Day 144 - Kathmandu to Sharjah to Istanbul

After 4.5 months in Asia, I'm headed to a new continent finally! (...well I'll still be on the "Asian" side of Turkey, but I'll consider it Europe)

but I created an inconvenient situation for myself right before I left Nepal...on the very last day, I happened to lose my cell phone! (or have it stolen? I never really know)... so I'll have to find a cheap phone to buy when I get to Turkey.

The airport in Kathmandu was small, but pretty efficient to get through, maybe because there weren't really that many people there in the first place. I took an Air Arabia flight headed to Sharjah, U.A.E. It would be my first time in the Middle East, and I didn't know what to expect. I mean, the media has taught me to fear such places...and I can say it probably persuaded me not to even think about staying for a visit in any of these countries, but after landing there and seeing the possibilities and things to see, I wish I stayed...even for just a couple days just to get a small dose of the beautiful deserts and Arab culture.

Upon arrival in Sharjah, I noticed that the air looked hazy, probably due to the high level of dust and sand in the air. The airport was nice, and it was interesting to see some of the Arab men in their traditional attire, with the long robes (kaftan), head covering (ghoutra), and head circlets (igaal). There was a large presence of overseas Filipino workers at the airport, working for the airlines as well as the restaurants. I was excited to say "salamat" as thank you to them. I asked a McDonalds worker (yes I had a Big Mac) how often she was able to go home to the Philippines. She said she was able to go once, every two years, for two months. I think it's very brave of some of these young workers who travel to other countries to work in an unknown environment to help their families back home. I would think it would be stressful and lonely if things don't work out, but they do it to make things back home better for their families...

After a 4 hour layover, we finally headed to Istanbul. I went on another Air Arabia flight, and for the first time, I heard a Muslim Prayer before the plane took off on flight. I wonder if it was one of the 5 prayers that Muslims perform each day, or if it was just a prayer for a safe flight. Either way, it was quite interesting to see religion play a part in a commercial airline, much like other businesses who inconspicuously do so with their own owners' religions.

I landed in Istanbul just past midnight, took a bus and taxi to my CS Hosts' place, where he was also hosting another guy from Germany, and knocked out. The ride from the airport to the home brought me memories of my city in California. Maybe it was just because I was in a Western country, compared to all my travels in Asia, but it was nice to see clean highways, hotels, shopping centers, toll roads, etc...

Flight to Sharjah

Day 143 - Last Full Day in Kathmandu

It would be my last full day in Kathmandu. I've gotten so used to living here and it's been the country I've spent the longest time in so far on this entire journey, so it feels kind of bittersweet to leave, especially after traveling for three weeks with Aki and Niels, whom I'm gotten used to hanging out with. Aki left for Bangkok today, and Niels and I leave tomorrow, Niels leaving back to the Netherlands.

I spent the day continuing to finish my checklist, buying more souvenirs and finally shipping them home. Again, shipping stuff costs an arm and a leg. I think the total was around $85 USD to ship 6kg of stuff home, and I'm sure my backpack will still weigh a ton when I head to the airport tomorrow...

We had another amazing dinner at the hostel, our last dinner with the hostel... It was the closest thing to Mexican food that I have had all trip - Buffalo Chili with Roti (basically like tortillas). So delicious!!! Tomorrow I head to the airport around 11am, with a layover in the U.A.E., before arriving in Turkey!

Buffalo Sukutai (?)

Buffalo Chili with Roti

Swoyambunath

Day 142 - Shopping in Kathmandu

Honestly, I've been in Kathmandu for such a long time, taking walks through the city as if it were routine, that sometimes I forget what I did the previous day! I'll try to recollect...

It was another "administration" day as I made myself a checklist of things I had to do before leaving the country in a couple days. It included getting a haircut, purchasing some last minute souvenirs to ship back home, writing postcards, shopping for socks and underwear (it's cheaper here!), possibly purchasing some artwork, blogging, updating my budget, and planning my Europe leg of my trip.

Spent the day in Thamel again, meeting with a friend at my Hostel who was with her group of American and Canadian friends. They were all English teachers in Korea for a couple years, saving enough money to travel and explore the world. Seems like a perfect option for someone who wants to travel! I hope in the future, it won't be too difficult to gather a group of friends and/or family to travel somewhere far away, but it only seems harder the older we get. I would love to come back to Nepal and do a trek with all my close friends and family!

At night, I had dinner with a friend back home in Los Angeles! He was in between jobs and decided to come to Nepal to do some trekking, rock climbing, and other adventurous activities before jumping right back into the corporate world. We shared some of our similar experiences in Nepal, as we both pretty much did the most popular touristic things. It's always nice to see a familiar face back home...so come visit me!!!

Rarely any Street Lights in Kathmandu...

Chapati Lunch Set

Dinner with Matt!

Day 141 - Bungeeeeeeeee

Today was the big day. After a week-long wait in anticipation of taking a jump off a bridge while connected to a rope, the day had finally come! We woke up at around 4:30am to walk to Thamel to catch our bus ride to the Bhote Koshi River Gorge, near the Tibet/Nepal border. I was actually surprised that I wasn't thinking too much about the jump during the 2.5 hour minibus ride. Half the time, I was trying to fall asleep without a headrest, and the other half was spent admiring the wonderful scenery as we made our way through the mountains to the resort. The skies were much clearer recently, and it was quite a sight to see the villages in the mountains, with the icy Himalayan Mountains further away, and the clouds floating below.

We arrived at the Last Resort earlier than anticipated, and immediately, we had to cross a bridge to get to the resort, giving us a glimpse of our jump-off point, as well as the gorge we'd be falling into... I already had a hard time crossing bridges in general as I am afraid of heights, and this was especially difficult. I held on to the hand rail for dear life, refusing to look down until I made it to the other side.

We waited around the resort for a good 2 hours before finally being briefed about the safety and procedures to follow while plunging into a gorge... During those two hours, I was able to catch some other jumpers from the viewing area, which made things a little less scary, knowing other people were able to do it successfully.

We had quite a large group - around 50 people who were there to take the plunge. They told us that they would separate us into three groups, depending on how much we weighed. The heavier people would go first,  and the lightest people would go last. Each person had to jump on a scale while the employees yelled out our weight, and also writing it on the back of our hands... Some of the girls made sure they took off their shoes before getting on the scale to get a more "accurate" weighing. I ended up at 64 kg, the heaviest in the 3rd group. I weighed less than most of the European guys, but more than some Israelis and Nepalese...

The employees told us a couple of helpful hints - 1) Jump off the platform, don't just step off of it, or else the rebound will be less comfortable. It's called Bungee "Jumping" and not Bungee "Falling" and 2) When you walk across the bridge, leave your brain at the resort or else you'll have a difficult time jumping.

The waiting game took forever! I don't know if it made it better or worse. Half the time, I felt more at ease, watching everyone take their turn, but then I also felt more and more anxious just to get it over with! It was fun to see how everyone jumped, and I jokingly rated each jump as if they were all divers. I was thinking how hard it was to actually gain enough energy in your legs to actually "jump" off the platform when your brain is telling you not to do it. Some people stepped off, some people fell/leaned off, and some people jumped perfectly with their hands spread out like they were flying.

Aki was in the first group, and he actually volunteered to go first just to get it over with. Niels was in the second group, and he was also the first to jump off in his group. They said it was better to just get it over with before you psyched yourself out... but then again, I think once you are on the bridge, you would most likely jump off instead of facing the humiliation of quitting... But they were right...imagine being the last person in your group to jump, standing on the bridge the entire time while the wind blew, seeing the fear in everyone else's faces before they took the plunge.

My group had to eat lunch before jumping because it was getting late in the afternoon, so we'd be jumping on full stomachs, or stomachs with whatever food we could manage to eat while in fear and anticipation. I ate, and laid on a couch, thinking about death for a little. You can't really help it. It was scary, but if I were to die because the ropes snapped, then it was meant to happen maybe? But everyone else survived so far, so chances were I would survive :)

The time finally came when our group was called to walk across the bridge. I wanted to also be first in my group, so I walked there first, a little more confident than the first time I walked across the bridge... The wind was blowing, which made things worse, but I didn't have a problem looking down at what I was jumping towards for some reason. I guess I knew it had to happen, so I wouldn't avoid looking at it. I managed to strike up a conversation with a German girl and we chatted a little about the mundane things people talk about when they first meet... It was very effective at taking my mind off the task at hand.

I was called up first to jump, and they strapped me up with ankle straps and torso straps - double protection! While all of this was happening, a cameraman was recording my fearful face and asking me how I felt. I could only say a couple of things because talking to the camera was the LAST thing I wanted to do before jumping off a platform... Once everything was set up, I slowly walked to the platform while another employee held me back, calming me down before counting down from three to one...

I didn't even think about how I would jump, whether my execution would be a "10" or not...  But I put my hands out to my sides, and took the jump, flying down to the river and it was the most incredible feeling! I really did feel like a bird, soaring through the valley. I kept my eyes open the whole time while give a couple loud yells of excitement and relief. There was a short moment when my stomach felt funny from the fall, but it went away quickly, and I don't remember feeling that same funny feeling even when I got some airtime during the rebounds...

Afterwards, I was lowered to the bottom of the river, where I was laid on a bed to get the blood circulating through my body again. It was an incredible feeling climbing back up to the resort with all that adrenaline rushing through my body. There was just so much happiness that I felt after jumping, and I would DEFINITELY do it again!

Bungee Viewpoint

SURVIVOR!

Day 140 - CS Meetup in Kathmandu

Today was an "administration" day as I spent the morning planning my trip to Europe, figure finances, and write some postcards. We weren't able to go rock climbing again today, probably due to the festival. No one picked up the phone when we called.

By chance, a CSer, originally from Turkey, wanted to meet up with me since he was working in Kathmandu and wanted to meet more people. Funny how things work out that way...since I was going to Istanbul in a few days and would love to pick his brain on some of the things to do there. We ended up having coffee and shared our experiences in Kathmandu as tourists. He also told me of standard routes to take in Turkey, and which cities to visit. I think I will make a circle around western Turkey, starting first in Istanbul, and then heading to the Aegean Coast, to Southern Turkey, and finally to Cappadoccia before leaving turkey by flight in Istanbul.

Afterwards, we headed to a CS Meetup at a dreadlock shop, where I met a bunch of other CSers from all over the world. Surprisingly, there were many others from the United States. We sat around in the shop and learned how to make dreadlocks, which really takes a lot of time and patience. I asked how long it would take to make one dreadlock, and the owner, Zen, told me it would take around an hour! I don't know too much about the dreadlock culture, but I don't think I would ever get them, just seems too difficult to maintain and keep clean...

I told many of them about my plans to bungee jump tomorrow, and of course, it only made me even more nervous. But even with my nerves, it seemed like everyone else was getting more worried about it than me, but they would say that I looked extremely nervous, despite the fact that I felt that I was pretty calm about it. I don't think I will lose sleep over it, but the 3-hour bus ride tomorrow will be another story... 

A Warm and Beautiful Day in Kathmandu Atop Our Hostel

A Russian Couchsurfer with Some Nice Dreads

CS Dreadlock Making Workshop

Day 138 - Dashain Festival Laziness

It was another day of laziness as most businesses remained closed for the Dashain festival. Spent most of the day enjoying reading the Alchemist and also planning the rest of my trip. I anticipate being home by late December or early January, ending my trip in NYC during Christmas and New Years. Things change suddenly though. A couple days ago, I planned on visiting Greece and Brazil, but now those two are not a part of the plan, since I don't think I have enough time or money to visit them this time around. Tickets to South America are so expensive!

My intended plan as of today is to fly to Turkey and explore the country for a couple weeks, then fly to Prague and explore for a week, head down to Rome and Venice with my cousin, explore southern Italy afterwards, and head to Spain for my last leg before heading back to the United States. I made a rough budget of my remaining spending money, and I'll be overspending even with this plan.

At the end of the night, there was a small celebration at the top of our hostel for the Dashain Festival. People drank and played music happily. I met a fellow accountant from the UK who also quit her job and plans to move to South Africa with her husband. We all told stories about our adventures so far in Nepal, including some of the accidents and dangers we heard about. We laughed a little just at how many accidents we had all heard about or witnessed, whether it be from planes skidding off small runways, trekking accidents, vomiting on buses, and broken legs from paragliding. All before my bungee jumping trip...

Hostel Lounging

One of our wonderful chefs

Chicken Breast with Garlic Butter Rice

Buffalo Meatballs with Garlic Mayo

Day 137 - Lazy Day in Kathmandu

I've had many lazy days so far in Kathmandu, but today was the ultimate because most of the shops and restaurants were closed for the festival. I spent most of the day reading the Alchemist, which is such a fitting book for someone in my situation right now. Maybe I should just continue traveling to figure out what my destiny is...but I'm a little weary and homesick, still a little fearful of the unknown, and wanting to come back to somewhere comfortable.

At night, we decided to head up the Monkey Temple since it was right next to our hostel and we needed some sort of exercise for the day since we spent the majority of it sleeping or reading or surfing the web. We took a back way to the temple to avoid paying the entrance fee again. There were so many more monkeys on this route. Luckily I wasn't attacked. They say you should never smile at a monkey because they look at it as an aggressive action on your part and may attack you...

The views were incredible again, overlooking all of the Kathmandu Valley at night. Even the top of our hostel provides good views of the valley and the homes in the area. Sometimes that's all you need to see to admire the beauty of any city. I see photos of all the homes in Kabul or Santorini and tell myself I'd love to visit these places, but every city has a plan that is unique in it's own way, including Kathmandu.

Day 134 - Walking through Thamel

Today was a recovery day walking through the congested streets of Thamel. The first thing we decided to do was book a bungee jumping excusion off a bridge 160m into a gorge near the Tibetan/Nepalese border. The tour company is called The Last Resort...not sure if that is at all comforting to hear... I went back on forth about whether I wanted to do this, some of it out of fear, and some of it out of wanting to share in such an exciting activity with close friends, but again, it' a rare opportunity to do it in such a location as Nepal/Tibet that I couldn't miss out! Last night, I researched on what common accidents occur with bungee jumping...not sure if that was smart to do either! Most accidents occur with harnesses that aren't properly worn, with bruises and burns occurring. I also read about a guy in Thailand whose bungee cord broke off and he fell into the river below. He survived because he landed on his chest and not on his head, but sustained some pretty bad injuries... Let's hope all goes well when I do it!

Afterwards, we headed to lunch, but not before I tried to get cash out with my debit card...I ended up locking my card because I entered my pin incorrectly three times! I'll have to contact my bank to see how to fix this. Hopefully I won't have to jump through hoops to access cash or I'll have a problem in the next few weeks. If you know me, you know I'm not going to use my credit card to get cash advances and sustain heavy interest rates and bank charges.

I got my first haircut in over 2 months by a Nepalese barber. He did a great job, and only used scissors and razor blades to cut my hair, and it only cost 100 rupees! It was probably the best haircut of the three times I'd gotten them. Nepal>Thailand>Vietnam.

The rains came in the afternoon, and I had to make a couple stops at teashops to dry off and get out of the cold. It seems that monsoon season just won't go away. Kathmandu suffered an earthquake and some massive flooding when I was in Pokhara and Sauraha, but the monsoon season should have been over earlier than now.

At night, I stayed at the hostel and had some more incredible food. This time, it was a Buffalo Masala with rice, and a pumpkin vegetable soup. I'm definitely in food heaven. I've been so spoiled with all the food options, from the local momo stalls and dal bhat, to the western steakhouses, to the masterchef dinners at my hostel.  

Rainy Days in Kathmandu

Buffalo Masala with Rice

Jam Sessions at the Sparkling Turtle Hostel

Day 133 - Sauraha back to Kathmandu

It's been a while since I didn't have to wake up in the early wee hours to catch a bus! We had time for a comfortable breakfast before heading on a bus back to Kathmandu at 9:30am. The bus was rather comfortable for Nepalese standards, a notch above in quality compared to the other two buses I'd already taken.

The only problem was the accidents that caused traffic jams a couple times on our journey. What should have taken maybe 4 hours took 7 hours total. The drivers in Nepalese are pretty wreckless, even though most of the buses have slogans on their bumpers saying “drive safely.” Cars try to pass other vehicles on windy roads around mountains and end up crashing at blind spots when they don't anticipate another car coming along ahead. There was one head-on collision that I saw with a compact car and a bus. Hopefully nobody got hurt!

The entire day was almost completely spent on the bus. When we arrived in Kathmandu, we headed to a backpacker hostel about 30 minutes away from Thamel, the main tourist area. It was a good decision to get away from the noise and pollution in the area. It was also nice to get away from all the touts trying to sell us guesthouse rooms, taxi rides, trekking tours, hashish, and marijuana. The hostel, called the Sparkling Turtle, was Canadian owned, and just opened 2 months ago so the place was pretty spotless. The best thing about it was that one of the owners was a former master chef, and every night, cooks special Nepalese dinners. I had some of the best food in a while. A good meal really makes me smile afterwards, and I don't think I smiled as big as I did today in over a month! We had a buffalo stew with pasta and a cucumber salad. So delicious!

Rainbow over the Swayambhunath Temple 

Head-on Collision with a Bus

Day 132 - Chitwan National Park back to Sauraha

We woke up early in the morning to continue our jungle trek though the community forest. The entire walk was around 7km back to Sauraha where our lodge was located. Some of the trails back to our starting point were completely washed away by the rain that the guides had to recreate the trails by cutting trees, or adding tree trunks to the floor when it was covered by water. I fell and slipped numerous times, and I blame my Nikes for that. Wear good shoes when you go trekking, not old running shoes like mine...

Not too much activity today, but we saw some more herds of deer, owls, and a wild boar running through the forest. On the way back, we caught a ride on a tractor that was driven by the son of one of our tour guides. It was probably one of the most bumpy rides all trip, and I had a hard time staying put!

When we arrived back to Sauraha, we stopped by the river where elephants and their mahouts were taking baths. Again, like in Laos, I saw the Mahouts use sharp picks to prod at the elephants to get them to obey commands. Again, I don't know enough to know how necessary it is to do this, but it was certainly unpleasant to watch...

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at our lodge, playing cards, reading, and resting on the hammocks provided. We had lunch at a local Nepalese restaurant, where we had fried Buffalo Momos. Dinner was at an Italian restaurant where I had grilled fish which was quite good. Tomorrow we head back to Kathmandu, where I will have 12 days to figure out what else I can do in this wonderful country.

Day 131 – Royal Chitwan National Park Jungle Walk

We woke up early to start our jungle walk through the Chitwan National Park. We took an hour long canoe ride 10 km in to get deeper into the park. It was nice to ride in the morning through the mist while the weather was still cool. We saw various birds and some crocodiles along the ride.

The rest of the day was spent walking through the tall grasses in the jungle, looking for various animals. While not guaranteed, we could possibly see monkeys, deer, sloth bears, bengal tigers, rhinos, and elephants. We stopped numerous times to take rests atop towers overlooking the jungles and had a lunch break near a creek.

We ended up seeing some deer, birds, monkeys, elephants, and crocodiles. We also heard wild boar, but I didn't catch a glimpse of it. I'm not sure if jungle walks are that exciting for me. I don't think I have the patience to walk around all day, waiting to see if I'm lucky enough to come across different animals. I don't think I'm as interested in seeing animals compared to man-made monuments or natural formations in the earth.

Midway through our jungle walk, we also stopped by a crocodile and turtle breeding center, where we saw some gharial crocs being bred in hopes of saving the endangered species. They had crocs of various ages, and usually they release them by the age of 5 (although some of the older ones are kept for breeding purposes).

At night, we headed to our lodge where we met some younger Nepalese guys who we had some drinks and conversation with. They were drinking Johnny Walker Black Label, and getting drunk the whole time. It was funny because they were so adamant on getting us to stay for another night so that we would party with them the next night. They said that the Nepalese treat their guests “greater than God” and begged us to stay. We had to unfortunately decline since we had to head back to Sauraha the next day. One of the guys was said that I was “beautiful” because I had Mongoloid Nepalese features like him and his friends. It's interesting how some of his actions could be perceived as “homosexual” in our Western views of what is acceptable, but most of Southeast Asia shows more public displays of brotherly and sisterly affection than “couple-affection.” What might be perceived as “gay” in our hetero-normative society is just men showing their brotherly affection. It's so common to see men holding hands, or teens sitting in each other's laps, combing each others' hair, but all this would be less acceptable in the United States. Yet, people in Southeast Asia would also be shocked to see a man and woman hold hands or show any other PDA.

After dinner we headed back to the river to see if we could catch a glimpse of rhinos, but since it was a New Moon, the night was too dark to see anything. It was still special though because I saw fireflies for the first time and it created a magical atmosphere. The trees looked like they were Christmas trees, lit up by lights. Next morning wake up at 5:30am to begin the 2^nd day of our trek!