I
had promised my niece to bring her somewhere if she got good results in her
PMR. However, when I asked my sister while they were in NZ, she said that the
timing wasn’t good as they would need to find another school should she not do
well in her exam. So that was that and it was two weeks before Christmas then.
I quickly considered my options and finally decided on either Nepal or
Bangladesh (and why not. If I were to go to these countries, it would be in
winter rather than any other time). So I did my research and contacted a tour
operator. Liz also gave me another contact to consider and finally everything
fell into place. The rough itinerary was done, accommodation was accordingly
booked, domestic flights were arranged by Liz’s contact and I finally bought
the KUL-KTM-KUL ticket ten days before departure. Oh, some people from the
workplace (not my department) were also going to Nepal but I didn’t know them
enough and also they planned to leave a day later so I decided not to join them
and instead go solo.
Tuesday,
24 December 2013
An
early start. Got up at 4 am to watch Arsenal-Chelshit match but retired soon
after as I found Chelshit horrible enough to watch. Didn’t manage to sleep
though and dad woke me up before 5. Showered and had a light breakfast
(whatever I could consume just after 5 in the morning anyway) and after
prayers, dad sent me to the bus station. I’d decided to ride the coach to KLIA.
I wasn’t in a rush and would still had time to check out the duty-free shops. I
never liked spending too long at the airport anyway.
Arrived
at the airport before 8 and it being Christmas Eve, there were long queues
everywhere, including the bag-drop queue. I decided I’d just join the normal
check-in queue even though I had checked in online as it looked shorter and
faster than the bag-drop queue. After checking in my bag and getting my
boarding pass, I headed to the departure area and yes, did manage to check out
the duty-free and then take the aerotrain back to my departure gate.
We
boarded slightly later than scheduled but still managed to land on time. I had
decided to fly out immediately to Pokhara instead of going to the city and
coming back to the airport the next day. I quickly disembarked and made my way
to the immigration. I had decided I’d get a visa on arrival instead of applying
it before going. It should be a simple process and would be if you knew the
procedure: first, get a visa application form from one of the counters set up
against the wall and fill it up. Then go to one of the booths just before the
immigration counter to pay for your visa. I applied for a 15-day visa and it
cost me $25. After getting your receipt of payment, queue for the immigration.
It sounds easy enough but there was a couple who were held up for a while at
the immigration although they were there before me. After clearing immigration,
I went down to the baggage collection. There was a long queue as we had to
screen our hand-carry items. Despite all that –filling up the visa form,
clearing immigration and queuing for the hand-luggage screening – we still had
to wait for our bags to emerge. Urja, Liz’s contact, was waiting for me when I
finally emerged from the airport.
Urja
handed me my domestic flight and bus tickets and sent me to the domestic
terminal nearby. I felt like I just stepped back into 1960s (not that I know
how that would be but I guess that’s how 1960s would feel like). I had to wait
about 90 minutes for my flight. The check-in desk opened an hour before
departure and it was all done manually. But surprise, surprise, the boarding
area had WiFi facility so I took the opportunity to check my messages and
twitter timeline.
We
boarded our flight – only one person can board the short flights at any time
(the stairs didn’t look like it would be able to support more than 70 kg) - and
before long, all 30 of us were strapped down in our seats, 2 passengers on the
right and one passenger on the left of each row. We were given some sweets and
a cup of coffee which I refused as I don’t drink coffee.
We
landed in Pokhara at 1540 and after collecting my bag, I went to survey my
options. I didn’t have any Rupees to my name then, having not changed money at
the international airport earlier. I actually thought of walking (it was about 2 km from the airport to my guesthouse) but which way?
Then a man called out to me and I squinted, thinking ‘My, is that a taxi?’ Yes,
it turned out it was indeed a taxi. He offered to take me to my hotel for Rs300 (USD1
= Rs97 so that’s more than $3). I told him I had no money but he said he’d
bring me to a moneychanger. Turned out there are quite a few moneychangers near
my guesthouse – no wonder the cabbie wasn’t worried. After paying him, I went
to check in at my guesthouse.
After
prayers, I went to explore the area and to look for dinner. My guesthouse is at
Basundhara Park, the south side of the Lake Phewa and the road along the lake,
aptly called Lakeside. There are many businesses along the road: shops,
restaurants, moneychangers, hotels and guesthouses. I walked on and on while at
the same time keeping an eye out for a potential place to have dinner. I found
two halal restaurants but had vegetarian chowmein and cheese and potato momos
at one restaurant. I returned back to my guesthouse and turned in before 2130
local time (Nepal is 2 hours and 15 minutes behind Malaysia). It had been a
long day indeed.
Wednesday,
25 December 2013
Woke
up for morning shower and prayers. Turned on the left-hand shower tap but got
cold water so I decided to turn on the right-hand tap and presto! Hot water!
Phew! It was winter time in Nepal and it was quite cold. Actually, if anything
it was always colder indoors throughout my stay in Nepal. I could walk outdoors
even as early as 7 am and not feel that cold but I’d be shivering in my room!
After
breakfast and changing rooms (some guests from India were due to arrive that
evening and I was warned that they would be potentially noisy. Huh, don’t I
know it), I walked out to check out the area in the daylight. Well, it was a
misty foggy morning down by the lake. I saw a Malaysian family walking across
the street and the dad saw me and we acknowledged each other. I retraced my
footsteps of the evening before for about a km before returning back to the
hotel as I had a paragliding appointment at 11. Yes, paragliding! Me!
Back
at the guesthouse, I discovered that there was a power outage and I had to use
the power bank to charge my phone. I tried to read while waiting but the
paragliding company called to say that because of the overcast morning, the
session would have to be delayed and they would pick me up half an hour later
than scheduled.
Well,
I finally left the guesthouse around 1130 and was driven to the company office
to fill up a form. Among others, I had to provide details of next-of-kin for
the company to contact in cases of emergency. I can’t recall if there was any
insurance and didn’t think of asking then if insurance was included in the fee.
Turned out there was one other person joining: a Chinese bloke who’s a PR in
Melbourne. We left about 20 minutes later. Oh and by the way, do arrange your
paragliding session yourself because you pay less that way than if you go
through your guesthouse/hotel like I did.
We
drove up to Sarangkot from where we would take our leap. We had to wait a while
for the right wind conditions and direction. John, the Chinese bloke, took off
first with his Russian pilot (I was so glad I didn’t get the Russian as he
seemed gruff, arrogant and unfriendly. I had Geni, a Bulgarian eye candy. Phew!
I
was already feeling nervous when Geni put on my gear on me. It was heavy and
weighed me down. It was then when I pondered what I was doing and why and if it
wasn’t too late to back out. But hey, I’d already made it all that way, right.
Still, I was nervous and admitted as much to Geni. He smiled and said that was
normal and tried to encourage me. It wasn’t enough as I couldn’t even move when
I was told. We missed the wind and had to wait another 5 minutes. I felt so bad
and guilty but was still scared. I’d overheard the Russian told John to walk
quickly, break into a run and then jump off. Geni repeated the same to me but I
felt my legs like lead which couldn’t move. Then this one local boy grabbed
hold of me and pulled me shrieking and screaming and suddenly... we were off!
We were in the air! I was flying and floating!
I
cannot describe what it felt like to be up there. I felt free like a bird and
said to Geni that now I understood why he did what he did. It’s a marvellous
feeling and yes, I would do it again (I would still hate having to run and leap
off though). We spent about half an hour soaring above Sarangkot and Pokhara
and after a while, I even managed to slowly take out my camera and take
pictures of the scenery below. We landed on a strip of land jutting into the
lake and I could see cow dung as we were descending so I tried to avoid them
all. We landed very smoothly and without getting anywhere near any cow
dropping. Heh!
I
waited for Geni to finish packing up (I tried to help but he said it’d be
better for him to do it all by himself) and our vehicle then came to pick us
up. John and his pilot had landed further up so we drove for a bit on the rough
terrain before picking them up. We drove back to the office to have a look at
the pictures and videos taken during our flight and I paid Rs1700 for the CD. I
asked to be dropped back at my guesthouse.
Back
at the guesthouse, I performed prayers and had some bread before venturing out
again. I walked to the lake and then walked along it. I walked to the main
street and walked down Lakeside before finally settling for a light dinner at
one of the halal restaurants. Had buffalo momos for dinner. Pretty sure I’d
never had buffalo meat before!
I
walked back to the guesthouse after purchasing some souvenirs. I tried to have
an early night but the Indian guests had arrived and checked in and were
determined to keep everyone else up.
To be
continued
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