Freezing in Kathmandu

Dec 16th 2008
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And after a brief flight the Kathmandu valley was in front of my rickshaw. I immediately experienced the feeling of the walking Dollar: the assault of the sellers was double than in Delhi! I switched off my ears and walked to my host’s place.

So far so good: the weather was good and the sun was bright and hot. It was already Tuesday, so applying for the visa on Wednesday morning would give me three days before the week-end. I was quite satisfied and optimistic.

Then Lady Reality came:

Un pessimista è un ottimista con esperienza!

The warm sun turned out to be a pure illusion, revealing the nasty «Effetto Pan e Vin» as soon as the sun went down. The temperature dropped from 30 to 3 degrees in a couple of minutes, and as most of the houses in Kathmandu my couch didn’t have a central heating—let alone hot water :-)

As a conspicuous number of tourists are in Nepal for the sake of the Indian visa, collecting information on the Embassy and the procedure was relatively easy. But I kinda didn’t like the news. Anyway, the next morning at 5:30 I was on my way to the Embassy, walking with my micro-torch in the dark alleys—the power cuts in Kathmandu are less than rare, for so to speak.

Long story short, I applied for a three-months visa but it would take other three days: Monday!

A small intermission. I was in such a hurry because I already had set up a meeting in Mumbai on the 18th with a friend, before the Delhi Belly. They sent me back to Monday (the 15th), meaning that the trip from Kathmandu to Mumbai would have been without stops. And it is a long trip.

I decided to visit Kathmandu and the neighbouring cities (see gallery) but after a couple of days I fell ill. The good news is that in the couch there was—depending on the power-cuts—a wireless connection, so I used the time in the bed for uploading most of the galleries here and for sewing the last flags on my backpack :-)

During the—short—sunny portion of the day I was wandering around and collecting info for the visa thing, during the dark I was fully dressed with my fleece under two heavy blankets and into my sleeping bag.

On Monday I tried my luck: the guy at the Embassy’s counter told me I can only apply for a three-months visa, but I wanted a six-months one. Thus I slipped a few thousand-rupees bills with my passport to the officer, asking for a longer visa. Unsurprisingly enough, the verdict was no luck: «Not possible, not possible!» At least he gave me back the money! :-)

After celebrating the visa with a few fellow queuers, the next morning I was facing the Good luck bus that would eventually bring me to the Indian border.

—

This post is filed under Asia, Nepal and tagged Backpack, Baksheesh, Belly, Bureaucracy, Couch, Passport, Transport, Visa, Winter, Wireless.

13 Responses

Ally says:

January 21, 2009 at 9:19 am

Pi,
your adventures are really interesting!

Was the decision to travel around the world the best you have taken in years?

- pt says:
  
  January 21, 2009 at 10:04 am
  
  Actually, yes!
  
  I am happy. Period.
  
Ally says:

January 21, 2009 at 5:28 pm

Well,
although some posts of yours show frustration for the odd problem, it is so clear that the journey is a great one!
What are you planning after India?
It seems that you have nearly completed the tour of all the coast line!

Ale

SocietÃ anonima di ingegneria says:

January 30, 2009 at 2:28 pm

A chi ringiovanisce girando per il mondo, alla faccia di chi si lascia invecchiare in un ufficio!! :-) :-)
DB (e Eva)

SocietÃ anonima di ingegneria says:

January 30, 2009 at 2:28 pm

PS: se invece non compi gli anni oggi, taglia e incolla il precedente commento alla data corretta! :-)

- pt says:
  
  January 31, 2009 at 9:32 pm
  
  Grazie, grazie. Come regalo vi ho fatto un sito nuovo!
  
a-l-e says:

January 30, 2009 at 6:15 pm

happy birthday to youuuuuuu!!!!!!…..:)

a-l-e says:

January 30, 2009 at 10:29 pm

…mmmhmm…
Â¿is the red dot a tattoo?
[Â¡I hope so…! :P]
…best wishes for Ur eighteen’s 22nd anniversary…

- pt says:
  
  January 31, 2009 at 9:33 pm
  
  Thanks! Send me news of the new job.
  
Ally says:

January 30, 2009 at 10:32 pm

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

FROM ALL OF THE CAPS

- pt says:
  
  January 31, 2009 at 9:34 pm
  
  Thank you very much!
  
  You write in all caps because you are all Caps? :-)
  
Max says:

February 1, 2009 at 2:37 pm

Auguri Trave! un po in ritardo… come procede l’avventura?!
Max.

- pt says:
  
  February 1, 2009 at 10:18 pm
  
  Alla grande!
  Sono a Bangalore, India. Sempre on the road :-)