Arriving

Written at 2:00pm on Sunday, April 12 Kathmandu time.

The flight from Doha to Kathmandu was pretty uneventful until we started our decent… Kim pointed me to the window and what I saw was this little tiny green man with fangs and wings –okay, just kidding.

The view was absolutely breathtaking…through the top of the clouds was a majestic view of the Himalayas. The jagged peaks are capped and there was so much detail it’s hard to describe. I took a few photos to try and capture the serenity of this moment however; something tells me the photos just won’t do it justice.

As we arrived; we went through customs, obtained our Visa’s and collected our luggage and while doing so, witnessed “complete and utter chaos”. [Mads (pronounced Mass) and Claire warned us but who knew?!]

People were lined up in masses looking for “their people”, there were taxi drivers (and by taxi, I mean a tiny skittle of a car) lobbying for your fare and others with signs to pick up from agencies or trek companies. Claire hadn’t arrived just yet but after a few minutes she was there smiling; with Budda blessed scarves in hand to grace us with.

The drive to our hotel was interesting…the steering wheel is on the right hand side but you drive on the left [ever wonder why that is?] and there are no “lanes”. If there is an open space and you can fit through it, have at it. Once you get used to the idea of traffic coming at you from every angle and within three inches of you, it’s just a taxi ride. Oddly enough, that didn’t bother me.
This truly is third-world and reminded me of the really impoverished parts of Jamaica. The streets are crowded with a compilation of people, cars, motorbikes and dogs. There are small shops aligned in rows and extremely close to the road. Many of them looked like stacked garages with items from top to bottom and no room to move – not quite sure how that works yet. We passed food shops along the way, some with vegetables, some with de-feathered chickens then whole fish(es) lined up for sale [yes, in the hot heat, on a table with insects and all flying about…].

We also passed a funeral in process. There was a procession of people on foot; a body wrapped in a shroud was being carried high above four men’s shoulders. In the front and back of the body were people carrying something that’s burning…I’m sure it’s incense with who knows what powers to cleanse, purify, and other sorts of spiritual things to assist the soul with it’s journey.

We arrive at the hotel to drop our luggage and then head to breakfast with Mads and Clarie at “Mike’s breakfast”. Now that our bellies are full and we have completed the 23 hour journey to get here; Kim and I head back to the hotel to get some rest and a shower as in a few hours, we’ll head out for a little stroll and find some dinner.