Kathmandu Arrival - We're Not in Singapore Anymore

Catching a cab at 5 am in Singapore was easy. After bidding a fond farewell to the YMCA staff, we walked a couple of blocks and stood on a main street. Within 30 seconds a cab showed up. The 30 minute ride to the airport was a breeze and as usual, the Singapore airport was a model of efficiency and comfort. Hoyt caught up on some journal writing as we waited for our flight, and I walked around a bit. To our delight, our first flight to Bangkok was upgraded to business class so we were treated to adjustable, massaging seats on the 777 and a very tasty breakfast. After two hours we landed in Bangkok and seemed to walk the entire length of the airport to reach our connecting flight to Kathmandu. We walked past beautiful displays, flowers and many, many travelers. Our flight to Kathmandu was three hours – more business class and a lunch of red snapper and spiced rice, with a fruit and cheese platter and nice French wine – though I had to restrain myself, needing to keep my head once we arrived in Nepal. The views of the Himalayas from the plane were stunning. Kathmandu airport is a cacophony of sight and sound and we definitely had the feeling we had stepped back in time – so different from Singapore. Yet, many references to modern culture, especially related to travel. There must be hundreds of travel agencies here. The airport looks disorganized but is not – we breezed through customs and immigration in no time. We were told there were no buses we could take to our hotel (thank goodness) but would need to take a taxi instead. No problem – we were approached by an official looking man and his entourage who said they could take us to our hotel. The streets of Kath are chaotic – back to lots of motorbikes and honking cars, dirt streets, street vendors and the like. After about a half an hour, we arrived at the Hotel Shakti where we will be spending the next three days. We had not changed money yet, so Hoyt had to pay the driver in USD – he tried to shake us down a little, but it was worth it to get us to the hotel safely. Hotel staff were very helpful in getting us settled in. I opted to take a nap while Hoyt found the ATM and more shopping. When he came back, we had a beer in the nice hotel garden – it was Tuborg! Not our favorite, will try the local brew, Everest, tomorrow. After a bit of more shopping, we had a very nice Nepali dinner at the Thamel House Restaurant in town. Chicken dumplings, veg soup, rice, mutton, mixed vegetables, and a delicious soy bean salad that reminded us of Burmese tea leaf salad. We were offered some “wine” poured from a great distance into a small bowl that was very strong and was said to ward off all kinds of nasty stuff and cure various ailments, and make you feel warmer. It did just that! Finally, we were treated to some traditional Nepalese dancing. After a long day, we were very tired so went back to the hotel and back to bed by 8:30 (due to the time change, it would have been 10:45 for us in Singapore). Nepal changes the time increments by 15 minutes and not on the hour. It is very cold here at night, and it is a treat to be able to wear a long sleeved shirt and not sweat! A nice comforter on the bed was just the trick, even with the extremely hard mattress. I woke up with about 10 hours sleep and time to write this before we go to breakfast. We’re planning some independent touring today before our group tour Road to Delhi

begins tomorrow.