Melanie and Gavin's Travels

1st night in Nepal - WOAH

I am attempting to update my blog from my email account, we'll see if it
works. I think the computers in Nepal are a little slower. Yes, Nepal. We
made it. It has been a very emotional day and I think I might actually have
a drink before bed to relax more.

We left Bangkok this morning and caught a taxi to the airport. The airport
is only a few weeks old and is totally amazing. Gavin and I were worried
about traffic so we ended up getting there early. The place is huge, and
kind of futuristic. The architecture is spectacular, there are massive glass
window and large steel buttresses and so many connecting levels. You could
bring your kids there for a day out I think! I was super excited for the
flight and we were on Royal Nepal Airlines so the ladies had on neat uniforms.
I sat on the right side, a window seat. We flew over Burma and all
these forests and dark muddy rivers.

As we flew over Nepal I looked onto the horizon and saw... The Himalayas!!!
I think one of the peaks was Everest. Just imagine flying above the clouds
and actually seeing the mountains ABOVE the clouds, those peaks are high. It
was incredible. The last 10 minutes before we landed in Kathmandu the pilot
was in a holding pattern so we circled over valleys, hills and terraced
fields. It was the most beautiful flight I've ever had. [Oh and as an aside
when we flew from London to Bangkok about 4 of us become mesmorized looking
out the window at the exit door - there was hundreds of miles of mountains
that were covered in sand. We were flying over Afghanistan. It was like
flying over another planet, also amazing, no wonder you can't find anyone
there...]

Okay so we finally landed and got to the airport. You have to pay $30US to
buy a visa and they stamp your passport with it and you can only stay in
Nepal for 60 days or you need another one. Luckily $1US = 71 Rupees in here
so our money will stretch pretty far.

Out of the airport we come and wham! there are men and taxis were everywhere. The first few hours we were here i felt scared and overwhelmed and like I did when I first got to Morocco, Indonesia and Turkey. Some thoughts running through my head were "What am I doing here? This place is nuts! There are people everywhere. Calm down, you have done this before and loved it. And then.. Thank God Gavin is here and he's been here before." All of those places I loved after the first day, it just comes as a shock.

We got this seemingly great deal from the airport to Thamel, the main
backpacker area in town. We wanted to go this one place because Gavin wasn't
sure if his friend was arriving tonight. So as I'm gazing out the window at
a cow on the sidewalk, traffic every which way, buildings with business'
super small under apartments etc Gavin realizes the guy wants to take us to
a different hotel. Long story short we see the hotel, it's nice, but we
don't like being scammed into going somewhere and wanted to check out places
on our own. By this time it is dark and places are full, expensive or down
dark alleys that are really freaking me out. So we walked back to the hotel
and so far it's lovely. It's off the main street and has a courtyard so I
have calmed down.

I'm sure I will love Nepal. But for anyone who has travelled somewhere like
this before it's an assault on your senses, your comfort zones and takes
some getting used to. The main tourist area looks cool, there are
hiking/outdoor shops everywhere, lots of bakeries and restaurants and signs
up shouting out info about going into Tibet or hiking the hills here. We
think we will be here around 5 days to relax and explore. From here we will
go to Jiri. That is about a 10 day hike to Lukla, in North-Eastern (slightly
Eastern) Nepal and we will keep going to do the Everest Base Camp. Some people fly to Lukla but we want the buildup fitness wise and to experience the whole thing. I will be finding out more info soon. We will also check into the Canadian embassy for anyone who is worried, but things seem very safe here now after their crazy spring

Off to bed for me. But first, a vodka and sprite.

posted by melaniewilkes @ 2:15 AM