Bangkok to Kathmandu
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| October 4, 2006: Bangkok to Kathmandu |
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| Woke up and had breakfast in the hotel. Then I left and took the hotel bus to the terminal of the brand new airport. I checked in for the Thai Air flight to Kathmandu. After a 3 hour 15 minutes flight from Bangkok, I arrived in Kathmandu midday. Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy, so we could not see the Himalayas on our flight in. The Kathmandu Valley was lush and green as it was right after monsoon season. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Going through customs and immigrations was a breeze. Raj from Adventure Thirdpole waited for me outside the airport terminal and a driver brought me to my hotel while Raj was riding his motorbike. At the hotel, the Tibet Holiday Inn in Thamel, I dropped off my bags and then went to Raj's office which is just around the corner. I road on the back of his motorcycle, I am sure that was quite a sight!!! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In Raj's office, we talked about my trip. I had booked a guide through him as well as the flights to and from Lukla. As my return flight to Bangkok was not before October 31, I was originally thinking of making a short trip to Lhasa after my Everest trip. However, China Air apparantly is not flying anymore the end of October, so we were talking about alternatives. We finally agreed on a 5 day/4night trip to Poon Hill in the Annapurna area. Shortly thereafter, I met my guide, Bharat, who was with me for the next 4 weeks. Raj invited me for dinner at his house. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bharat and I then went to Durbar Square. We walked through the narrow roads of Kathmandu until we reached it. Durbar Square is a World Heritage Site. It holds the palaces of the Malla and Shah kings who ruled Kathmandu for centuries. The oldest temples and buildings in this place date back to the 16th century. For more detailed information on Durbar Square, please click on this link: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Detailed Info on Durbar Square | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| As we were supposed to be at Raj's house for dinner around 6 pm, we went back to my hotel. There, I discovered that I did not like my room at all where they had put my luggage (a tiny bed and no a/c amongst other things), but as the hotel was full I couldn't change it. I asked Raj later to change my hotel, as my original plan was to stay in the L'Annapurna Hotel anyway. On the way to Raj's house, the car ran out of fuel. As there was a festival going on, gas stations were closed, so there was no way for the driver to fill up the tank earlier. So Bharat and I walked the last 500 meters or so to Raj's house. Dinner was excellent and well prepared by Raj's wife. Deepak, the other owner of Adventure Thirdpole joined and Bharat, of course was there as well. We talked about many things, including the ethnic diversity of Nepal, local customs and traditions, Maoists, and many other interesting things about Nepal and its people. It was a very enjoyable evening. When I got back to my hotel, they actually changed my room to an a/c room. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Click here to view more pictures from this day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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