World trip › Tibet & Mount Everest
China, Tibet -> Nepal, Kathmandu (The end of peace and quiet)
November 6, 2010
After a fairly short night, we were greeted by the usual glorious weather. A quick drive to the Chinese-Nepalese border, the “Friendship Bridge”, and a short breakfast later, we said goodbye to our driver and tour guide Dorjee. Despite that odd incident at Mt. Everest, Dorjee turned out to be a great guide. Last night in particular, he made up for everything. We exchanged e-mail addresses and wished each other all the best.
Inside the border building I could hardly believe my eyes. Wasn’t that attractive border officer up ahead the girl I’d been dancing with so intensely last night? Compared to yesterday, she did look a bit different in her uniform and with her hair tied up. Was it her? I got my answer when she looked at me and winked… ;) Wow, I certainly wouldn’t have had any trouble at the border now. ;)
After a quick baggage check and passport stamping we finally crossed the Friendship Bridge, leaving China and entering Nepal. The vibe here was noticeably different right away. More restless and somehow busier. We made our way through the countless offers along the lines of “Taxi, Kathmandu, very cheap for you" to the immigration office, got our passports stamped and went looking for a cheap ride to the capital. I quickly changed my leftover Chinese currency into Nepalese rupees and had to point out three times to the man in the “exchange office” that he had shortchanged me. Coincidence? Hardly. Wherever tourists/foreigners flock, an army of con artists is bound to follow. But if you keep your wits about you at all times, you can avoid most scams. In the end we settled on a jeep taxi that seemed cheap. At first there were only three of us in the car – half an hour later there were eleven.
A quick job of lashing the luggage to the roof…
…and off we went on a breakneck ride over hill and dale,…
…through streams running across the road…
…and along extremely narrow roads.
Along the way I got to admire the local buses‘ rather economical use of space,…
…enjoyed the view of green forests…
…and the Himalayas fading further and further into the distance.
Our vehicle to Kathmandu turned out to be reliable.
The completely overcrowded buses hurtling toward us (why bother braking on a bend?) were simply fascinating and (still) totally new to me.
Slowly but surely the green gave way, and after a bus ride of about four hours we reached the outskirts of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu…
…and finally the tourist district of Thamel.
With my big backpack on my back I was surprised to find no hotel – everything was booked out. Lucky me had, without realizing it, blundered right into one of the many Nepalese festivals, the five-day Tihar festival (including Newar New Year and several Hindu New Years), which, among other things, coincides with the Diwali festival. I found myself surrounded by decorated dogs (it was the second day of the festival), Kathmandu was literally turned upside down, and the room situation was more than a little suboptimal. Too many locals and tourists were in town, filling up every place to stay. Unfortunately I hadn’t booked ahead – who could have guessed that Kathmandu would ever actually be fully booked? After what felt like an eternity of searching, I finally found a free room on the magic twelfth try.
Happy to have a roof over my head, I threw my stuff on the bed and rested a bit after all the lugging before heading out to explore Kathmandu for the first time.
Further links:
- Friendship Bridge – Chinese-Nepalese border near Tibet
- Nepal – Country between China and India
- Chinese currency – Renminbi or simply Yuan
- Nepalese currency – Nepalese rupee
- Kathmandu – Capital of Nepal
- Thamel – Tourist district of Kathmandu
- Nepalese holidays – Many (and I mean many) long religious festivals
- Tihar – Second most important Nepalese 5-day festival
- Newar – Majority of the Nepalese living in Kathmandu
- Diwali – Important Hindu festival (comparable to Christmas)