Varanasi to Kathmandu, Nepal
Susan, Katherine and I shared a taxi to Varanasi airport. Susan graciously picked up my taxi fare. Amidst the chaos at the airport we finally found the check-in line. A slightly built Indian man cut in line in front of us and I had had enough of it. I picked him up by the shoulders and physically moved him behind us. He protested weakly, but knew he had cut in front of us and knew I was quite pissed.
Security at the airport was the tightest I have seen so far on the RTW trip. They hand searched every person and every bag as well as passing carry-ons through the x-ray machines. If you had a bottle of water, they had you drink some of it, to prove it wasn't an explosive, and then they confiscated it.
The Indian Airlines flight was 3-hours late. It took us only 40-minutes to get to Nepal. I had some beautiful views of the Himalayan mountains from the jet, including, I"m pretty sure, a view of Mt. Everest.
Kathmandu Airport was clean, spacious and pleasant compared to Varansi airport. We filled out forms for a Nepal Visa, supplied a photo, $30 USD and were efficiently issued a visa and passed through passport control.
A driver was waiting for me with a sign with my name on it (he had waited 3-hours for the flight as well). I must admit, the few times I have arranged this (and when the driver has actually shown up) I have felt like movie star as compared to the how I experience the rest of my traveling. The ride to the hotel was much less chaotic than in India. The drivers actually appear to follow a number of the traffic rules.
I'm staying at the sister hotel to the one in Varanasi and it is quite comfortable, I just can't remember the name or how to prounouce it - the Marsyangdi Mandala Guest House (I looked it up).
Susan, Katherine and I shared a taxi to Varanasi airport. Susan graciously picked up my taxi fare. Amidst the chaos at the airport we finally found the check-in line. A slightly built Indian man cut in line in front of us and I had had enough of it. I picked him up by the shoulders and physically moved him behind us. He protested weakly, but knew he had cut in front of us and knew I was quite pissed.
Security at the airport was the tightest I have seen so far on the RTW trip. They hand searched every person and every bag as well as passing carry-ons through the x-ray machines. If you had a bottle of water, they had you drink some of it, to prove it wasn't an explosive, and then they confiscated it.
The Indian Airlines flight was 3-hours late. It took us only 40-minutes to get to Nepal. I had some beautiful views of the Himalayan mountains from the jet, including, I"m pretty sure, a view of Mt. Everest.
Kathmandu Airport was clean, spacious and pleasant compared to Varansi airport. We filled out forms for a Nepal Visa, supplied a photo, $30 USD and were efficiently issued a visa and passed through passport control.
A driver was waiting for me with a sign with my name on it (he had waited 3-hours for the flight as well). I must admit, the few times I have arranged this (and when the driver has actually shown up) I have felt like movie star as compared to the how I experience the rest of my traveling. The ride to the hotel was much less chaotic than in India. The drivers actually appear to follow a number of the traffic rules.
I'm staying at the sister hotel to the one in Varanasi and it is quite comfortable, I just can't remember the name or how to prounouce it - the Marsyangdi Mandala Guest House (I looked it up).
posted by Chris at 11:00 PM
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