I woke up at 3:00am today, had a quick shower and put my travel clothes on. I put all the needed essentials in my purse, arranged my room a little but so I wouldn't have to come back to a hurricane and after a bit of last minute hustle-bustle we were off. Our cab driver tried to make small talk about the downpour of the previous night but we were all too drowsy to talk, and I think the cabbie got the hint, because he soon fell silent too.
As we got off the cab and started walking towards the airport, my thighs began to really burn from all the strength training Malik had made us do the day before. I hoped with all my hear that the pain would soon subside. 3000m of elevation gain stood for us to overcome in a few days time!
At the Hyderabad airport, we ate our breakfast as we had no desire to eat the dry sandwiches provided on the flight (actually the others didn't want to - I quite like the chicken sandwiches!) Anyways we ate some Podi Idli, which wasn't so bad, and Varun ate his customary deep fried Vada (Seriously? At 5:30am?). Anyways I was happy because I got my own cup of Cappuccino!
The Hyderabad-Delhi transition was smooth, apart from the slight inconvenience of having to personally pick up and transfer our baggage in Delhi from the Domestic to International terminal, of which we learnt of during check-in. I began reading my book in the flight - A Collection of Short Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I knew he must be a revolutionary writer as Sangeetha had done her PHD thesis on his writings and Dada said that Garcia Marquez is one of the greatest authors he's ever read. From the few lines written about Marquez at the back of the book, the general opinion seemed to be that his writing is rich and powerful. It really is every bit so. From the first few pages onwards his writing begins to create a deep impact. His descriptive writing skill makes it possible to create a stark image in the mind's eye. I only got to read a few pages (I was so drowsy that I fell asleep) so I'll comment more on the book in the coming days as I get to read further.
At Delhi Airport we collected our baggage and headed to Terminal 3, the International Terminal. It seemed to be just 200m away from the Domestic terminal but the bus driver took us through a windy route and got us there after 20 minutes. The bus ride was very stuffy and rickety. Overcrowded of course, which is the sign of a healthy Indian bus. With all the bags, plus the two heavy cartons that Sarita had asked us to bring to Nepal, we has enough weight to manage between the four of us.
Terminal 3 is so posh and fancy. So high-end. After immigration we took some time to wander in the airport. With no intention to tour the numerous perfume stores (who goes there, really?) I found myself in the W.H.Smith bookstore with the Kind James Version of the Bible in my hands. Chaitanya spoke very highly of it. As I flipped through the pages I could see why. Every single verse has something so poignant to say.
Dada didn't allow me buy food from McDonald's (that Fat Chance book he's reading is doing more harm than good, I think) so we settled for Kheema Pav (there better be some meat on the table, we're on holiday!). I seemed to be the only person enjoying it. I guess I really do have an irrational love for anything that has meat in it.
After the 10:30am lunch (!), I returned to the bookstore, bought this journal that I'm now writing in and we set off.
Dada had paid ₹300 per ticket extra for the front row seats which actually turned out to be a complete waste of money. The thought we'd get a good view of mountain ranges from this height. Far from it. Apart from the fields we say one lone peak in the horizon and it was so far anyways that without straining our eyes we could have easily mistaken it for a cloud. I did take a few pictures of the clouds from the airplane window because they looked exactly like the clouds Wangdi had taught us to paint. Thick, contoured and fluffy.
As we landed in Kathmandu, we got a clear picture of the city. It seemed saw sprawling, it almost took up the whole valley and extended onto the slopes of the surrounding hills. Most of the building, small, three-storied structures looked half finished and half painted - quite dull in fact, in the afternoon light.
Sarita's driver came to pick us up at the airport. After a loud, somewhat confused conversation with the hotel manager for directions, we began driving through the city. It took us about forty minutes to get to the hotel in Thamel, the tourist are of Kathmandu. We drove through lots of traffic and noticed that most of the locals, either walking on the streets or driving motor bikes were wearing face masks for protection from the pollution. The ill-effects of tourism.
The Kathmandu City Hotel (as it was called) was a little cramped but enough for a nights stay. The manager was very friendly and kind, and always looking to help out.
Sarita sent someone with ₹80,000 Nepali in exchange for our ₹50,000 Indian. At 5:00pm, now with some usable cash in our hands we set out to get done with some essential shopping. We met Sarita and Mikhail (an Israeli Waldorf teacher who we'd met long ago) in Thamel. Sarita showed us around some good trekking stores to buy our trekking boots, etc. She and Mikhail had to leave soon as they had some other commitments, but not before giving us some good food options in and around Thamel - 'Fire & Ice' for excellent Italian and OR2K FOR Lebanese.
We bought our gloves and walking sticks first (which Mikhail highly recommended - she said they make a difference of day and night while trekking). We then went to look for trekking shoes for me and Varun. After looking at four and five different stores we finally found ones that fit well and looked decent (with fake North Face logos, if I must add).
It was already 7:00pm by the time we finished out shopping, and it was pouring in Kathmandu. OR2K was the nearest restaurant, so there we went. I totally loved the ambiance. All the seating for on the ground (and it was a relief to stretch our sore legs).It was lit up with these special glow in the dark lights - long and fluorescent on the ceiling, which gave the place a really fun feel. All the while part on the our clothes were glowing. I could even see glowing the felt particles that my sweater had left behind of my t-shirt! Mama and I were admiring the menu cards - each page seemed to be done up with so much care and attention. Bright and intricate drawings filled every page and the hand written menu was probably more interesting that the stuff actually written (no... that's stretching it!).
We ate, for starters, Pita bread (sort of like naan) with Hummus, Babaganush (an Aubergine based dip) and Matbusha (a tomato based dip). I found the Hummus a little bit plain but the other two dips were really good. For the main course we had Pad Thai and Pasta (partly because we didn't know what to order at aa Lebanese restaurant). We were all so hungry that we polished off the large plates of carbs. With a content stomach we began to head home.
Thamel was very busy and crowded, and some high-end parts of it with the fancy restaurants were actually quite pretty. But all in all Kathmandu seemed too busy and dustly for my liking. Anyways, once back at the hotel, we made arrangements for tomorrow's travel to Pokhara and then retired.
I wonder what the coming days have in store for us.
As we got off the cab and started walking towards the airport, my thighs began to really burn from all the strength training Malik had made us do the day before. I hoped with all my hear that the pain would soon subside. 3000m of elevation gain stood for us to overcome in a few days time!
At the Hyderabad airport, we ate our breakfast as we had no desire to eat the dry sandwiches provided on the flight (actually the others didn't want to - I quite like the chicken sandwiches!) Anyways we ate some Podi Idli, which wasn't so bad, and Varun ate his customary deep fried Vada (Seriously? At 5:30am?). Anyways I was happy because I got my own cup of Cappuccino!
The Hyderabad-Delhi transition was smooth, apart from the slight inconvenience of having to personally pick up and transfer our baggage in Delhi from the Domestic to International terminal, of which we learnt of during check-in. I began reading my book in the flight - A Collection of Short Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I knew he must be a revolutionary writer as Sangeetha had done her PHD thesis on his writings and Dada said that Garcia Marquez is one of the greatest authors he's ever read. From the few lines written about Marquez at the back of the book, the general opinion seemed to be that his writing is rich and powerful. It really is every bit so. From the first few pages onwards his writing begins to create a deep impact. His descriptive writing skill makes it possible to create a stark image in the mind's eye. I only got to read a few pages (I was so drowsy that I fell asleep) so I'll comment more on the book in the coming days as I get to read further.
At Delhi Airport we collected our baggage and headed to Terminal 3, the International Terminal. It seemed to be just 200m away from the Domestic terminal but the bus driver took us through a windy route and got us there after 20 minutes. The bus ride was very stuffy and rickety. Overcrowded of course, which is the sign of a healthy Indian bus. With all the bags, plus the two heavy cartons that Sarita had asked us to bring to Nepal, we has enough weight to manage between the four of us.
Terminal 3 is so posh and fancy. So high-end. After immigration we took some time to wander in the airport. With no intention to tour the numerous perfume stores (who goes there, really?) I found myself in the W.H.Smith bookstore with the Kind James Version of the Bible in my hands. Chaitanya spoke very highly of it. As I flipped through the pages I could see why. Every single verse has something so poignant to say.
Dada didn't allow me buy food from McDonald's (that Fat Chance book he's reading is doing more harm than good, I think) so we settled for Kheema Pav (there better be some meat on the table, we're on holiday!). I seemed to be the only person enjoying it. I guess I really do have an irrational love for anything that has meat in it.
After the 10:30am lunch (!), I returned to the bookstore, bought this journal that I'm now writing in and we set off.
Dada had paid ₹300 per ticket extra for the front row seats which actually turned out to be a complete waste of money. The thought we'd get a good view of mountain ranges from this height. Far from it. Apart from the fields we say one lone peak in the horizon and it was so far anyways that without straining our eyes we could have easily mistaken it for a cloud. I did take a few pictures of the clouds from the airplane window because they looked exactly like the clouds Wangdi had taught us to paint. Thick, contoured and fluffy.
As we landed in Kathmandu, we got a clear picture of the city. It seemed saw sprawling, it almost took up the whole valley and extended onto the slopes of the surrounding hills. Most of the building, small, three-storied structures looked half finished and half painted - quite dull in fact, in the afternoon light.
Sarita's driver came to pick us up at the airport. After a loud, somewhat confused conversation with the hotel manager for directions, we began driving through the city. It took us about forty minutes to get to the hotel in Thamel, the tourist are of Kathmandu. We drove through lots of traffic and noticed that most of the locals, either walking on the streets or driving motor bikes were wearing face masks for protection from the pollution. The ill-effects of tourism.
The Kathmandu City Hotel (as it was called) was a little cramped but enough for a nights stay. The manager was very friendly and kind, and always looking to help out.
Sarita sent someone with ₹80,000 Nepali in exchange for our ₹50,000 Indian. At 5:00pm, now with some usable cash in our hands we set out to get done with some essential shopping. We met Sarita and Mikhail (an Israeli Waldorf teacher who we'd met long ago) in Thamel. Sarita showed us around some good trekking stores to buy our trekking boots, etc. She and Mikhail had to leave soon as they had some other commitments, but not before giving us some good food options in and around Thamel - 'Fire & Ice' for excellent Italian and OR2K FOR Lebanese.
We bought our gloves and walking sticks first (which Mikhail highly recommended - she said they make a difference of day and night while trekking). We then went to look for trekking shoes for me and Varun. After looking at four and five different stores we finally found ones that fit well and looked decent (with fake North Face logos, if I must add).
It was already 7:00pm by the time we finished out shopping, and it was pouring in Kathmandu. OR2K was the nearest restaurant, so there we went. I totally loved the ambiance. All the seating for on the ground (and it was a relief to stretch our sore legs).It was lit up with these special glow in the dark lights - long and fluorescent on the ceiling, which gave the place a really fun feel. All the while part on the our clothes were glowing. I could even see glowing the felt particles that my sweater had left behind of my t-shirt! Mama and I were admiring the menu cards - each page seemed to be done up with so much care and attention. Bright and intricate drawings filled every page and the hand written menu was probably more interesting that the stuff actually written (no... that's stretching it!).
We ate, for starters, Pita bread (sort of like naan) with Hummus, Babaganush (an Aubergine based dip) and Matbusha (a tomato based dip). I found the Hummus a little bit plain but the other two dips were really good. For the main course we had Pad Thai and Pasta (partly because we didn't know what to order at aa Lebanese restaurant). We were all so hungry that we polished off the large plates of carbs. With a content stomach we began to head home.
Thamel was very busy and crowded, and some high-end parts of it with the fancy restaurants were actually quite pretty. But all in all Kathmandu seemed too busy and dustly for my liking. Anyways, once back at the hotel, we made arrangements for tomorrow's travel to Pokhara and then retired.
I wonder what the coming days have in store for us.
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