Kathmandu

Hello. Again, it's been a while since my last blog entry. Aside from a trip to Nepal, I've been leading a pretty quiet life these last few weeks in Thailand.

Kathmandu, Nepal
My most recent adventure brought me to the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal nestled away in the Himalaya Mountains. While I did enjoy the seeing the country, the best part of the trip was visiting with my Aunt Liz.

The Journey There...
I began my journey at 4:30 am Thursday, March 26. A very good friend picked up from Sita Villa and brought me to the airport. I was flying AirAsia so I made sure to eat a big McDonald's breakfast at the airport. The flight boarded on time and I made my way to aisle seat 11C. I always choose 11C on AirAsia flights because it's the cheapest seat with the quickest access to an emergency access.

The flight wasn't very full. There were about 50 middle school girls. They were very well behaved and quiet. I fell asleep before the plane took off. When I woke up outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia I found a group of girls staring and laughing and taking pictures of me. The reason: the girl next to me, their friend, had fallen asleep and was passed out on my shoulder. It was adorable. When she woke up, she was very embarrassed. I tried to tell her that it was no big deal, but the language barrier just made her even more shy.

I only had a short layover in Malaysia before I was on my way to Nepal. The flight from Malaysia to Nepal was 4 hours long. As soon as I boarded the plane, I was taken aback by the smell. The plane was completely filled with Nepalese migrant workers on their way home. I'm sure they are all great people, but they definitely were not self-conscious about their BO. It was a mixture of curry and cheap cologne. Thankfully, the two guys I sat with were businessmen who didn't smell. They were really friendly. We all shared our food together. It was fun. The flight went pretty quick and it was painless for the most part.

Arriving in Nepal…
I got off the plane with the rest of the passengers and walked onto the tarmac to wait for a shuttle bus to pick us up. It was beginning to rain so I went to grab my rain jacket. As soon as I unzipped my bag I realized that I had failed to remember it. The bus finally came and drove us 200 meters to the terminal. I had met an American family from NC and we were all very confused as to why we couldn't just walk.

Getting my visa was painless and I was on my out of the airport in less than 30 minutes. I got a taxi and started off to Hotel Bliss International. It took a while to get to there because my driver had no idea where it was, although he said he did. Then he asked for a tip. I gave him 20 Thai Baht. At this point, Kathmandu was being treated to near torrential downpours and severe lightning. I decided I would wait out the weather. It persisted all day so I just stayed at the hotel and read, drank beers, and ate delicious Indian food. The staff at the hotel were amazing. They were friendly and more than willing to help. I really enjoyed my stay and looked forward to the next three days...

Day 2
I woke up at 8 and had a full American breakfast included with the room. It was fantastic. Then, I showered and decided to walk around the city. I really enjoy walking around cities when I travel because I find it's the best way to really experience the city. I started out of the hotel with no real destination in mind. I just needed to kill time until I could meet up with Aunt Liz. I walked around for about four hours and that was about all I could handle.

Observations:
Everything is dirty. The air is polluted. The streets are dusty or muddy. There was a lot of garbage. There are a lot of poor people (the avg. income is $2200 a year). There were a lot of beggars and destitute people. This was a big difference from what I was used to in Bangkok. I felt so bad, but I don't have the means to help everyone at this point in my life. I was riddled with guilt as I walked past. Worse than beggars were the aggressive street peddlers. I hate being approached and followed while some guy tries to sell me a fake watch. First, I'm already wearing a watch. Second, I don't want some cheap secondhand piece of junk. Third, I am also broke because I am student.

Kathmandu is a bustling city with tons of cars and motorcycles on the street. The roads are anarchy. Everyone is constantly honking their horns. I couldn't handle it. I was overwhelmed and upset and annoyed so I went back to my hotel for a nap.

It got chilly in the evening and started to rain a bit. I bought a really nice wool sweater to keep warm. I never thought 60 degrees could feel so cold.

I met up with Aunt Liz around 5 pm and she informed me that my hotel booking was only for one night, despite what the reception had told me. So I had to hustle back and check out. The Bliss staff were very apologetic about the communication breakdown and didn't charge me for a late checkout. I then moved into the Shangri La Hotel where my aunt was staying. That evening went to a cultural dinner. The Nepali beer was amazing. The rice wine was stout. The food was amazing. There were even different cultural dances.

Day 3
I woke up at 5:30 am. My excitement was through the roof. My aunt was treating me to a mountain flight. We got to the airport and walked through the first terminal, which was a construction site consisting of dirt floors and numerous piles of bricks and rubble. Welcoming…

We boarded the small 20 passenger plane and took off on our one hour flight. Everyone had a window seat. We saw a big part of the Himalaya range. I saw Mt. Everest. It was breathtaking. Although I only saw the mountains from a plane window, it was indescribably beautiful.

We got back to the hotel around 8:30 am and had continental breakfast. The buffet was amazing. I ate so much food and had 4 cups of coffee. I was in Heaven.

We did some site-seeing with a guide. First, we went to a temple complex called "Budanilkantha." We saw a Hindu living goddess. She was about 12 years old and had been a living goddess since she was 5. Her tenure as goddess will soon end as she enters puberty. Apparently she lives in this temple for the whole year and only goes outside 13 times a year. Her life consists of coming to the window for people to see her. My question is, how does a hormonal 13 year old girl return to the real world after having been a living goddess. I guess it looks good on a resume? "If you see here, I was a living goddess for about 8 years…"

The second temple we went to was a Buddhist temple called "Bhouda Stupa." It is the second largest dome stupa in the world. We had lunch and looking over the stupa. It was beautiful and the square where it was located was very nice. While eating at a rooftop restaurant we observed a mother beating her child on the stupa. That was a bit unpleasant. 

The final temple we visited was a Hindu temple called "Pashupatinath Temple." This is where public cremations take place. The bodies are cremated on open-air concrete slabs and then the ashes are washed into the river below. We saw a body being cremated. We also saw a handful of poor children wading around the river, dragging a magnet behind them. I imagine they were sifting through the river in hopes of finding jewelry and gold teeth. It was saddening to see. The temple was disturbing but also intriguing. I was glad when we left.

That evening we went to the house of of the guys who organized my aunt's trek. Their house was lovely and overlooked the city in the valley below. They were extremely hospitable. The beer was cold and the food was phenomenal. There was a girl from Vancouver who also attended. She had just arrived in Kathmandu. She is barely 18 and was beginning a 1+ month stay in a remote part of Nepal where she would volunteer her time to teach English to monks at a monastery. She was by herself. How brave. 
Day 4
On Sunday, we went to Thamel. Which is an area of Kathmandu common among backpackers and travelers to go shopping. I bought a backpack, some shirts, and a bunch of bracelets. Then we settled into a bar to watch the Australia v. New Zealand cricket final with our Australian friends that Aunt Liz is doing her trek with. Australia won handedly. That evening we went to a vegetarian restaurant. I had an amazing pizza. I stayed up with Aunt Liz for a night cap. They had an early morning the next day.

Day 5
I woke up early to have breakfast and say goodbye to the group, and Aunt Liz. It had been a wonderful trip.  I went back to sleep when they left for their trek. When I woke 2 hours later, it was storming outside. I turned on the tv and was pleased to see the WWE Wresltemania Heavy Weight Title Match between Roman Reins and Brock Lesner! I wanted to Roman to win. Things weren't going well and looked as though Lesner was going to win. Then, out of nowhere Roman went on the offense. But, Seth Rollins rolled in and cashed in his "money in the bank". He got lucky and pinned Roman, and by 3-way rules won the Title. Boo. 

I spent the rest of the day hanging at the hotel having beer, coffee, food, and reading. 

Returning to Thailand…
I was more than ready to return to Thailand by Monday evening. My flight was at 9 pm. When I got my boarding pass, I realized that I had been bumped to a later flight in Kuala Lumpur. I now had a layover from 4:00 am until 2:00 pm. 

I boarded the plane in Kathmandu and got to my window seat. It was occupied. I told the guy he was in my seat because I will be damned if I sit in the middle. He argued with me and eventually a flight attendant came and fixed the issue. He moved into the middle seat. This plane was smellier than the plan coming to Kathmandu. I didn't even hide my discomfort and put a bandanna over my face. The guy next to me reeked and he wouldn't stop moving around and bumping me with his elbow. I had given him the arm rest because he was entitled both arm-rests in the middle as per airplane etiquette. Eventually I got so pissed I pinned his arm with my elbow and told him to settle down. He really pushed me over the edge. 

Once I got to Malaysia, I found a nice chair and went to sleep. I woke up around 8:00 and went to exchange the rest of my rupees. As it turns out, no currency exchange in Malaysia will purchase rupees. No big deal, I told myself, I will just pay with my card! WRONG. Almost every restaurant, even McDONALD's, was cash only. I was now tired, grumpy, and hungry. Luckily, I found a Burger King that accepted cards. 

I got back to Thailand around 4:00 pm. I had plans to go out for a friend's birthday, but I was too tired. I was asleep by 8:30 and slept for 12 hours. I didn't wake up once. 

WEDNESDAY
The day after returning, the Stenden students had their going away party. It's crazy that they have already been here for 10 weeks. They invited other exchange students and me. It was a really nice evening. After, we went to the club near the University. 

Tragedy struck. 

I lost my cellphone sometime during the evening. Most likely in the taxi. I now have no phone. Which means no pictures. I am still working out what I should do. 

Currently, I am too poor to buy a replacement phone. I am considering going Thoreau and disconnected from the world. Well, aside from my computer. 

I hate to ask, but if anyone is willing to sponsor the purchase of a new phone, please contact me on Facebook. I found a refurbished iPhone 4 for $120. 

Much love and thanks for reading.