Chapter 2: Acclimatisation

After a comfortable 4 hour direct flight from Dubai on Flydubai, we landed in Kathmandu at around 7pm. Boy, was it cold (maybe 15 degrees Celsius)! For me, that is. My friends from cooler regions of the globe were at home with the temperatures. The first thing one feels when they step into the Tribhuvan International Airport at Kathmandu is that they have stepped back in time – not just a few years, but a few decades. It was a run down building, no fancy set up or sign posts (like at the airports of Dubai, Singapore or even Sri Lanka). It smelled to me strongly of incense and cows (yeah...). The immigration officers functioned without the aid of computers. It was manual checking of registers and paper documentation. I was fortunate enough to be granted free visa on arrival having a passport from a SAARC country (a rare instance that I found my Sri Lankan passport to be advantageous elsewhere in the world), unlike my traveling friends who had to pay a fee. The locals seemed to be familiar with seeing foreigners, as Nepal was a popular tourist hub. Soon after, currency was changed at one of the several money changers located inside the airport and I purchased a SIM card with a 100MB data package. With mobile internet on a smart phone, few things can go wrong when you are miles away from home!

The moment we stepped out of the airport, we were swarmed by a bunch of private taxi drivers. Some even trying to grab our luggage to convince us to use their service. Luckily, we requested for airport pickup in advance from the low budget hotel we were to stay in Thamel, Kathmandu. I was very suspicious about the pickup as one of my dear friends had openly admitted to many of the drivers to staying at “Backyard Hotel” so any one of those taxi drivers could have tricked us with this knowledge by pretending to be our pickup. Yes, I was very cautious, being more wary of ways that holidays can turn into nightmares in third world countries. After questioning the driver thoroughly, I was somewhat convinced. The taxi ride was an interesting experience, riding in a tiny mini-van with no seat belts, speeding and squeezing through very tight spaces! Not only that, we had arrived in Nepal by a very, very fortunate coincidence during their festival of lights, Thihar (better known elsewhere as diwali). The streets were lit up like no other time of the year, people were out on the streets rejoicing and children dancing away to loud local pop music late into the nights. It was certainly a sight to see! The driver seemed accustomed with foreigners and was happy to answer all our questions.

From Dubai to this - took a few minutes to adapt! Oh and NOBODY cares about seatbelts

Streets of Kathmandu, where all drivers are F1-qualified, though they don't participate in the grand prix

We arrived at the hotel to find out we didn't have a room for the night (due to an email miscommunication about our change of flights). So we were immediately packed off to another cheap looking hotel for the night. It had no hot water and through the pipes came brownish water tasting of rust. We were very tired and angry but decided not to fight with our hosts and probably lose the warm bed we got for the night. Good thing too, because later, we got a free night's stay on our last day with a little bargaining. Realistically speaking, being quiet, courteous and waiting for turns and opportunities to present itself don't work here. There were no organised systems in place for customers and here, only the loudest and most convincing bird got the worm. When in Rome, got to do what the Romans do, they say. So in Nepal, we quickly learnt to bargain where it was due – that's the only way they prioritised our needs and it seemed standard protocol. Even our guide books said so. My friend Charmaine, was a procurement manager by profession and she had the best negotiating skills which proved extremely useful throughout our trip. After satisfying conclusions were reached between both bargaining parties, it was customary to thank them and express gratitude for their consideration. Again, that's how it was supposed to be done here.

A town of lights 

By 9pm we dumped our luggage and were all dressed up warmly and prowling on the colourful and crowded streets of Thamel. I have never before been so overwhelmed in my senses. The bright sights, the loud sounds, the fragrant smells were dizzying. There were street vendors shouting out bargains to tourists, close-by were groups of people gathered to watch children dancing, lights of different colours were sparkling on light posts and shop signs, shops played deafening music, the streets smelled strongly of burning incense, colourful hand crafted items were displayed on the pavements to attract curious tourists and it was very, very chilly! We wowed to come back to shop thoroughly the next day and settled for a nice warm and spicy Thai meal at an expensive restaurant (when new in the area, it's better to go with a decent and clean looking place and not fuss over costs) before we went back to the room at the cheap hotel.

A great time for girls to show off their dancing skills

My body, built for the tropics were not well suited for these temperatures. I was already feeling the start of a flu after one chilly night, starting with a sore throat. The symptoms that started out that day developed and stayed on with me for the rest of the trip. I must mention a few things about my first-aid box which weighed about 1.5kg (I was so proud of it!). I spent a considerable amount of time and effort preparing it. It had diarrhea tablets, Panadol, herbal brews, Strepsils, nasal decongestant, rehydration mixtures, strong pain killers, antiseptic creams, antibiotic courses, antacids, plasters, bandages and muscle spray. Luckily, I didn't have to use the diarrhea tablets throughout the trip but most of the others for relief from flu-related symptoms and coughs proved essential.

Back in the room and just outside our window, extremely loud local pop music played late into the night on the streets and it took awhile to finally fall asleep amidst the noise. I, for one, drugged myself with flu medicines as I longed to feel better the next day.

Day 2. A brand new day began in Thamel. We woke up to the smells and air of a new country. The hotel provided bed and breakfast and we were told that we can enjoy the breakfast on the balcony. The views were nothing fancy, just garden furniture placed on a small balcony overlooking hundreds of shiny roofs of congested Kathmandu. The menu appeared impressive at first with choices such as “English Breakfast”, “Eggs and hashbrowns”, “Butter Toast”, etc. But when the order came in, the food was really cold, the plates were a little greasy, and the hashbrowns were nothing like we imagined. No one fussed about the food and looking back, I realised that despite their sophisticated lifestyles in Dubai, my friends were great companions to have on this trip. I learnt later that Nepalese had their own version of “hashbrowns” made (to my understanding) with grated potatoes, tempered with oil, onions and Asian spices. We were served by two boys who could hardly understand our English. I could tell they were quite young and also shy, probably having to converse with four pretty girls! And I called myself pretty just for narration purposes or it would be odd to leave myself out. They ordered coffee and I had my very first Nepali tea. It took a awhile to describe I wanted tea with milk, and finally when I mentioned the word chai like the Indians call it, then their faces lit up and one said "chia!". I had sooooo many chias throughout my stay Nepal that I went nuts over it. It is a local tea made of fresh cows milk and spices, much like masala tea. It's heavenly and leaves a happy high for a few minutes after it's all drunk.

I miss chia. Recently in Singapore, I asked for masala tea at an Indian tea shop and got a "Are you crazy?" look and was recommended Teh Tarik instead

After breakfast, we explored Boudhanath. It is one of the world's largest Buddhist stupas and a famous ancient holy site in Nepal, that attracts many tourists. It is believed to have the remains of Kassapa Buddha. There were several temples with Tibetan architecture and art surrounding the stupa.

 

Boudhanath

Ceiling art 

Inside a Tibetan buddhist temple

Women labourers were seen shoveling and carrying heavy stone sacks for road construction work

Street vendors outside Boudhanath

And we tried momos - these are dumplings stuffed with a variety of fillings like cheese, potato, vegetables, chicken or even buffalo meat and are to be eaten dipped in a special sauce. 

By afternoon, we got back to the hotel, packed our bags, checked out and made our way to the airport. We were off to Pokhara on an airline with a very cool name!