From Home to Kathmandu

On the 30th of October I took the train from New Hampshire (actually the station is in Vermont) to New York City to stay for a few days with good friends and do some shopping for the trip.  One important item on my shopping agenda was to buy one of the new light weight iPads to use on the trip.  One thing that seems to have changed since I was on the subcontinent 5 years ago is that, at least according to the guide books, wifi is everywhere.  Even the $5 a nigh guest houses seem to be offering it now, five years ago you had to spend lots of time in cramped Internet cafes in order to keep in touch.  I also took advantage of my time in NYC to see a friends play and so some visiting.  In retrospect I probably kept myself a little to busy, I wasn't very well rested when the time came on the morning of Nov. 5th to take a cab to Kennedy Airport and board my Emirates Airline flight for Delhi with a stop in Dubei.

The flight was on a new Airbus 380, the big full double decker airplane, the upstairs where first and business class flyers live is supposed to be really decked out, including a shower for 1st class passengers, coach, downstairs, was nice enough for coach, the seats were a bit wider than most and it was about as comfortable as one can get packed like sardines in a big metal can.  It was nice to have the stop in Dubai, to unwind my legs a bit, though at seven hours it was a bit to long.  Then came a three hour flight to Delhi, where I found a sparkling new terminal, a real improvement over the very overcrowded and chaotic old terminal.  After getting through immigration and customs and got a taxi across town to the room I had reserved in the small Tibetan refugee community of Manju Ka Tila on the northern side of the city.  I had decided to fly into India instead of Nepal, despite the fact that my first activity was in Nepal, because I expected to be leaving in January from India.  Also, I wanted to have a rest day before throwing myself into activities in Kathmandu.  And that was really a good idea, though it probably should have been two or three rest days, but the one day helped.

On the morning of Nov. 8th it was back to the airport and onto a plane for the 1 1/2 hour flight to
Kathmandu.  The plane was jam packed but the flight was short; short however, would not describe the wait to get through immigration and customs.  I didn't check but I think it took longer than the flight.  Fortunately, I ran into a young, mid 20's, traveler from Germany with whom to pass the time.
He was planning to take the trek to Everest Base Camp and we had a good time discussing his plans, which included walking, instead of flying, to the town where the trek actually begins in order to save some money, and as a rationalization he threw in the fact that it would help him acclimatize to the altitude.  He was going to have to fly back though because he only had a limited time visa and was pinched for time.  When I finally got out of the airport, it was early afternoon by now, I got a cab to the town of Boudhanath, usually called Boudha, walked through the town gate and was once again wrapped up in the peaceful atmosphere of this World Heritage Site.  I walked part way around the Stupa circle to my guest house, checked in and collapsed on the bed for a few minutes.  Until I realized that I needed to register for the Buddhist teaching and retreat that I planned to attend, so I went out into the lanes again, found the Monastery, pictured below, signed up and paid the fee.  Then
it was back to the guest house to get my stuff organized and an early dinner at one of the many
restaurants in Boudha and to bed early.  The teaching would begin the next morning at 9AM.