day 1 – Kathmandu

 

that day started very early, since we were taking the morning flight to Delhi and connect to Kathmandu.

with the usual anxiety of whether the cab would turn up on time – as i had booked with an agency that was no longer an approved airport taxi!

the driver called a few minutes before the planned departure time – to check the address and directions.

he managed to reach home in time, but with the luggage to be loaded – 4 packed duffel bags with a lot of eats! – it took us a few minutes and we left home about 10 minutes late.

as we drove to the airport, i realized that there was an easier way to practice pranayama, thanks to the cab driver.

even though the roads were empty, the way he drove at times, one had to hold the breath – particularly for me, since i was sitting in the front.

at Delhi, there was some logistics of collecting the passports. as per an earlier plan, they were to have been delivered at Kathmandu – since we needed only a voter ID to enter Nepal. with confusion in communication on the specific person to be met and also the location, the group that had travelled together – about a dozen of us on the same flight – split.

naturally, that increased the stress levels for some of us – particularly those that could not check their luggage in directly to Kathmandu. [see also the tips section to ensure that you have the entire itinerary on one PNR]

landing at Kathmandu – we just walked through the immigration – without any stamping on the passport. yes, we were able to collect the passports and also, since i had done a tele check in for the DEL-KTM flight, could get on board, while some others were bumped due to overbooking and had to take a later flight.

that was our first meeting with Karma, the Sherpa.

At the hotel,

the representative from the tour logistics company – shrestha treks – briefed us that there would be a slight delay in our program, as the visas for the group has been delayed by a day.

so, he suggested that instead of ‘wasting time on a waste [read rest] day’, we can take an optional tour to a place called mankamna the next day.

earlier in the evening, as we had some time to kill – with the planned tour to pasupathinath temple being uncertain, we decided to take a walk in the neighborhood.

as we got out of the hotel and asked the security guard at the main gate – he asked ‘Tamil?’.

wow, i thought – someone recognizing us as Tamil speaking and maybe he knew Tamil.

just as i started to talk to him in Tamil – and saw his blank expression – saw a sign board that had a shop address as ‘Thamel’.

Thamel was the neighbourhood with a lot of shops. narrow streets and many shops.

 

after a lot of window shopping and some shopping – with IC – Indian Currency – we returned to the hotel to get an update on the rest of our itinerary.

Kathmandu streets have so many overhead wires and even for a slight rain, people are comfortable just waiting by the side till it stops..

one interesting point that i noted was that at the evening briefing, we could see some affinity groups emerging! more on these possibly later..