March 4 Entering Nepal

The flight to Nepal was pleasant; my seatmate was a Canadian retired from their National Park Service, and we had an enjoyable conversation. I was seated in the center section of the plane, but was still able to see Everest over the shoulder of the people in the window seat across the way - very exciting! The tops of it and several other mountains were higher than the airplane, even before we began the descent. As we descended into Kathmandu's infamous dusty haze, the visibility dropped radically; the city itself is nestled into a narrow valley between steep, forested hills and would be quite lovely if the buildings were a bit better maintained. Fortunately, Raj was there to meet me, with a car and driver.

The drive through Kathmandu was a hectic traffic jam, as I've come to expect. We arrived at Raj's apartment after over an hour - it is a nicely furnished place, top two floors of a 4 story building. During the afternoon and evening I met almost all of his extended family - his two really charming children (I'll get pictures of them when I return after the trek), his wife, mother, father, brother and sister in law. The oldest child, Kajol speaks quite good English, the younger son, Kapil, is more limited, and none of the others speak any at all. I chatted with Kajol, the 11 year old the girl, on and off all evening; she was obviously delighted to have the chance to practice her English.

After having a beer and relaxing a while we went into town to rent me a sleeping bag, buy another pair of hiking pants, and try to get money for the trip. I had understood that I would pay half at the beginning and half at the end of the trip so had not brought traveller's checks, which was a mistake, since Raj needed the money up front to pay for our expenses as we go along. ATMs in Kathmandu are limited to 10 or 15,000 Rupees, about $160-200, so we had to hit several; then I hit my bank's daily withdrawal limit and we were stymied. We had to go back the next day to get the trekking permit anyway, so Raj contacted his cousin, who runs another trekking company and agreed to process the needed funds through his credit card account, and to do the paperwork for the permits. Downtown is an interesting place, a jumble of restaurants, guest houses, small shops selling tourist junk and trekking gear, the usual motorbikes, bicycles, pedestrians weaving in and out. I'll upload a few pictures as soon as I have another opportunity.

Dinner was interesting - curried vegetables, rice, and a thin lentil soup, which I did not know enough to mix together; later Raj fried some rather bony but tasty fish. He served me a plate of food as I sat at the table with his kids, Kajol and the younger boy, Kapil, who were doing homework; I felt rather self-conscious about eating in front of them, but I later discovered that dinner for Nepalese extends throughout the evening, with different people eating at different times, sometimes alone, sometimes together. They all mixed their food together and ate entirely with their fingers, right hand only (the left is used for purposes at the other extreme of the digestive cycle, hence defiled). They get stew all over their hands, sometimes beyond the wrist; after the meal they go wash their hand. I knew from the guidebook that was the Nepali custom, but it still surprised me a bit at first.

This morning we went back into town, did the paper work for the money and the permit, picked up a rented sleeping bag for me, and returned. I am writing this as Raj and the porter go back into town to pick up the money and permit; we will have lunch and leave for the trailhead, Besi Sahar. I got a couple pictures of street life in the tourist district, then nearer home I got a picture of a strange cross between a garden tractor and wagon that is common both here and in Cambodia.

later

The drive up to Besi Sahar was both harrowing and interesting. We got started late because of bank bureaucracy, and traffic was horrible. A truck had overturned on the highway, so the driver took a long detour, then when we were almost around the traffic jam, the road was blocked by a truck on which some men were loading furniture, so we had to take a detour from the detour. It took over an hour and a half just to get out of Kathmandu. Then for the next couple of hours it was a long series of busses and trucks stopped in the middle of the lane, and other traffic blockers. We saw evidence of several old wrecks and three recent ones, including a truck on its side and another that was half off the road, high-centered on a low guard rail. I got a picture of one truck, on its side in the middle of the road. Most of the drivers are clearly insane - they pass on blind curves, honk incessantly, jockey for position at every traffic slow-up. Fortunately our driver was more conservative and Raj had told him we're in no hurry, so I'm still alive. I decided to fly to and from Chitwan, rather than take my chances on the highway.

The valley itself is quite beautiful, narrow, between high hills, like Oregon's Cascades or Northern California. Every hillside with more soil than rock, no matter how steep, is terraced and farmed for a variety of crops; farther up the valley where the water table seems to be higher was quite green and lovely. Unfortunately we were running so late I didn't want to stop for many pictures. I did get a few at Malakhu where we stopped for rest and a snack. I'll upload them when I have a chance.

It was too hazy and cloudy to see the mountains, and it was raining lightly by the time we neared Besi Sahar. Dampened my spirits a bit, but the air smelled nice and fresh. The accommodations are somewhat spartan, but clean: a toilet and shower, pallet beds, small sink. I will also get a few pictures of Besi Sahar before we leave - won't be off as early as I'd like, since Raj still needs to buy a couple of things.