Nepal 100 Day 2

July 30, 2016 Kathmandu

Arriving in Kathmandu, I was anxious. I had read conflicting info about their "visa on arrival" availability.but as I didn't have a full page, clean, and I wasn't certain how this would play out.

Upon walking into the immigration hall I saw the kiosks that Trip Advisor mentioned. Hallelujah! That's one down. Paperwork filled out, I got in line to pay for my visa ($25). Visa paid, I got into the line that said "foreign with visa" which was wrong and I was redirected to "foreign without visa". He was a little grumpy but chose one of my half pages and ...like that, I had my 100th country crammed into and finishing up passport number 3. There would only be two but I lost my second passport and then found it about 3 months after. I had to replace it the day before my trip to Honduras. Passport number 1 had 63 countries (pages sown in), number 2 had 10, and number three had 27. It had 7 visa taking up a lot of room. It has the most visas, so far.

I gathered my bag and headed out front. I looked at all of the little signs and not one had my name or the cucina. I tried to email, call, and text without success. Lots of guys were asking "taxi?" And I politely declined. One guy asked me what hotel and I showed him that I was unable to call. He actually called and was able to reach the owners son.

I walked back to the airport side of the drive and waited. Eventually a guy with name was waving his paper. I raised my hand and end this way. After getting situated he was leaving and he said "tip". I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. He repeated "tip and continues on to say $10-$15. I gave him $2 and grumbled about that. He had held a sign...that's it.

The ride from the airport to the B&B which is just north of central Kathmandu was rough looking. It is very poor and everything looks worn and haggard.

Arriving at the Cucina, it was quaint, little white stucco houses around a courtyard. Two guys met me and took me to my room. They didn't speak English well so it was difficult getting across to then if I needed to check in first. Finally one of the understood and took me to Debendra, the owner. He welcomed me, offered me a watermelon juice (tasty), and breakfast (eggs, toast, and balsamic diced veg). We sat in the courtyard and talked about his business, his family, and a bit about me. He'd been to Spain last year, his first time out of Nepal. He loved it so much that this year he would be traveling to Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands and more on a 22 day adventure. How nice

I excused myself to go clean up. Debendra showed me how the hot water was accessed in the bathroom. The bathroom would have scares most but it was mostly clean and lukewarm water. I could deal with this. The room was kind of hobbit like but comfortable. The door had a padlock on it and on the inside, a horizontal and vertical slide lock.

After cleaning up, I wrote a bit and rested. I was feeling a bit tired now...oh no! Don't sleep!

I slept, for about 4 hours. There went my lazy early and mid morning and now it was mid afternoon. I got up and rushed out to find debendra. He was not around and the girl did not know of a map of the city like Debendra had mentioned. I asked for directions to Denbar Square. The information received was minimal - go to the Main Street, take a left and when you get to the next Main Street, ask someone.

I walked for quite some distance from the memory of my lonely planet map that was on my iPad. I got to a point that I was really unsure of where I was headed and could I get back. I turned around and walked back to the cross street of my B&B. I told a taxi driver where I wanted to go and sort of negotiated a $2 fare. The more I thought about it, I was unsure that he knew where I wanted to go. I found a picture online and showed it to him. Now the fare was $15. No way, it was only $12 from the airport. I told hm to take me back. I gave him $1 for his trouble.

I returned to the cucina cafe and had a Coke. I told Sumitra about my difficulty. She asked if I was staying at the cucina. I said that I had arrived this morning. She apologized for the difficulty that I had.

Debendra arrived and I shared the story. He offered to get me a taxi and it would be 300 rupees but I would get there. He also gave me a card with the address and a map for the taxi back He also changed some dollars into rupees so I'd have some spending money.

The drive there was rough. This city is POLLUTED! The auto emissions are obviously not regulated. We passed a political demonstration in the streets, young men and women and followed by military. They were demonstrating against the government. They feel that the government isn't doing enough to better their lives. I guess the military walks with them to keep them in line.

This time I arrived at Durbar Square and I could see the ancient structures peeking up and around. I was there. The driver asked for 400 rupees but I paid the agreed upon amount.

I entered the pedestrian area and a guard yelled out to me ..."ticket". I thought that I'd read that the square was free for the visa period, apparently not. I paid 1000 rupees ($10) but it would be good for the duration of my stay. I didn't have 1000 rupees so I gave him $20 and he gave me back 1000 rupees. It worked out ok.

I was hounded at every point with people "asking where I am from" and wanting me to pay their guide services, I didn't as I planned to have Debendra get me a guide.

I walked around among the crowds of locals. It was Saturday and people were enjoying the day.

Write about my thoughts and different aspects and history. XXX

I hailed a taxi for my return and even though he didn't seem to know where the cucina was, after two phone calls we were halfway there. The return was much quicker as traffic had died down. I paid him 400 rupees but it was worth the extra not to have to deal with more than one taxi.

Samitra was waiting at the front gate when I returned. I think that he called her. She welcomed me back and asked if I had a good time.

I decided to go ahead and eat. I didn't have lunch and I was hungry. I decided and rotini with local mushrooms veg with cheese, a watermelon juice and a glass of wine, to relax.

I edited pics while I waited on my food. What an interesting place. I needed to get out into the mountains. I'll look for a trek tomorrow. The pasta was delish and the wine was forgettable.

I returned to my little room to have light but no power to charge. Power outages happen in lesser developed places so I always travel with an external battery. I'm covered...for a day or so

Well...one day, ok. The weather shows rain tomorrow...please, no rain.