Krazy Kathmandu

(Update from Oct 23 – Oct 26; Nepal – Part 1)

I arrived in Nepal and as soon as I got off the plane I smelled something new – fresh air! China definitely didn’t have any of that. I also felt like I was back at home…in India. There are many similarities between the two countries which was comforting after the language and cultural barriers in China. The next morning I had breakfast overlooking Kathmandu while I waited for Lexi, an old friend from Marinette/Chicago, to arrive. I had to change hotels so I went outside with my backpack on and Google directions in hand – big mistake – I should have known better. After walking around for 20 minutes refusing to take a cab, I realized I was lost. There were no street signs, the streets don’t go the same way as they did on my map and I just wanted to see Lexi! So I used the few rupees I had to bargain with a bicycle tuk tuk driver to take me; I didn’t feel so bad after he had to ask three different people where the guesthouse was – welcome to Kathmandu! It was like all the craziness just rushed back into my life…cars everywhere, animals on the side of the road, stores burning their garbage on the street, etc.

Lexi arrived shortly afterwards and it was great to see her again! We braved the streets of Kathmandu and headed to Durbar Square in the old city and caught a glimpse of the Kumari (basically a living goddess). We got lost a few times throughout the day and after finally finding our restaurant (the map and compass didn’t even help with these crazy streets) we experienced our first black out in Nepal. Luckily the restaurant had a bunch of candles and we quickly found out that this is very common. You can see all the lights go off in the city and people will shout and clap for a minute. Then you’ll hear some generators kick in and within a few hours all the lights will come back on again while being accompanied by another round of cheering and yelling.

Our second day of exploration led us to Pashupati, a Hindu temple in the city. It reminded me a lot of Varanasi and some people say it’s even holier as it is the source of the Ganges river. We were able to see burning bodies on one side of the bridge and on the other was the VIP section where another body was being prepared for cremation – the body was covered and then colored with bright paints. People were mourning on the steps and throwing offerings in the river.

We walked from Parapathi to Boudha, the Buddhist temple, via a path that had good mountain views. There were a bunch of schools on the way as well as people carrying baskets hanging from their forehead. Later we saw someone with a shovel scooping rocks and gravel into the other person’s basket - talk about a headache! Boudha was really cool – the sky was so blue and all of the Tibetian prayer flays were flapping in the wind. I started getting excited for the trek as I knew we’d see lots of prayer flags along the way.

The next day we journeyed on to Pokhara where we would leave for the trek. We skipped the 7-10 hour bus ride and opted for the 20 minute flight instead. Roads are not great in Nepal and we were told to avoid them as much as possible. For instance, yesterday while in a cab in Kathmandu we turned off onto a bumpy gravel road and our driver yelled out, “Nepali road!” However, while we thought the airport would be quick and easy, it was still quite an adventure. Kathmandu’s domestic airport managed to be more chaotic than India. The funniest part was the manual process of checking a carry on bag through security. There are no x-ray machines and when the security lady was looking through Lexi’s bag she found a Jolly Rancher candy. She looked at it with a big smile on her face, popped it in her mouth and said thanks – all before Lexi could say anything!

After security there were TVs in the waiting area that showed flight info, most of which were delayed, but our flight said nothing. The Yeti Airlines desk was no help so we just sat there and asked every time people lined up by the door to see what flight it was. We finally found our flight and then hopped aboard a tiny dual prop plane where we were offered cotton for earplugs. The flight was quick but we saw some good views of the Himalayas. Immediately after arriving in Pokhara Lexi and I let out a sigh of relief...we could tell it was much more relaxed than Kathmandu. We headed into town and saw a big lake with mountains in the background – the scenery keeps getting better!

My interest in Nepal was sparked in early 2009 when I attended an entrepreneurship talk at school by John Wood, author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. He is a Kellogg alum who worked for Microsoft and after trekking in Nepal, wanted to do something to help the people there. As the title suggests, he ended up quitting and starting a non-profit organization called Room to Read that builds schools and libraries in developing countries. While I don’t plan to follow in his footsteps, I was moved by his story and especially the people and scenery he described in this country. A few months later I heard about the 3 Sisters Trekking company from friends who trekked with them while doing an Around the World trip (hi Dave & Elizabeth!). So when I decided to go to Asia one of the first things I did was email 3 Sisters to check the availability of their treks. I was elated when Lexi said she was also interested in traveling to Nepal. We had attended a few Room to Read events in Chicago together and were excited to support women’s education, a key cause for both organizations, on our travels.

Arriving at the 3 Sisters guesthouse we met Nicky, one of the sisters that we had been emailing with for the last few months. It was great to put a face with a name and begin this one in a lifetime adventure.

We had some free time during the day that was spent enjoying a banana, stocking up on supplies and snacks for the trek (how many Snickers do you think we’ll eat in the next 12 days?!) and attempting to get cash from the ATM. It was being repaired for multiple hours during the day but later that night we must have walked by right after it was fixed because there was a line about 10 people deep! Luckily there were still rupees left by the time we got to the head of the line.

Later that evening we met up with the nine other trekkers as well as our guides and assistants. We also learned more about 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking, who pioneered the female trekking guide business. The girls go through a one year training program that rotates between classes in Pokhara (English, leadership, trekking, Nepali history, etc.) and being an assistant on the trek. They are paid wages equivalent to an experienced male porter but 3 Sisters only allows them to carry 25 pounds while other companies often have men carrying 60-80 pounds! Each one of us had a girl carrying our backpack and there were also three guides – 25 people in total. That evening the 11 of us enjoyed a traditional Nepalese dinner of dal bhat (rice and lentils) while hearing everyone’s adventures on getting to Kathmandu (there were some crazier airport stories than ours!). Nirma, our head guide, also joined us for dinner; she reminded me of a friend from college with her bubbly personality, contagious laugh and short stature (if you guessed Heidi you’re right; see the picture of us standing back to back while Nirma’s on her tiptoes) – I immediately felt at ease with her and was excited for tomorrow.