Here at last

The flight from Bahrain to Katmandu was quite full – 80-90% made up of young male Nepalese who work in Saudi, Bahrain and the UAE. They can make a lot more money there than at home in Nepal. The flight was a bit cramped (my knees are beginning to suffer) but the food was great – curried chicken, rice and spicy potatoes. Probbably the best meal on all of the flights.

We arrived in Kathmandu in the early morning. I caught a glimpse of the Himalayas as we descended through the clouds – towering heights that I later found were only the foothills.

We were processed through the airport quite smoothly although there were certainly a lot of papers to fill out and lineups to maneuver. It all went smoothly though and we soon met up with the Uniterra representatives and driven through a myriad of narrow, busy streets. We could have been in Accra or Nairobi with the noise, the colours and the smells. People, cars and animals everywhere. Horns honking and whistles blowing continually. And, of course, the humidity immediately turned my airplane straightened hair back into its more natural fuzz.

We went straight to CECI Place where I will be staying. It’s in one of the better parts of the city – Baluwatar – where many of the embassies live. After a brief intro by Rajendra Khadga (CECI’s finance and admin officer), Bernie was sent off to the place where he will be staying and I was taken to my room on the third floor. There are three others staying up there with me – two University of Ottawa students doing an international internship with Uniterra and one other young woman also on internship, but with a different organization.

A quick shower and then fell into an exhausted slumber. About five hours later when I finally woke up, I was able to do a bit of site-seeing around the neighbourhood – at least until it started pouring. I’ll go on the full tour tomorrow.

I’m off to read the big binder of info that Rajendra left for me.