A short set from Pokhara, Sarangkot, and the hills around the lake.

A short set from Kathmandu and the Kathmandu Valley.

My first trip to Kathmandu is now over, so there are some lessons learned I should scribe. Some of these are obvious rules I usually abide by whenever travelling, and some I simply forgot in my (very) impromptu trip to Nepal. When agreeing on a price, make 100% sure the other person states the price back to you. I thought a price had been agreed to when the other person responded “ok ok, you are a lucky man”, but this does not count. As they say, reconfirm, reconfirm, reconfirm. When arriving at the airport, make sure you have small bills, too. I had 3x 100RS, 1x 10RS, and then a few 500RS. The price I negotiated was 440RS, and it would have been nice to have paid the exact amount. During my visit, …

Sure enough, I did not arrive back at Kathmandu until almost 17:00, maybe later, which translated into a very long day. I debated whether I should have flown, even though that would have been more expensive, but I do not know if it would have been any safer. I walked away from the bus stop and navigated directly to the Laughing Buddha, where I put down my bags, bought some water, and went out looking for food. After visiting a supermarket, I had dinner and a beer at MoMo Star, dodged a few more scooters, and finally settled back into bed.

I awoke just before 6:00 a.m. and started walking. The streets were quieter than normal, but still active. It was dark enough that I used my flashlight, although the locals managed to navigate without any assistance. After walking down Thamel Road, past the Garden of Dreams, and across the street, I found a long row of “tourist buses.” There are three ways to get to Pokhara, my next destination: a local bus, a tourist bus, and a minibus. The local bus is inexpensive but apparently takes a long time because it stops in every town. The tourist bus takes much less time but is more expensive; it is basically like a Greyhound bus. Then there is the minibus, which takes about as long as the tourist bus …

My image of Kathmandu was something like a Swiss winter wonderland, but in Asia. The second the plane dropped below the clouds, I realised how wrong I was: the entire city was dotted with four- and five-storey buildings and surrounded by a dark haze of pollution. The airport was simple. I had already prepared my visa application, the required $25, and two photos, so I moved quickly through the line. Outside the airport, taxis were everywhere. The prepaid counter quoted 650 RS, which gave me a baseline. Of course, that may have been the point.