The ride from the airport to the hotel was a bit bewildering...
I think it was mostly because we were tired, and it was dark. We had gotten through customs without much issue - although, some of us got 15 day visas, and some of us got 30 day visas, and we were somewhat concerned that it would present a problem at the end of the trip. Counting the day we arrived (which was only an hour, since we got there around 11 pm), the day we left was technically the 16th day. But that was a problem for our future selves. We were exhausted, and just wanted to get to our hotel.
All of our luggage had arrived, thankfully, and we went out into the confusion outside the airport, dragging our bags behind us. I only had one small bag and one medium-sized bag; some of the group had brought more stuff, including donations for the schools we were going to visit, so they were hauling huge suitcases and oversized duffle bags out into the parking lot. We saw a sign in a van across the loading area that said "2 Rivers - Jesse Ports" (pretty cool), so we made our way across. As we walked, we were hounded by people trying to take our luggage. It was hard to tell who was with the hotel - who had sent the van to pick us up - and who was simply hanging around the airport trying to weasel a few bucks out of incoming tourists.
We made contact with our drivers and started loading luggage onto the van. It became quickly apparent that all of our stuff wasn't going to fit, so we split into two groups and got as much on as we could. After getting in, some guys started bugging us for tips. We determined that they weren't with the hotel, but I wasn't even sure if they had helped with anyone's luggage or not, since it was kind of chaotic when we left the airport. They were asking for $20 American, which was absurd; I gave them a couple bucks and told them that was all they were getting.
The van ride was very bumpy, and the unfamiliar countryside looked even stranger in the dark. There weren't a whole lot of street lights, compared to America, so it was hard to get a solid sense of our surroundings. We found out later that we were going through a construction zone (and that much of Kathmandu is currently a construction zone - more on that in a later post), so the roads weren't normally quite as bad as they seemed on that first trip. I was pretty out of it from lack of sleep, but not stressed. They drive on the left side, and I noticed lots of narrow roads, with people in the way for most of them. I could definitely do an entire post on the driving over there, so I'll leave it at that for now...We saw a bunch of stray dogs along the side of the road; they're all over the place in Nepal. I'm not sure why. The windows were open, and the city smelled pretty dirty.
When we got to the hotel about 20 minutes later (although it seemed like much longer), it didn't take long to check in and get to our rooms. Shailesh had put everything in my name, so I spoke to the front desk and made sure we got enough room keys. I had a room to myself, being the only single guy on the trip. I guess there were pluses and minuses about that, but I didn't mind. I did a quick check of the room - two beds, desk, a couple of windows, dresser, phone, a little bathroom with a normal shower; seemed like a pretty standard hotel room. It was very cold - they had opened the windows, and it was probably mid to high 30s outside, with no heat. Thankfully, there were a lot of heavy covers on the bed, so I collapsed on the hard mattress and fell asleep pretty quickly, barely having time to register that I was now on the complete other side of the world (literally - take a globe and put your fingers on Arizona and Nepal. It's almost exactly halfway across.)
I think it was mostly because we were tired, and it was dark. We had gotten through customs without much issue - although, some of us got 15 day visas, and some of us got 30 day visas, and we were somewhat concerned that it would present a problem at the end of the trip. Counting the day we arrived (which was only an hour, since we got there around 11 pm), the day we left was technically the 16th day. But that was a problem for our future selves. We were exhausted, and just wanted to get to our hotel.
All of our luggage had arrived, thankfully, and we went out into the confusion outside the airport, dragging our bags behind us. I only had one small bag and one medium-sized bag; some of the group had brought more stuff, including donations for the schools we were going to visit, so they were hauling huge suitcases and oversized duffle bags out into the parking lot. We saw a sign in a van across the loading area that said "2 Rivers - Jesse Ports" (pretty cool), so we made our way across. As we walked, we were hounded by people trying to take our luggage. It was hard to tell who was with the hotel - who had sent the van to pick us up - and who was simply hanging around the airport trying to weasel a few bucks out of incoming tourists.
We made contact with our drivers and started loading luggage onto the van. It became quickly apparent that all of our stuff wasn't going to fit, so we split into two groups and got as much on as we could. After getting in, some guys started bugging us for tips. We determined that they weren't with the hotel, but I wasn't even sure if they had helped with anyone's luggage or not, since it was kind of chaotic when we left the airport. They were asking for $20 American, which was absurd; I gave them a couple bucks and told them that was all they were getting.
The van ride was very bumpy, and the unfamiliar countryside looked even stranger in the dark. There weren't a whole lot of street lights, compared to America, so it was hard to get a solid sense of our surroundings. We found out later that we were going through a construction zone (and that much of Kathmandu is currently a construction zone - more on that in a later post), so the roads weren't normally quite as bad as they seemed on that first trip. I was pretty out of it from lack of sleep, but not stressed. They drive on the left side, and I noticed lots of narrow roads, with people in the way for most of them. I could definitely do an entire post on the driving over there, so I'll leave it at that for now...We saw a bunch of stray dogs along the side of the road; they're all over the place in Nepal. I'm not sure why. The windows were open, and the city smelled pretty dirty.
When we got to the hotel about 20 minutes later (although it seemed like much longer), it didn't take long to check in and get to our rooms. Shailesh had put everything in my name, so I spoke to the front desk and made sure we got enough room keys. I had a room to myself, being the only single guy on the trip. I guess there were pluses and minuses about that, but I didn't mind. I did a quick check of the room - two beds, desk, a couple of windows, dresser, phone, a little bathroom with a normal shower; seemed like a pretty standard hotel room. It was very cold - they had opened the windows, and it was probably mid to high 30s outside, with no heat. Thankfully, there were a lot of heavy covers on the bed, so I collapsed on the hard mattress and fell asleep pretty quickly, barely having time to register that I was now on the complete other side of the world (literally - take a globe and put your fingers on Arizona and Nepal. It's almost exactly halfway across.)
Yep the construction zone thing bugged me the whole time - driving home from the airport I could see entire neighborhoods had been torn down - and some of those places were near and dear to me. Sections of town that I had lots of memories were completely gone!
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