We’ve been in Nepal for about 3 hours now. But allow me to pick up where I left off--on the plane.
It was a half full flight. Mostly Nepalese, though a few westerners and Indians. We sat next to a Nepali man who worked for the UN and journeyed back and forth to India regularly. Again we didn’t have a window seat, but I didn’t think there was much to see in Delhi as we took off. It was hazy and cloudy.
The flight was short--an hour and a half or so. I saw some of India way below me. As I watched the physical map on the flight tracker and we neared Nepal I began to look for mountains but saw nothing but flat ground. We were at 30,000 feet, about the height of Everest. I imagined mountains this high up. Impossible. I felt like we were so much higher than any land could possibly be. Then I looked across the aisle, out the far window, to the left (north) side of the plane. There the Himalayas rose like a wall out of the clouds. In the distance were mountains that were at eye level. I could never have imagined anything like it. On my right, flat plains miles below me. On my left, a massive wall of blue and white, snowy peaks rising from a bed of clouds as if in a painting. I snapped only a couple photos before we descended into the clouds. Since it’s rainy season, those may be the best views of the mountains we get the whole time we’re here.
One of the people nearby saw me gawking (as many people on the plane were) and asked if it was our first time in Nepal. Like it wasn’t obvious. We got in a conversation with him as we watched the mountains, and it turns out he’s a Nepali who has climbed Everest twice. He looked like a kid! Maybe 25 years old at most, and scrawnier than me! He had lots to say about it. I asked if we could see Everest from the plane. He said sometimes, if the angle is correct, but not today. Everest would have been at about our 11:00, but from the plane’s tiny windows one can only see from about 8:00 to 10:00. We thought it was pretty remarkable that we were sitting next to someone who’d climbed it. Though one might think most Nepalis would have, the odds are actually quite slim when you realize that only a few thousand people have climbed Everest ever and Nepal has 20 million people.
From above, the city was a sprawling urban mess. I was glad to see it surrounded by high hills, but they were all shrouded in clouds as they likely will be for the next two months. The airport was a bit scary for us, being so out of our element, but it went off pretty smoothly. A single large room for health check, money changing, and immigration. That took about an hour. Our bag was waiting at the baggage claim, and customs inspection consisted of a guy looking at us and waving us through. We exited into a crowd of porters, drivers, and family members crowding around the exit of the airport, and Melissa and I must have looked completely at a loss. How does one handle this kind of situation, where you have no idea what anyone’s saying to you and you think anyone might try to take advantage of you? How do you call a taxi? How do you find where to go? The first guy that spoke to us said “Where are you going?” and my instinct was to ignore him as I had been told to do. But being at a loss as I was, I figured, why not, maybe he can help. I said “Hotel Courtyard” and he said “oh yes, follow me.” Melissa and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. He led us through the crowd and said “they have a car waiting for you.” Someone popped out of the crowd with a sign that said “Melissha Gunter” and we suddenly felt very relieved. For as scary as it was, it was remarkably easy and we had no troubles at all! “Trust the system” I say, even if there seems to be none at all.
Our ride to the hotel was unlike anything we’d experienced before. But we’ll save those thoughts for the next entry. (I have no more photos to add yet.) At the moment, all is well and we are thrilled to be here. This will be the experience of a lifetime.
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