TRAVELMAN in NEPAL- Getting out of the Kathmandu airport

I arrived at the Kathmandu airport yesterday afternoon to start a two week volunteer stint in a Nepali village clinic. I’d been up since three A.M. navigating airports and minin-vans.

My connecting flight in Mumbai was delayed an hour, so I was late for my pick-up time. I just wanted to get to wherever the organization was having me stay and get settled into my place with a shower, a meal, and an internet connection.

—-This is one of the many slums surrounding the Mumbai Airport. This one is directly next to the runway.—-

I was excited to land at the Kathmandu airport. I’d seen a picture from a friend of mine at the Kathmandu airport. She was on the side of a mountaiin while on the runway. So you can understand my disappointment when my plane did not land on the side of a mountain. What a jip! Apparently, my friend was at the secret, supercool, adventurer airport. Where’s my mountainside?

—-You can see the Himalayas in the clouds on the horizon.—-

So when I landed at Kathmandu’s tiny little airport, it was still cool, don’t get me wrong, but the lack of mountainside landing put a damper on my experience. Kind of like when you expect to see the best movie you’re ever going to see and it’s merely one of the best, but not the best -that weird, spoiled disappointment you feel when the bar is set way too high. “Yeah, cool, I can see the Himalaya’s in the distance, but I really thought I’d be ON a Himalaya! Lousy, stinking, no good, regular old, small, exotic KTM ariport in a far-off exotic land you’ve dreamed of visiting all your life, and now you’re here. It’s just not fair.”

KTM is the abbreviation for the Kathmandu airport. I’ll now be able to casually drop this into conversation to brag-exsplain my trip while attending my next dinner party- “Well, Bob, that sounds like when I landed at KTM- I was there to volunteer at a hospital, you know, give back where I can- No big whoop. Saving the world is just what I do. Anyway, it was nothing like I’d expected. I mean, there wasn’t a Sherpa in sight!. ...Yes, I will have another martini, thank you.”

...Anyhoo, weird thing about KTM is that you go through a metal detector to LEAVE the airport. ??? Do they fear I brought a gun to shoot Mount Everest? A gun I made on the plane after having gone through security to board the plane?

—-this and the remaining pics in this post are from my ride to Matrika’s house—-

Once I’d made it through security- to leave, I walked to the curb and looked for my driver. The last email I’d received from the organization instructed me to look for a driver holding a sign with my name on it, and not to tip anyone around the airport because it was a scam.

A row of drivers held up signs across the street. I searched for my name. Nothing even close to my name was on any of the signs. I wondered if the driver gave up because my flight was an hour and a half late.

“Excuse me sir, what hotel you go?” A taxi driver asked me.

I was used to being aggressively solicited by taxi drivers so I said, “No, thank you.”

I moved on, searching for my name on a card. I walked further down the taxi, pick-up, drop-off lane, and I found nothing. There weren’t many places to look. I’d been in barns in Amish country that were bigger than this airport terminal.

“Excuse me sir, where you go?” Another taxi driver asked.

I shook my head, said “no,” and kept walking. I couldn’t find anyone looking for me except taxi drivers wanting a fare. I decided that I’d have to find a way to call the phone number in the email. I walked back into the exit area of the airport.

“What hotel you stay at?” Another driver asked as I walked up to a kiosk selling SIM cards. I put the driver in a Vulcan death grip until he passed out, then I stepped over him and inquired with the agent about purchasing one of their fine Nepali SIM cards. I learned that not only did I need a passport size photograph of myself (the 8x10 glossy’s I was carrying for autograph signing were not acceptable), I would also need to pay in Nepali currency, no Visa/MasterCard.

Never fear the ATM is near! The agent informed me that I could find an ATM outside, twenty feet to the left. I thanked him, gave him an autographed 8x10 glossy, stepped back over the unconscious taxi driver, and went to the ATM.

The ATM was out of service. It was the only ATM at the airport (How small is the airport? The airport is so small it has one ATM and it’s broken!) I was beginning to think this was going to be a very long day. I’d been looking forward to getting to my destination and getting some rest after my day of flying. I had to dig deep into my Travelman reserves for serenity now!

I found a Caucasian who I thought may speak English and also be able to help me. She was holding a sign with someone else’s name on it. This made me figure she was familiar with these parts. I asked her if she spoke English, she did. I explained my plight and asked if I could find an ATM in walking distance. She said yes, then she offered to let me use her phone. Yes!

I called. A man on the other end said, “Hello.” It was a bad connection, then the call dropped. I called back. It was busy. We called back again, numerous times, still busy. Finally, I got through.

The man, who I assumed was the “Matrika” named in the email, asked if I’d emailed him a couple days ago to confirm. I said that no one had asked that of me and the last email explained I’d get picked up at the appropriate time. He told me to find a taxi driver and have the driver call him, he’d tell the driver where to take me and pay the fare.

So I went crawling back to the taxi drivers with my tail between my legs. “So, uhhh... You know how I blew you guys off? Treated you like scammers? That’s all in the past, right? Whatta’ ya’ say we move on?”

Yeah, they were eager to move on. One of them called my guy, got a busy signal, and again a busy signal. The taxi driver and his buddies kept asking me where I was going and I kept responding with “I don’t know. The guy at that number knows.”

Finally, we got through and I went on an enlightening one hour ride through Kathmandu traffic. In a previous post I said that Cambodia is dusty. Cambodia is a sterile operating room compared to Kathmandu. The leaves of the trees and their trunks are all a light, grayish-brown because they’re caked with dust.

The city felt comfortable and dangerous at the same time, like an old, electrified, metal fan with a frayed cord.

...So there, I was! In Kathmandu! Having made my contact, I was set for the meeting! The air, thick with a dust filled sunset and motorbike exhaust fumes! ... Why no, I’m not a secret agent, but thanks for asking. I’m Travelman! And I’m a big dork who likes to fantasize like Walter Mitty.

My driver pulled into a gated drive and I met Matrika. He’s an extremely nice man who runs the volunteer organization. We were at the hotel he’s about to open. It was well decorated and looked like a nice place to stay. He said that I’d be staying there one night free. He was rightly proud of his new hotel. On the first night, I’d stay at his house, then I’d stay at a home stay outside the village and near the clinic where I’ll be volunteering, I don’t know when I stay at the hotel. His hotel driver drove me to his house.

—-View from Matrika’s sun deck in his house. It’s just outside my room for last night and tonight.—-

I met his nine-year old daughter and another volunteer, Natalie, from Germany who is teaching children in town until Friday. Matrika arrived and we had the Nepali staple, Dal Bhat, for dinner. They eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s rice, soup (dal), and an assortment of vegetables. Like Indians, Nepalese eat with their right hand. I ate with my spoon. It was excellent food and conversation. Matrika gave me tips on my trip to India and Natalie gave me ideas for spending my time in Nepal.

It’s now morning. It’s chilly, about the mid fifties in Fahrenheit. I slept upstairs and took a kind-of-warm shower in the freezing cold bathroom. This ain’t no Thailand Beach!

Matrika will take me site seeing today and tomorrow, and tomorrow night I will go out to the village where I will volunteer.

!steemitworldmap 27.6982 lat 85.3993 long Landing in Kathmandu-Nepal, d3scr