There and back

The following is a rough photo journal of my trip to Nepal with a few days spent in Thailand before and after. Being more troublesome than I anticipated I don't have many descriptions for each picture but just about every one has a story behind it. Get together with me some time and I would be happy to tell you more about the amazing adventures I had or just send me an email if you have a question or two. I hope you enjoy.

The beginning _ Thailand to Nepal

After an 11 hour flight, 3 hour layover in Tokyo, another 6 hour flight, and a 90 minute taxi ride I had made it to Thailand where I stayed for 3 days in a beach town south Bangkok. This is where I sweat the San Francisco out of me and had a blissful time either swimming, sitting at the beach, getting massages, dancing, and roaming the streets. I really enjoyed how relaxed the people are and how friendly everyone is. I didn't carry my camera around too much but wasn't terribly different than anywhere else, just having many, many more scooters and street vendors making food up and down the block. There was a typhoon the day before I left that flooded the streets but locals didn't seem to think much off it as they still walked around and even road their scooters through it.

Nepal _ day 1

The flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu is only three hours which was a breeze and I enjoyed flying with Thai Airways. Coming in to Kathmandu I had my first glimpse of the Himalayas in the very distant north but great views of the land surrounding the city as we touched down. Tribhuvan airport is literally in Kathmandu and an experience in itself if you ever had the misfortune of having to pass through it. As I had read many times before coming to Nepal, don't make any plans that are time sensitive and expect delays pretty much everywhere you go. Thankfully after waiting in lines for 2 hours I was free to go and was greeted by the mob of taxi drivers who took good care of me in getting to a hotel. At times it seemed as though my taxi wasn't going to make it out of the war zone that they call driving on two way streets but it was certainly entertaining. I arrived at my hotel called The Magnificent View which was tucked away nicely down a long alley and was surrounded by a couple of buildings I was never certain if they were occupied or not. There wasn't any magnificent view but the staff was extremely friendly and the room was well kept. After settling in I explored the streets of Thamel which is the neighborhood I was residing in, also known as the tourist ghetto. Walking through Thamel for the first time is about as stimulating as being hit by a car, given you don't actually get hit by one in Thamel. The streets are narrow, the buildings tall, and have more cars, bikes, motorcycles, pedestrians, dogs, trash, cows, and people trying to sell you a laundry list of things. Car horns go off so frequently it's as though every car on the block has orchestrated a continuous tone by taking turns and sometimes letting by rickshaws squeak their horns made out of plastic water bottles. I had an early dinner which was one of my best meals on the trip and finished my day at the hotel getting prepared for the following day until the electricity got shut off.

Nepal _ day 2

My guide Rai came to my hotel at 7am and we took a short taxi ride to the bus stop in northern Kathmandu. Busses in Nepal come in many different shapes and sizes but as I tower over most Nepalis people, most busses don't come in my size. My knees were slowly grinded down over the 9 hour bus ride but I was happily distracted by the views. The busses act more as carpooling taxis where the doors never close and people are getting on and off at any moments notice, at times with their bags of rice that seemed double their size. Winding through the hills for 5 hours allowed me to see all kinds of people, young and old, with amazing faces and equally stunning style. We stopped for lunch in a small town and continued further up in to the mountains where the road was carved out of a cliff side which had obviously crumbled many times before. After 4 hours we had reached Dunche and quickly settled in to a lodge with cute little roof top garden. I walked down the main road of town as the sun set before having dinner and sharing some 'medicine' with Rai which was a locally made millet wine. The wine was good on it's own but it tastes a little funny after they fry it in butter with a little rice.