Kathmandu

I arrived in Kathmandu by Qatar Airlines last night. The flight was great, I got the visa at the airport, and the hotel taxi was there when I came out. There was also an American guy named Kaleb taking the taxi to the hotel. The drive was fun. We saw lots of dogs prowling around, though we were told that they are not so harmful. But they were literally ruling the city! We saw some cows in the street, searching in the garbage for food.

Anyways, we arrived at Hotel Silver Home in Thamel, the touristic part of the city. The room is okay. It’s below one-star standard, but I don’t mind.

Today I walked to Durbar Square, where there are plenty of temples and tourists. About the city — it is overly crowded and extremely noisy. The drivers literally love to honk their horns and they use them almost non-stop. The streets smell either good or bad, maybe because I’m new here. There are as many bikes and motorbikes as people. But all in all, people seem to not care much about all this craziness, and they seem quite happy.

I tried to do some photography, but I was not really in the mood. I think I need to acclimatize and give myself some time. There are plenty of photo opportunities, but I need to get familiar with the atmosphere and relax first. There are some Sadhus (Hindu mendicant ascetics) who paint their faces and are great subjects for photos, but they ask you for some money in return. I avoided shooting them because I don’t like paying for a photo. I might do so once, if I see all of them ask for money.

Tomorrow I’m going to Pokhara, a beautiful town at the feet of the Annapurna mountain range. I wanted to take a mountain flight to see Everest up close, but I just heard that an airplane crashed this morning, killing 90 people. Though this kind of accident is by no means frequent (apparently the first time ever), I’m disheartened to do it. Maybe in a few days. It was a tragic accident, and my heart goes out to all the families of the deceased.

I went out walking to the Monkey Temple this afternoon with Kaleb, but it started to rain — which quickly became a shower! We had to return after half an hour as he was literally soaked. I’m happy I brought my poncho along! The monsoon is supposed to be over, but apparently this year it will stay a bit longer. Lucky me!

Everything’s fine here, except a curious toothache I have. I haven’t had a toothache in nearly 10 years, and just now it should happen. Damn.