From Hong Kong to Kathmandu

So I have arrived in Kathmandu, and have had a short night's sleep, and am up and raring to go! I'll try to give a brief overview of my trip so far, but you know me, I am rarely brief :).

We arrived at Hong Kong after a surprisingly comfortable and painless 15 hours and 45 minute plane ride. I had managed to sleep, watch three movies, and just relax! We arrived at the Hong Kong airport at 5:15am Hong Kong time, 5:15pm Toronto/Ottawa time. We obtained a free visa from immigration, and by around 7:45am we were on a train heading into the city of Hong Kong! We didn't end up doing any of the sites in Hong Kong, and mostly spent our time wandering up alleys filled with stalls, and just soaking in the different city. We were able to grab a bite to eat (Chinese noodles and beef, with a side of fried eggs and bread), and some wireless, and then we hit a wall of exhaustion, and headed back to the airport to wait for our connection flight.

We arrived at the Kathmandu airport at a bit after 10pm Kathmandu time, which would be around, uh, who knows in home time! The time difference is throwing me for a loop, and I can’t keep it straight! We had a car from the hotel waiting for us, which was great, and the best part is that all of our luggage actually made it!!! A porter carried our bags, and then got angry at me for not tipping him in American, and not giving him enough rupees… It was awkward, and I’m sure situations like this will keep coming up while I get accustomed to the exchange rates, and the cost of living, but still, it sucked.

Today I woke up after a great sleep at like 5:30am, to the sounds of roosters outside, and while I napped a bit, I really was ready to go for the day, and was up and at it before 7:30, which is so unlike me! After debating whether the marks of my legs were bed bug signs (they have faded away, so I have decided they’re not) I mentioned my bed bug quandary to Dustin, and have now successfully creeped him out and made him super paranoid about the bugs. I am in more of the ‘meh’ frame of mind about it J. Dustin and I are sharing the smallest room, with two twin beds and barely room for our luggage. We are both (I think) missing privacy, but happy to save money by not bunking individually. The hotel was originally were confused, and gave us one bed, so I think we are both happy that that situation was cleared up through broken English, and we each have our own bed.

After waking early this morning, I went for a walk to find some chai, leaving Dustin at the hotel to rest up a bit and get things done… he was not nearly as ready to seize the day as I was, understandable considering the jet-lag! I wandered up to Thamel street, the main tourist drag, and was greeted by many Nepali people, on cars, bikes, scooters, and rickshaws… oh, and walking of course. I tried to stay out of the way of the vehicles, but a couple of kids were bearing down on me on bikes, and it looked as though it would be my responsibility to jump out of the way, not theirs! I obediently did so only to look down and see A DEAD RAT about an inch from where my sandal Birkenstock clad feet landed. I squealed like a princess, and looked up to see a Nepali girl around my age giggling at me… This is all within 2mins of leaving my hotel. I then tried to play it cool and walked around the garbage, people, and general hustle and bustle with the goal of finding my chai. I finally just sat down in a small restaurant/hole in the wall, picked only for the fact that someone else was sitting there, and had just finished eating and drinking a chai, so it couldn’t be too bad, and ordered my tea. It was DELICIOUS! I am praying that it won’t make me sick, because the paranoia makes me think it will all make me sick. I bought a couple of Pepsi’s for sustenance until I figure out where is good to eat, and made my way back to the hotel feeling like I had actually accomplished what I had set out to do.

That takes us to now, and I am preparing to go out for a tour of the sites in a hired car recommended by our hosts, and to stop by the Canadian Embassy to register to vote, as we will have to act fast if we have any hope of absentee voting while here.

Love you all, and more later!

Katie