Himalayan Odyssey (2)

Eventually we settled on some dates and booked tickets for Nepal well in advance. This was just as well as we discovered that closer to the time of departure, which we had settled to be September 30th, tickets even for the end of October were impossible to obtain. Then there was the usual round of visa application, necessary vaccinations, and refilling the gastro and medical kits. A few last minute purchases included a couple of new tech tops, walking socks, and a 100 litre duffle bag to carry overnight gear and clothes etc on the trek.

After what had seemed like a very slow start, departure day seemed to roll around very quickly - September seemed to rip past at a phenomenal speed.

So on Saturday September 29th Dominic arrived from Canberra and Barry and Shirley arrived on Sunday so that we could all go to the airport together. Check-in was uneventful apart from a rather sour-faced business-class check-in attendant who called us to her line for check-in and then seemed put out that we had a fair bit of baggage! The only other event of note(?) was that we all had to disembark the plane at Brisbane due to security regulations - ho hum! On the Brisbane to Bangkok leg I spoke to the young bloke next to me. He was off on a year backpacking holiday in Europe starting off with Oktoberfest in Germany. I didn't say anything but I thought to myself that it might have been better to end the trip at Oktoberfest but, hey - what do I know.

A couple of hours to wait in Bangkok (new) airport was boring and emphasised again, for me, how inane the security arrangements are at this particular airport. At every other international airport I have been to, you go through the second level of security to get to the gate areas and then you can still buy essentials like bottled water. Not at the new Bangkok airport though! After going through security there is NOTHING except the gate check-in, toilets, and seating in the gate-lounge area. There is nowhere to get a drink of any kind and they will not let you take in water bottles or even an empty container to fill up. If your flight happens to be delayed you can get very thirsty and even quite distressed from lack of fluid intake. After this trip I vow that I will avoid Bangkok if at all possible on future overseas trips - at least unless they do something about this ridiculous situation. I have no problem at all with the security requirements but the way they are implemented at this particular airport is just plain silly. OK - got that off my chest but I do intend to write to the Bangkok airport authorities about this.

The short flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu is over quickly and then it is out into the mad melee at Kathmandu airport. Baggage trolleys are free at Kathmandu but they are all commandeered by porters who want money for handling your gear out to the waiting chaos of the taxi rank. Finding and getting to a suitably sized taxi is a perilous undertaking and it would be quite easy to lose ones baggage if one became separated from it. However, we managed to find a mini-bus which could take all of our gear and ourselves to the Tibet Guest House where Dominic had made our initial hotel bookings.

The journey into the Thamel area of Kathmandu was very reminiscent of the traffic chaos of Bangalore. All of the road is used by vehicles travelling in either direction and the horn is used continuously. Traffic moves slowly and any vacant piece of road is quickly filled with a vehicle of some kind. Like Bangalore there are rules: Trucks have absolute right-of-way due to their size, then large buses, smaller buses, cars, motorbikes, motorised trishaws (these are bigger than motorbikes but generally much slower), pedalled rickshaws, cows, bicycles, and - last of all - pedestrians.

Eventually the driver navigated us through the narrow and even more chaotic streets and lanes of Thamel to our chosen hotel. Ah but! The hotel cannot find our booking (done by e-mail) and in any case has no rooms available! Fortunately Hotel Yanki right next door (and coincidentally owned by the brother of the owner of Tibet Guest House!) has a couple of rooms available at US$20 per night so we are not stuck for long. The room that Dominic and I are assigned to is on the first floor and overlooks one of the main 'roads'. The picture below, taken from the balcony of our hotel room, gives some idea of Thamel 'roads' (and this is one of the wider ones since it is pretty much on the Southern edge of Thamel).

Thamel from Hotel Yanki, near Chhetrapati Chowk.
Note the interesting wiring systems in front of the Hotel.

We were due to meet up with the Sherpa Society rep the following morning at the hotel so Dominic rang her (Meena) to tell her about the change of hotel. After stowing our baggage in the hotel room we have our first wander around the lanes of the Thamel district. Practically all of the shops are aimed squarely at tourists and selling souvenirs of many different kinds - castings, carvings, clothing, etc. Many shops are also catering to trekkers who need to add to their clothing or equipment before heading off into the 'hills'.

We stopped at Brezels German Bakery for a chai and then on to Pilgrims Bookshop for a browse. Dinner that night was at KC's - a mixed veg curry and rice with roti, lentils and Aloo Jeere for about 300 Rupees - about AU$5.50 (approx 55 Rupees to the Australian dollar). Bedtime at the hotel was early after a shower following nearly two days of travel etc.

I had decided to wear my Unisys pedometer just to see how things were stacking up exercise wise. At the end of this day, counting from Australia, the reading was 5395 steps.