NAMASTE NEPAL - Part 1

From all the countries that I have visited, Nepal has a special place in my heart. Before traveling to Nepal via Sharjah, U.A.E. I did a bit of research on what to expect but nothing could have prepared me.

Landing in Kathmandu airport surrounded by trekkers and elephant trippers, we were all waiting in line under a concrete structure with only some scattered ceiling fans to rustle the smells and humid air around us. Lifting my backpack I wonder what lay behind the closed doors.

We were awaited by our ride to take us to our hotel in the city. The drive was an eye opener. I mean driving in Lebanon always prepares you to some exciting maneuvers, but I never expected bicycles to be part of the maneuvering especially when the roads where really bumpy with tight turns and an unexpected cow. With every bump in the road, I tried to get some pictures of the sites that where colorful yet melancholic.

Reaching our hotel in an alley where the car couldn’t cross as to some construction, we heft up our backpacks and trod on to the entrance.
 

Walking to the gate...talk about an Eden in the middle of chaos. Kantipur Temple Hotel with its original traditional Nepali structures and gardens was a surprise. As it is an ecofriendly hotel, plastic is not allowed, they provide you with reusable bags for shopping and bottles to fill your water rather than buying plastic. To the point that a sign hangs on the bathroom door asking to conserve shower water and what better way than to have someone share it with you. Hospitality all the way!

A small stroll outside the hotel was like landing on another planet. If I can find the picture that my friend took of me with my eyes so wide trying to save a puppy by a car backing up, it was simply priceless. 

A tip for future trekkers you can find all original trekking gear at the shops for half the price. Did I just sound like an Adsense...

The next day we head out back to the airport to catch our flight to Annapurna with Air Buddha. The lovely hostesses passed out cottonplugs for our ears to dull the wump wump of the propellers for the 30 minute flight.  The seats where so compact that they were perfect for my size and for the first time I could actually drag my hand on the ceiling. Yes it was a small 20 seater plane.

The view from the plane showed green pastures, hills and majestic mountains peeking from clouds. And still I feel the vibrations of the plane leave a rumble in my soul. Do I see the Himalayan mountain?!