Kathmandu

Namaste.

This website has a beautiful definition of "namaste."

http://www.taketheleap.com/namaste.htm

I've arrived in Kathmandu and am staying at "Elbrus Home." The stopover in Bangladesh was very interesting to say the least. I had breakfast with a shihk (sp) and an interesting conversation. A Bangladesh man in the Bangkok airport offered to have me stay with him in Dhaka on my layover for my flight... yeah... NOOOOOO. Bangladesh was intimidating. It is very much a male dominated society and I was grateful I had prepared by purchasing a full length skirt in Bangkok yesterday morning. The plane left Bangkok at 9:20 pm on Benin Bangladesh airways (I will probably not use them again) and we arrived in Dhaka Bangladesh about midnight. (It's a 2+ hour flight). By the time the airlines arranged to take me to a hotel it was well after 1:00 am. I was transported there with an English man and the shihk from India. The English man was actually living in Thailand (for the prior 7 years) and was hoping to make it home in time before his mother passed away. The Shihk was traveling on business.

I met a couple from England (25 and 22) and they are very sweet. We've been helping each other out a bit since we all boarded the plane in Bangkok and we ended up deciding we'd stay in the same guesthouse here in Kathmandu. I'm sure I'll see them more and possibly see them on the trek as well. They are very sweet and fun.

Elbrus Home is $6 USD per night for one person (~76 rupis). My room has two single beds and a fan and a private bathroom and tv. For two people the same room is $8 per night. The guesthouse is on the 4th floor and the view is beautiful. There is a large patio area that overlooks the city. Here's a website:

http://www.hostelsweb.com/hostelsweb.com/hostel.php?HostelNumber=20533

Kathmandu is surrounded by mountains and reminds me of Denver but much smaller and VERY different. Not SAME SAME and YES DIFFERENT. (That's for Sherri). :-P In Thailand the phrase the foreigners hear often is "same same but different..." in otherwords, you should buy it because it's similar to something but it's unique so either way ... you will like.

Did I mention Kathmandu is surrounded by mountains? To Colorado born hiking mountain lover in me, this translates into "home." I love the mountains and was missing them in Thailand. The jungle hills are beautiful too... and same same but different. Very different. I can't hike them. It's too hot and the paths would be overgrown and bug/critter inhabited. As I told Sherri and Michael in Karon Beach one night on our way back to their hotel... "I do not cross the grass at night in Thailand." I refused to take the shortcut. NOT happening. Too many centipedes, snakes, spiders, mosquitos, ants, etc. I am pretty flexible on most things but not this.

I will be shopping for my trekking things over the next two days and working on getting my permits. I need a TIMS card and a trekking permit for the Annapurna Circuit. I also need a sleeping bag, down jacket and gloves and hats, iodine and water cannister and maybe a water purifier, a pair of pants, long underwear, long sleeve shirt... and I can't remember what else. I have a full list back at the hotel. From what I've seen in the shops with new merchandise (probably fake brand names), this may not be cheap. I'm hoping to buy some used things and get a few deals but we'll see. It's the high season for trekking the Annapurna trek so it may be difficult to get good deals. We'll see though! :-)

On a side note, I had a moment of panic at the Bangkok airport. Apparently when I arrived in Bangkok I was supposed to explicitly write my visa number out on the customs info (thought I did) and let them know I needed a 60 day visa. (Also thought I did). BUT... I failed to notice the date they actually stamped for my visa. I purchased a 60 day Thai visa in the US before leaving and when I arrived in BKK they stamped my passport with a 30 day visa. At the airline desk when I checked my bag I was informed that I had exceeded my visa stay and that I would be charged 500 baht for each extra day. I thanked her and proceeded to the immigration office. The man there reviewed my passport and my US visa and the stamp that they used when I arrived. He proceeded to cross out the date they gave me originally and restamp it with a 60 days date. I was so relieved I almost cried. I also almost called home to the US to have a good cry with one of you but realized it was somewhere between 2:00 - 4:00 am and you might not appreciate the call and me needing to be mopped up off a thai airport floor from thousands of miles away. Sigh. So I mopped myself up instead. :-) It was fine. I just don't like to mess with immigration especially since I need to come back in!

Anyways, I want to head out and find some yummy Nepalese dinner. I hope all of you are well.

Love and hugs,
Joyann

ps - for those considering trekking, the book "Trekking in the Annapurna Region" by Bryn Thomas is excellent. Sherri, thank you for getting this for me. It's becoming invaluable.