Day 1 - January 30, 2010 - Hong Kong to Kathmanu

1/30/2010

I scrambled to finished everything. I needed to ready the movie I was making for every one back at home and send it when I went to the airport. Then, pack my bag, while running back and forth from the Lo Wai flat to talk with Khem about final details and travel insurance. There were some holes that continued to remain, but for the most part I was set. Well, except for finishing the roti I was making and burning the DVDs.

4:00 pm

I met Khem and his son at the flat in Low Wai and they got into the first taxi.  Katy and I got in the second for the half hour ride to the airport. When we arrived I went to the ATM, then to the post office, then to Burger King. After all this, we met Khem and his entourage at the check in counter, I was able to skip the entire line because of my "connections," it made me feel like a made man. I paid Khem for the ticket, which was misspelled "Retrashune," we fixed that and then waited about 30 minutes before going through security. I was a little nervous we were behind schedule, but the airline (Nepal Air) was also behind schedule.

We were in the air about 5 and a half hours. When we touched down we all went through a handbag scanner, then waited in line for the bags to come out, which seemed to take about an hour. The airport was quite a bit different than anything I'd seen before, even the ones in Laos and Cambodia. The airport was all brick, no glossy surfaces, no chain restaurants, everyone had to wait outside unless you were getting on a plane or getting off one.

We grabbed our bags and went through the customs scanner where everyone had to unload and reload everything from their cart. I'm sure that this flight wasn't different than any other coming from Hong Kong or anywhere else for that matter. I think that almost everyone on the flight brought their absolute maximum allowance for baggage, I was even carrying a bag for Khem.

The onslaught drivers and hawkers hit as we exited the terminal, Khem negotiated for a taxi and then we were off. We arrived at his house in Kathmandu shortly after and his two sons were there to help us bring our bags in. After everything was settled, it was bed time at 1am Nepal time or 3:30am Hong Kong Time.

**No pictures taken on this day**

Go To Day #2