I've arrived

I have finally arrived. I am still working on fully arriving, but after 40 hours of travel I can finally say I have physically arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Getting here took a very long time, but nothing too crazy happened. After meeting up with Kelsey (a fellow College of Wooster student) at LAX, we flew to Shanghai, China for a brief 4-hour layover. The Shanghai airport is really dingy, the air was heavy and wet, the mosquitos were hungry and the drinking water choices were warm, warm, or hot. Kelsey encountered her first squatty potty experience!

After another flight we landed in Kunming, China, for a 14-hour layover. Sadly, we arrived around midnight local time and were not able to leave the airport beyond the entry doors. Kelsey and I set up camp outside the Starbucks on some surprisingly comfortable benches and slept there for the night. The Kunming airport was much nicer than Shanghai’s. There were countless people hustling and bustling around—I felt like a little fish in a big pond, and I liked it. I also got to witness the Chinese lack of personal space, all of the permitted smoking indoors, and the men who just spit or snot rocket right on the ground INSIDE!

After Kunming, the next stop was Kathmandu, Nepal! Flying in I was completely overwhelmed and awestruck by the vast greenery and the natural beauty that is Nepal. Amongst the rolling mountains, covered in trees, and a rainbow of green it became blatantly clear that this is exactly where I am supposed to be.

The views from the flight in are the most beautiful I have ever witnessed. I am completely humbled by the giant mountains and deep valleys all covered in green! There were houses, followed by communities (as we got closer to the landing) delicately placed amongst the lush hills, seemingly not upsetting the ecosystem of bountiful trees and greenery.

As I approached the airport, it became obvious that Kathmandu is the exception to all of the natural beauty. The city, and it certainly is a city, is tucked in a valley surrounded by towering mountains. Kathmandu itself is shockingly similar to Bangalore. Granted I have only been here for one night, but the taxi ride from the airport to the guesthouse where I slept brought back so many memories, and felt shockingly familiar. I expected similarities, especially after reading the history of Nepal and understanding the Indian and Hindu influences, but I could never have guessed just how familiar this would feel, for better or for worse.

I think it will be difficult at times, living in a polluted city (again), littered with people, beggars, and poverty, but beneath the outer shell, I still have complete faith in Nepal and Kathmandu. Last summer, is was exciting and challenging and fun to have to face life in this way, and to adapt to a home so shockingly different than my own, but the mystic that I felt when I got off the plane last year did not carry over this time. Don’t get me wrong, Nepal and India are completely different countries, and I am eager to uncover those differences as my time here progresses.

When leaving the airport, just after Kelsey and I gathered our bags and purchased our visas, we were confronted by a lot of people trying to help, give us a hotel, offer a taxi, etc. etc. etc. and just as I was getting ready to turn my sass on, a huge sigh of relief came over me. Maria, a Wooster alum who now lives in Nepal and is studying Buddhism here, was out front to pick us up! She rode with us to Boudha, a hideaway within the city of Kathmandu.  Boudha is a Tibetan quarter and it is truly a diamond in the rough. It is so beautiful here and I could not be happier that Maria introduced us to this area. It is calm, the people are nice, the air feels cleaner, and I am at peace. We spent last night getting dinner, tea, and experiencing the beauty and magic of Bouhda.