal had a crossiant and milk tea but I was hoping to find some of the treats I had while in China. Walked around the terminal – old, not too interesting, not too much to see or do. Nooooo Chinese cuisine or snacks so I had a crossiant and milk tea… Learned that Taiwan has its own currency but takes US $. Raining hard outside, humid; 75 F at 5:30 am. Internet cost a fortune and couldn’t figure it out plus no batteries in computer plus no adapters for the 220 volt outlets.

Bangkok – Satisfactory landing. China Airlines. Got above the clouds and it was super bright. Had video games and music for each chair. Camera in front and bottom of plane you could see outside. Flew over Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Could see lots of farms and deforestation. Didn’t realize how flat the countries were; thought had more mountains. Flew around a huge thunderstorm, felt like we were floating around in the clouds. Super gorgeous. Only about a 3 hour flight. Couldn’t take another vege meal so I had the fish. Pretty good but Namgyal had another “Hindu Meal” and it was so delicious. Medium landing. Houses had typical Thai architecture and people drive on the opposite side of the road. Bangkok is huge in terms of area. Thought terminal looked like a futuristic Ikea. Had 6 hour layover. Toured entire airport – 4 levels, bilaterally symmetrical, so many people from all over the world. Mid 90’s F, really humid. No Wi-Fi. No way to upload photos or anything.

Nepal – Royal Nepal Airlines. Had to get new boarding pass issued in Bangkok. Had to wait again because flight was late coming from Kathmandu. Met a guy in the boarding area that had flown with us from San Francisco – said “Long way from home, huh.” He was on his way back home. Plane had to be second hand or a hand-me-down. Had been refurbished. Interesting smell on board – old upholstery, stale cigarettes, curry, and dust. It wasn’t a bad smell, just distinct. From the time the plane landed I kept imagining the film “Airplane.” The safety demonstration had us in stitches. The life vest they used had to be 20 years old and you could tell it had been used about a thousand times. Told to sit towards the front of the plane, not a full flight. Choose any seat because it was supposed to be a “moderately” turbulent flight. Yep, it was. I have no idea how the flight attendants were able to walk. Fell asleep after dinner anyways and Namgyal woke me up to see the lightening in the clouds in the distance. Namgyal went to the bathroom and said that the galley looked like a war zone. It did. Toilets had newspapers spread on the floors. 3 hours flight but went by quickly. Dark when we left so no visibility of the Himalayas to our right. During the taxi the pilot slammed on the brakes for no reason sending us lurching forward then he kept on going like nothing had happened. Descent – fell out of the sky – like Orange County airport. I think that the runway snuck up on the pilot. Lots of eyes like saucers, everyone applauded touchdown. Skidded to a stop, once again the runway snuck up on the pilot, this time it was the end of the runway… slammed on the brakes and stopped on a dime. Only 3 planes at the airport. Exited the plane onto the concrete. Smelled clean and moist but hot and humid at 8:45 pm. Had to put carry on through x-ray again and walk through metal detector. Got my visa on the spot and took 5 min to go through immigration including getting visa. Got luggage and had to go to customs. Guy asked for baggage claim receipts and counted the number of bags and the number of tags, didn’t bother to match numbers. Had to put bags through x-ray and after the first one the guy said OK and didn’t have to put the other three in. Met outside by Namgyal’s mom, dad, aunt (mother’s sister) and uncle (both from Switzerland), sis and niece (asleep). Piled into two cars and drove to house. Noticed that steering wheel on opposite side of car and drive on opposite side of road. Had to drive around a cow in the road and saw dogs running around everywhere. Chickens on side of road. Order of right-of-way: cows, big busses, trucks, small busses, cars, motorcycles, people… Watch out! House incredible – 3 stories, stone or wood floors, high ceilings, gorgeous. Everyone had dinner but I was so tired I had to go to sleep. Slept like a log.

Saturday morning – Woke up early, had rained earlier and was still drizzling. Could head lots of birds, frogs, and crickets. Really quiet outside. Had a simple wonderful breakfast and played with Uma (niece) for a couple of hours. Walked to shop with Namgyal, first time outside. No discomfort or unpleasantness, apprehension, or anxiety at all. Felt so comfortable. Gigantic puddle in road, watched people try to ride bikes through it without falling or getting their feet wet but would hit rocks hidden under the water and fall over anyways. The same thing with motorcycles. Went to Tenzin’s (sister). Interesting because of sights. It’s not like anything in the U.S. at all. Nothing even remotely close. Reminds me of the non-tourist places in Tiajuana. Possibly similar to what Jill saw in Mexico but fascinating and inviting. Open air shops. Butchers with meat on tables shooing flies. Vege’s and fruits in baskets and on tables. Shops packed floor to ceiling with wares. Spectacular colors and aroma’s. Met Tsering and got a tour of Tenzin’s school. 3:10 teacher:student ratio. Kids are 2.5 to 4.5 years old. Parents wish they had a school like this in the U.S. The school is called “House of Children.” Views of Kathmandu Valley. House and school next door to each other. Went to house to sit and drink tea. Got to meet Mila, he is on summer vacation from boarding school in India. Had an indescribably good lunch. Played with gifts for kids – microscope, sea monkeys, baking soda and vinegar model volcano and rocket. Left house to go to the Stupa. Met Ola, Namgyal’s friend from childhood at the stupa. The stupa is incredible to say the least. Had lemonade on the 5th floor balcony of a cool restaurant overlooking the stupa. Watched the people and walked around some more. Headed back to house and it was in the mid 90’s F. Took a shower and relaxed and had dinner of swimming mo mo. Translated the German instructions for Pala’s new cell phone. After getting into bed, rained, rained hard. Didn’t know it was possible for so much water to come out of the sky.

Sunday – woke up early. Went to stupa to do “kora” – walk around stupa at least 3 times in a clockwise fashion. Bought some white pigment as an offering because the stupa was to be repainted that day. Walked around on top of stupa and then went to a Gompa (monastery) to light butter lamps. Did some quick shopping Amla and Sumola and headed back to the house. Got dropped in Downtown Kathmandu and walked through the Thamel district. Ate at Himalaya Java Café, had chicken mo mo. Walked to the King’s Palace and the American Embassy – both impenetrable fortresses. Took cab back to house and got a movie at Popcorn Movies – Kathmandu’s only DVD rental/delivery service. Log on, choose movies, someone will deliver them to your house. After dinner learned how to play the dumnye – a traditional Tibetan instrument that resembles a guitar.

Monday – Went to Ola’s and met her husband. From there walked to Tenzin and Tsering’s. Helped Mila paint his baking soda and vinegar volcano model and assemble the rocket. In the evening meet Ola and her older son and took taxi to their restaurant. Looked for baking soda on the way but couldn’t find any. Drove in rush hour traffic – 3D game of dodgeball, never know what or who will jump out. The restaurant has Nepali, Tibetan, Indian, and Burmese cuisine and has live music – Hindi and Nepali songs. Super good food and incredible music. Stayed for many hours eating and listening to music. Two of Nepal’s best and most famous singers were there.

Tuesday – Bundth, a strike. No cars or trucks allowed to drive other wise you will get rocks thrown at you. Involuntary vacation day for Kathmandu as the city was shut down. Really hot outside. Had tea in the shade outside. Went on 2 hour walk in the evening to explore the neighborhood.

Wednesday - ? Wandered, found baking soda. Explored a bit. Did the baking soda and vinegar volcano with the kids in the back yard. Oh yeah, had to hang around for the internet guy to show up. Went to bed early because we knew that we would be getting up at 4:30 am the next day for a pilgrimage.