The Carribean craziness is over. Sadly. I had an interesting journey from Florida to Kathmandu, which was highlighted by a four-hour sleep on the floor of Delhi airport. Normally jet-lag aint no thing for me but this one hit me due to the lack of sleep during the transit.
Can I just say that Kathmandu is the loosest international airport I have ever been to. As I stepped out of the plane and started walking down the stairs, I saw the bus that was to ferry us to the Terminal. I have few limits and really don’t care but I found the quality of the bus for an international airport laughable. I gave the airport the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it’s just an old bus due for an upgrade I said. Moments later a horde of monkeys clambered across the roof of the terminal as we slowly rolled by in our questionable vehicle.
The plane landed safely and my bags were ready to be collected so you can’t fault ’em on the important stuff!
This is the view from the roof of my hotel during sunrise. $8 a night including breakfast and a private room with this view. I’ll take that.
My first few days in Kathmandu were a bit of a disaster, to be honest. I had some serious tech issues. With no mac-repair available in Kathmandu that I could find, it got to the point where I was ready to buy a new laptop. Miraculously, the issue resolved after countless efforts and I won’t bore you with any more details about my computer problems.
At the same time, my cards had been blocked by my bank. Something they continue to do every new country I arrive in. Thanks for that. I managed to unlock them in the final crucial moments. With $2 in my wallet and no cards the ATM gods shined upon me and spat out the goods.
From this point on I could actually begin to enjoy Kathmandu and Nepal and not just worrying about all these stupid logistical issues. So that’s what I did.
I headed out to visit the Stoupa’s of Kathmandu, places of worship and reincarnation. These weren’t just average temples for this following reasons:
- Some of them were 4500 years old
- Buddha was said to have been at the temples
- People are laid in cloth and cremated before their ashes are swept into the river at Pashu Patinath
- Hundreds of monkeys roam the walls
- Weed is growing in the temple grounds of Pashu Pathinat
- Pashu Pathinat a hotspot for getting high
- If you walk around the whole Boudha Stoupa you receive the qualities of higher existence.
The most jarring of all those interesting points was watching a human body being burnt to ashes. Head and feet exposed, covered in wood, the flesh burnt for four hours before being swept into the river. I wandered through the forest getting from one Stoupa to another. Hundreds of people one moment, just me and the monkeys the next.
My plans for the rest of my time in Nepal is actually pretty exciting. I am going to be trekking to Everest Base Camp. Not climbing Everest. That requires experience and at least $40,000! The trek will be two weeks. First I have a few more days to enjoy Kathmandu and check out some more temples, eat some more local food and of course, drink a few milk teas.
Hope you all had a great week and your computer was nicer to you than mine was to me!