Namaste

Ok I know this is like a billion weeks late...but better late than never right...so here is a flashback to my first few days in Nepal...

Well here I sit in the dining room of the hotel I am staying at for my second night in Nepal. I’m not quite convinced I am in Nepal yet...probably a mix of sleep deprivation and David Attenborough describing the habits of squires as background entertainment, but all I have to do is think back to my 5am wakeup yesterday and the hiatus of entering without a visa to remind me that yes I did get on two planes, stepped briefly into an oven....and sat in front of a man that decided ‘touch screen’ actually meant ‘punch screen’....which was my flight entertainment for 4.5 hours...if I’m being positive I could say it was like sitting in a massage chair...a broken one! Nevertheless I got here in one piece.

But let me begin at the beginning, usually a good place to start. The journey to my home for the next three months began well, sitting at the front of the plane with two families with babies; which on a plane can have its cons....but nevertheless it was pros all the way...the one next to me decided smiling and giggling at me was a great game! Landing in Doha was interesting...never travelling to the middle east before...to my dad’s shame (the geography buff he is) I still don’t quite know where Doha is or whether it’s a country...but never mind my lack of geographical skill, looking out the window of the plane was a smoggy haze, no clouds to be seen! But it wasn’t long before I was well and properly introduced to that smoggy haze...if I didn’t have sight I would be adamant someone threw me into an oven as I stepped off the plane and walked across the tarmac to a bus. For all of those 15 seconds of walking I realised I could never really complain about the heat at home again! Phew...ridiculous!

My Flight to Nepal from Doha was a relatively quick one and as mentioned above the in-flight entertainment for me began when the man behind me decided his touch screen television meant ‘punch screen’...and so this went on for the next 4 hours...meanwhile I decided to remember that patience is a virtue and think of my jolting seat as a bad case of ‘turbulence’.


Before long I landed and walked across the tarmac to a somewhat small airport...filled out my visa application and proceeded to the counter....all well and good until the man said I would need US$100 for my 3 month visa!...um...ok...forgot about that part! So at 11am I found myself exiting the airport in search of an ATM...Hmmm no open ATM...that was when I decided praying would be a good idea...at which point I went back into the airport and a hotel taxi driver asked me if I had found the ATM....then miraculously it occurred to me that I didn’t need to pay for my 3 month visa here and now...so I ran back upstairs to pay for 1 month...at which point I was asked if I had a passport photo...um ok....forgot about that part! It was then I realised my spare copy of my passport was tucked securely and safely into my luggage that was currently merry-go-rounding on the carrousel below me...luckily I noticed a photo booth and was informed I would be able to get a photo there! So by approximately 11:30 I was taking photos and getting my visa stamped! Thank goodness...my luggage was waiting for me patiently downstairs and I found my way to the airport pickup in one piece!