finally in Nepal.

So we have officially, safely arrived in Kathmandu after a couple intense travel days…

Our flight to Seoul was an experience for me for two main reasons: 1) it was my first international flight, and 2) it was my first 12+ hour flight. Or 7+ hour flight for that matter.

Korea Airlines is so different from what I’m used to. The army of identically styled flight attendants were such troopers..practically robotic service. They all wore the same shirts, shoes, same immaculate hair bun with gravity-defying hair ribbon, same starchy neck scarf protruding from their collars at a 45 degree angle. They periodically brought us various amenities including a pouch with toothbrush and a single serving tube of toothpaste, socks, eyemask, drinks, hot meat buns, 2 meals, wine, bananas, hot towels, etc.

The time change threw me off a bit–we had a solid 20+ hours of daylight that day. When we landed in Seoul (5 movies and 1 Friends episode later…) my watch (still set  to CA time) read 1:45 am, but it was 5:45 pm, and still light out, there.

We didn’t see much of Korea as we were there for only 15 hours and the Hyatt we stayed in (free of charge, meals included) was less than 5 minutes away from the airport (which, by the way, isn’t really in Seoul but on an island nearby). The only thing I really noted about Korea were the cool airport architecture, hazy air, and the fact that I got my first-ever passport stamp.

This morning we had a 7ish hour flight from Seoul to Kathmandu. I saw the Himalayas from the plane, which was odd…usually when you see mountains from airplanes, you feel like they’re so far below you, but with these, I felt like I was seeing them eye-to-eye. They’re so high, they rise above the clouds.

Getting off the plane, we went on one of those stair things straight to the ground–not the tubular hallway straight into the airport that I’m used to. We were last in line for visas, so when we got outside the bus to the Kathmandu Guest House was gone. We hired a “taxi” (a normal person driving his car) to take us there.

That drive was something else. It’s hard to even describe…first of all, the driving is absolutely insane. I felt like we were in a videogame, that’s how much disregard there is for any sort of traffic rule. I guess they drive on the left, but you really can’t tell because they drive wherever it’s open. And I use the term “open” loosely because I don’t even know how we fit through some of those spaces. The cars are pure chaos in themselves, but weaving in between are motorcycles and pedestrians, who seem oblivious yet not at all nervous that they are inches away from a speeding vehicle. People honk their horn every few seconds, yet never show any other form of frustration or anger. It’s just a big mess…there’s no right of way whatsoever, people just swerve around any and all obstacles. Somehow, it seems to work. By the way, no seatbelts. And my door was suspiciously rattling the whole time.

But there was so much to look at, I was unconcerned with the driving.  I couldn’t believe I was seeing all this in real life, it looks so much like pictures I’ve seen of places all over the world. I was too mesmerized to pull out my camera. I saw so many things that I kind of expected to see: mangy puppies everywhere, an old woman carrying hundreds of eggs on her back, a monkey knucklewalkin’ it, women in their beautiful dress holding babies, old crumbly buildings, sacred cows just hanging around, and unfortunately an adorable girl came begging at the window of our car.

Suddenly, the number of non-Nepalis changed from none at all to about one in four, and we knew were close to the Guest House. I felt an abrupt change from people simply trying to survive to people trying to make money.

We got to the Guest House and were told that, although we had a reservation, they overbooked and we were escorted to a place called Hotel Buddha and given a room. It’s fine, noisy as expected. The shower has no division from the rest of the bathroom.

That about sums it up. We’ve walked around this (very touristy) section of Kathmandu, and already we want to get out of here and get going with our trek. We bought a map today, and I got a Birds of Nepal field guide to take. I’ve been into the birds…I had skimmed the bird section of one of our guidebooks when we were in the air, and as soon as we exited the plane I saw a black fork-tailed raptor called a Pariah Kite.

So there you go. Perhaps too long and detailed, but I’ll get in the swing of things. Right now I just have to report what I’ve seen, cause it’s all happened so fast I haven’t been able to process much of it.

We leave on our trek hopefully the day after tomorrow (Sunday 18 October). No idea what internet options I’ll have there.

Until next time!