Arrival in Kathmandu

7 Oct Tuesday - Kathmandu Arrival

Our flight from Doha reached Kathmandu at 8:15 am local time (which is 15 min behind India). It was a 4 hour flight, slept for the first 2 hrs. Interestingly, the airport transfer at the Kathmandu airport to the terminal was in a regular bus, as in a bus that looks like the oldschool KSRTC fast passenger bus - with a big steering, gearbox etc.

First Impressions: “Come for the mountains, stay for the people”

All along this trip from SFO to Kathmandu, there was a lady who were in the flights. We met her at the baggage claim area and said hello. We had a brief chat and it turns out that she is a trek guide for a Canadian company. She said something profound about Nepal which stuck with us - there is this saying people come to Nepal for the mountains, but they really stay for the people. It is true and we will realize during the rest of the trip - the Nepali people are so nice.

Smooth Entry

As Indian citizens, we didn’t need a visa to enter Nepal, so the immigration process was pretty straightforward. The duty officer reminded us that if we are going back to the US directly from Nepal, we need to get an NOC from the Indian consulate in Kathmandu.

We bought a local SIM & exchanged forex from the airport itself. We were able to withdraw Nepalese Rupee from an ATM in the airport using our Federal Bank account.

We went to the Apex Hotel next to the airport where we will be staying on our way back. They had agreed to keep our luggage there, so we did that and came back to the airport.

Change of Plans

We took an earlier air flight (1:30pm) instead of the original plan of 6:30pm flight to Pokhara. This is a no-brainer since there are frequent flights from Kathmandu and Pokhara, and all of them are delayed. So, no matter which flight you have booked, when you arrive at the airport, you can board any flight that is leaving at that time. Simple!

We reached Pokhara at 2:30 pm & checked into the hotel - Hotel Dashain.

Reunion of a couple of roaming souls

As soon as we checked in, George called the TKM folks who are already staying in the same hotel - Boni & Renjith Baby. Both of them came down and it was a reunion of three souls - after 20 yrs!

Rest & Recovery

We were super tired after the multiple flights. So quickly had a bath, an early dinner, went to sleep early.

Tomorrow: Exploring Pokhara and the Indiahikes debrief