Kathmandu – Day 01

Before arriving on Nepalese land, we’ve got to share with you this flight from Himalaya Airlines. Without even talking about the two and a half hours delay, we get onboard an A320 from the 1990s. Julia (who’s a bit scared of flying) is far from reassured when scrutinizing every little detail of the plane: the old seats, the exterior paint crumbling, the door joints crackled (Doo forgets to mention that the reactors are not either very “young”). In the plane, there are only Nepalese people, there’s a lot of chatter and some people are still standing when the plane takes place on the airstrip. We feel already in Nepal ! As it’s often the case when we take the plane (go figure) we are seated right in front of the emergency exit. And that’s where Julia notices that the man who is told by the steward how to open the door in case of emergency is completely lost. He then studies for a good 10 minutes the flyer with safety measures and end up asking his friend to change seats. Our lives may be in the hands of those two gentlmen (sigh)… In the end, the flight goes smoothly (not too bad for Julia). We just didn’t understand why they served us ultra spicy rice just before getting to sleep (it was 4:30 in the morning).

When we exit the airport, an old taxi driver offers to drive us to our hotel. He looks friendly so we take the offer. He brings us to a typical taxi, a very small car from the 1990s. Doo is under the impression he is back in his old titinne and Julia just regrets not checking for seatbelts before getting in. Driving here is a bit like in India. The steering wheel is on the right side, everybody drives in the middle of the road until somebody comes in front of you and then, well the rules are a bit obscure for non-initiated westerners like us. But you know, it works. Côme is enjoying the ride very much, Doo finds our driver very efficient and Julia… well, she opens her eyes from time to time…

20 minutes later, we arrive at our hotel… well, the place we are going to “sleep” for the next 3 nights… well, the place we are going to squat at night because we won’t be able to sleep much there. The hotel is right in the middle of a very lively area, and at night, from 1 o’clock in the morning, it’s pandemonium (karaokes, clubs and concerts galore…). The windows of our room are so thin, we feel like we’re on stage. And from 6 o’clock in the morning (after only one hour of “quiet” time), the hammer blows start (a building is under construction right next to ours) and the deep and loud throat clearing of the workers are replacing the songs of the birds (and we have front row seats… Julia is delighted…). Not to mention the mosquitoes… There are about 25 of them every night in our room, waiting patiently for us to close our eyes. And since the room is very dirty and the wallpaper is dark, they don’t have any trouble hidding in plain sight… The comfort of Dubaï is already far far away (teardrop).

After a little nap, we go explore the city. We won’t tell you that the day was fun and the family was jolly. We are all tired, we are hungry and Côme is really not in the mood. But that’s part of the trip right? We still wander a bit in the streets of Kathmandu. Julia and Doo love the first sensations they feel when discovering a new country. The city is full of life, tuk-tuks, pollution, souvenir and trekking shops, smiles, children wearing uniforms. After a good soup and 3 bananas for Côme, we follow a young man who wants to show us his art store. The shop is beautiful. An artist is painting the details of a gigantic painting. Many illustrations are impressive. And even though we explain that we cannot buy anything, the men from the shop take time to explain the meaning of many different artworks. Côme is looking at them with great attention and enthusiasm. He even asks us to show them his own paintings on our phones. The men congratulate him and tell him he will be most welcome to work with them when he’ll be older.

Today, Côme:
Did not understand: why the children were wearing school uniforms.
Learnt: Nepali art watching the artist paint very fine details.
Liked: to discover the different animals from the Nepali bills.

Julia:
Did not understand: the driving rules in Nepal.
Learnt: that the Nepali food was half way between the asian food and indian food.
Enjoyed: saying hello in Nepali: “Namasté”.

Doo:
Did not understand: what outlet was used in Nepal.
Learnt: to say thank you in Nepali: “Tanié bat”.
Enjoyed: the taxi ride and discovering the city.