Arrival in Kathmandu (March 8)

It is hard to describe my initial shock and confusion when I first arrived in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Surely I read about other people's initial shock when they got to the country, but like what everyone says, it is still hard to mentally prepare yourself even if you think you know so much on paper. It was my first time arriving in a so-called "developing country," though now I hate to call any country like this. The Tribhuvan International Airport, the only International Airport in Nepal, is just like what I saw in pictures previously (a brick house), so I was not shocked by this. What I found confusing was that there were two carousels functioning at the same time but I had no idea which one would eventually deliver my luggage. Right after my plane was another plane coming from a popular overseas working place for Nepalis, and they of course grasped the chance to deliver home everything they could find over there: big screen TVs, beddings, and much more big-sized luggage. "So where is my stuff???" I began to get really worried because I knew Kathmandu had a horrible reputation of losing passengers' luggage, and I did not want to go by even a day without my clothes and other daily supplies! I got very nervous and started to run around between the two carousels. It felt like ages. Until one of the carousels had stopped and I almost gave up, ding ding ding! I saw my orange backpack suddenly lying on the floor near the carousel that had stopped working! Yay! I did not have a second thought but grab my bag and walk out of the terminal.

Outside the terminal, very expectedly there were many taxi drivers waiting already. They persuaded me to get a pre-paid taxi, which I had read about would be more expensive than if you negotiated a price with them. But I still decided to go with the pre-paid service because I just arrived and I didn't want them to have any chance to take me to a hotel where they could get a commission from (and I got an inflated room rate). So voila! I paid and hopped on a taxi, which was basically a rundown and dirty van.

I couldn't wait to see what Kathmandu was like, and my shock thereby began. Again it is hard to actually let anyone who has never been there understand, but it was basically like... the buildings you saw outside of your car windows seemed to all be somewhat incomplete. Surely they were brick houses, but most of them had a tilted roof with some revealing interior. And most people seemed to have nothing to do. Kids, women and men alike all seemed to be gathering in front of their houses playing or chatting or just doing nothing. People also never seemed to stop honking and there were no traffic lights and no car lanes. Drivers could basically just go wherever and however they wanted to. It was also so dusty outside and it smelled like they used horrible quality petroleum, which they probably did. All the bustling sound and smell and traffic made it a little overwhelming. And on the car there was this man other than the driver persuading me to go with his trekking company. I had to repeatedly tell him that I just wanted to go to where I told the driver and I would not be interested in any hotel recommendations that he provided. For a while I was kind of frustrated and afraid, but luckily he went off the car seeing that I was not moving after about twenty minutes.

And yay, I got to Kathmandu Guest House. I did not book and originally did not intend to stay here because this is more like an overpriced guest house. I told the driver to come here because Kathmandu Guest House is like a landmark in Thamel (a very touristy district created for foreigners). As what it says on Lonely Planet, "everything is around the Kathmandu Guest House." But since I was there I checked out the rooms and the prices anyway and indeed found it to be overpriced. So I headed south and started looking into other hotels. I went into Hotel Horizon and the only room they had left was a triple room. It was very simple but clean, and had a small bathroom attached. I think the manager was asking for 900 Nepali Rupees a night plus taxes initially (US$1 was about 80 Nepali Rupees when I just arrived), but I told him that it would be too pricey for me, and as a single traveler I really didn't need to have a triple room anyway, so after some bargaining I agreed to take the room for 600 rupees a night, taxes included. Little did I know I had made my first bargain and it thereby unfolded the numerous bargaining I did from then on!

After I settled down in the room, I went out to eat something and bought a pair of overpriced sandals. My frustration began at night when there was no electricity. It turned out that Kathmandu had a daily blackout schedule that you could actually check. I sat on my bed and thought about everything that had happened today. I was kind of confused as to why I actually got myself here. I could have been anywhere else but an intense place like Kathmandu. I could have stayed somewhere much nicer than where I was. I could have chosen to stay at home comfortably. I was very lonely and confused, and that was only the first night.

... a never ending process

In the past few years I have had the chance to travel to, and in some cases live in, quite a few countries in North America and Europe. But in the instances of traveling, they were mainly composed of shorter periods of time, such as one week or two. I have also had the opportunity to briefly work in a few countries in Asia, but I was never able to fully enjoy my free time outside of work. In 2009, I finally made it to Nepal and Northern India for two and a half months, backpacking for the first time in my life. It was not a long time compared with six months, nine months, or a year, what my fellow travelers on the road were doing. But I am glad that I made it there. A lot happened during the course of two and a half months which I find it hard to convey to my friends, so I thought it might be helpful to create a site like this. To me, traveling is a never ending process. It is about seeing the world that God has created for us. And this time around, I found Nepal and India to be such charming countries that I would not be able to wait to return.