Nepal: First Impressions

And so the adventure begins.  Three planes, four airports, three times through security, 30+ hours, and I get off the airplane in Kathmandu.  The only part that concerned me was during our stop in Dhaka, Bangladesh.  Most of the passengers got off.  The rest told to stay on.  Security check to make sure all the remaining bags belonged to people who remained on the plane.  All did, except one.  Mmmmm.  Then someone remembered that the bag had been placed in the overhead bin by a young man, dressed in white clothes and hat of a Moslem, who had gotten off the plane.  (He was the only person who wasn't southeast Asian, Asian or European, and the only one dressed in that unique way.)  Flight attendants casually removed the suitcase and off we went.

Then the wait for my suitcase to come off.  Anxiety grows as more and more bags come, none of them mine.  And then, all bags are off, and mine isn't there.  Report to the "mishandled baggage" desk, complete the form, and emerge to the welcome sign with my name on it and the person picking me up smiling.  I love that.

To the hotel (it's now about 11:00 in the evening) through the quiet streets of the city.  Very little traffic, nothing's open.  Arrive at the hotel, informed that there is no electricity (more about that later), but no problem--nothing to unpack anyway!  Then realized that in my dark room, especially in my totally dark bathroom, I didn't know the layout--had to grope around to distinguish between the toilet and the sink but did. 

Pigeons outside my window greet me in the pre-dawn hour.  Downstairs for breakfast.  Choice of "continental", "American" or "Indian."  Go with the American today--will step out tomorrow with the Indian.  

Meet with Manisha, the local Habitat coordinator, to review various details.  She's a delightful person, has hosted 32 teams previously.  Will not actually be with us, though, since her sister's being married this weekend.  Typically, a wedding is a week-long event for the family.  But because of the recent political disturbances, they are shortening it to two days.  About 450 people on Saturday, and "only" 150 on Sunday.

Then off to wander the streets a bit.  By this time, they are busy--with a few cars, lots of scooters, and many people-powered rickshaws.  Lots of horn-tooting, too.  Pedestrians seem to have no rights or priority--you simply look out for whatever vehicle(s) may be coming your way.  A little more challenging for me because Nepal drives on the left side so traffic is coming from the opposite direction than I would have thought.  

A new question to ask:  "what is the electricity schedule?"  About 10 years ago, when the growth of the country had outpaced the electrical infrastructure, they decided to have scheduled rotating blackouts--every area, across the country, only exceptions being places like hospitals.  The schedule is different each day.  So today (Thursday), the area where our hotel is had electricity this morning, no electricity from 12-6, then back on from 6-3 a.m. Friday, then off until 9:00 a.m.  Businesses often have generators so they can have power during the off-peak times.  But otherwise, you simply adapt to it.  And there's a printed schedule for the week posted at the front desk.

Ventured out for lunch.  Very pleasant place (the Lonely Planet Guide is my resource for everything) and discovered that food is quite inexpensive and alcohol is expensive, which makes sense to me.  But even combined, the total is very modest.  And the food was great, the beer most welcome.

Am staying in a very tourist-oriented part of the city.  Most the signs are in English.  My favorite so far is "High Peed Internet Service."

Endless numbers of pashmina shops.  Since pashmina is made from the under hair of mountain goats, I'm wondering whether there really are this many mountain goats, or whether they're all naked, or whether it isn't all really pashmina.

Also endless numbers of money exchange shops.  All with the same rate (fixed daily by the government.)  How would you decide?

No sign of American fast food.  Closest I've seen so far is Mc. Donal's Fast Food Tandoori.  (No "billions served" yet though.)

In the spirit of "when in Kathmandu...." had supper at Yak Restaurant.  Had what they're known for---buff(alo) momo (being a predominantly Hindu country, cow isn't an option) and tonga (hot millet beer---a thermos of hot water poured over millet I guess, let steep, sip.)   (Yak wasn't on the menu as far as I could see.)  And to complete the native spirit, a squat toilet.

As I'm walking down these main streets, I'm thinking about my sister, who honeymooned here 40+ years ago.  She liked the finer things in life and loved traveling in Europe.  I never asked her about her experience here--of course, having been living for a few weeks in New Delhi, she would have experienced some of the reality of a 3rd world country.  But still, I can't imagine her wandering the streets of Kathmandu and enjoying it.  But there are probably high-end hotels and restaurants somewhere.  Just not in my line of sight.

Will venture further tomorrow.  Enough for now.