Ok, I've made it mostly in one piece to Kathmandu. I'm a bit exhausted and don't actually know what time my body thinks it is but I'm here and have a plan for the next few days. Unfortunately, this is my second internet cafe and it appears internet will be a little shakey and it's unlikely I'll actually be able to post photos. The first internet place I went to was a bit slow. After 20 minutes it was still attempting to load my email. Luckily, while waiting I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting next to me named Omar. He's from Vancouver and has been in Kathmandu for awhile now and knew of a better internet place so here I am.
The trip was uneventful for the most part. I caught all of my flights although a few of them were at the last second. Was met at the airport by people from Helping Hands who took me to my hotel and got me situated. Niraj was who met me and he will be leading my trek to Annapurna base camp in a few weeks. The trek will just be Niraj myself and a Sherpa so I'll get lots of personal attention. On my last flight I met an Australian girl who will be meeting a group on Saturday to climb to Everest base camp. We decided to go bungee jumping and I arranged my plans accordingly. Niraj took us to the place to make reservations but unfortunately they are only going on Saturdays in the offseason (If you want to see the spot I think the website is www.tlresort.com or google "the last resort bungee"). As a consolation Niraj set up a rafting trip for us tomorrow so at 6am I'll be headed towards a bus and a rafting trip with an Australian computer programmer named Jo and Niraj my guide. I think I'll come back from Khandbari 2 days early so I can go bungee jumping and so Niraj can show me all the temples and other sites in Kathmandu before our trek.
On Friday I'll be catching a flight to Tumlingar. It should be pretty amazing. I'll fly by some rather large mountains you may have heard of like Everest and K2. Turns out the doctor normally in Khandbari is not there at the moment. It will just be his assistant and I. I literally will be the closest thing to a doctor for miles and miles which honestly scares me pretty good. I'm sure I'll still get good supervision and the assistant speaks English well or so I've been told.
Tonight I'm staying in a hotel in the Thamel district which is the touristy part of Kathmandu. Mine isn't a fancy hotel but it seems nice, clean, and safe. I'm going to head back there in a few minutes with my bottled water and pack it in for the night before it gets too dark. It's about 6pm on Wednesday here at the moment. If I ever get really awesome internet I'll change the settings to give a proper timestamp. I'll have breakfast in the morning then head off with my new friends to go rafting tomorrow. The city is pretty interesting. Cars, motorcycles, people, animals all running rampant in the streets. I'm a little suprised I haven't already been hit but there is always tomorrow.
Well, for those of you that persisted in reading all of this sorry there are no pictures. I'll try and tell how the rafting trip and flight to Tumlingar were if I have internet access in Khandbari (I think I will). If not I will be rather silent for the next 3 weeks.
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2 comments:
wow. great stories already. i am enjoying trying to imagine you there and what it is like. did i tell you that I had a trip planned to nepal when i was like 17?? anyhow, for a minute it sounded like you were saying you picked up the australian girl on your flight and decided to take her bungee jumping. but I think you meant it was just you and your guide. but if it was the girl- great job, way to make international friends straight away. if you visit her, can i tag along? stay safe jason. I know you will be a great doctor to the mountain folks. i mean, all that studying you did... uh, well... i'm sure you'll be fine... ;-) hehe. keep the posts coming when you are able.
I figured I should post a comment in case your internet sucks and you only check the blog and not email. Enjoy your rafting. I will have a beverage from every stop on our journey around the world at retreat in your honor. Except I think I should skip the tequila and the sake bombs, because I dont want to have rigors like you. I have placed megan in charge of me, however will still blame you for being in nepal and therefore not keeping me out of trouble!
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