Weekend in Kathmandu

The approach to fly into Kathmandu is a tricky one.  The city is hilly and of course Kathmandu is in a valley between some serious mountain ranges. Before the decent you can see them all, towering above the clouds. For sure I saw Everest, but at that level it's next to impossible to know which tip she is. I remember this from the last time I was here, 12 years ago, though that time the pilot tried to have us all look out the window and point her out. Kathmandu airport also only has one landing strip, which was the source of a lot of problems getting relief supplies in after the earthquake in April.  So it was a pretty wobbly landing with a jolt of a stop. The airport hasn't changed a single bit since my last trip- it's quite unique, all dark red brick with a lot of brick columns, and dark wood inside. Almost like you're going into a ski lodge. It's also remarkably small for the number of tourists that must pass through here each year.

I did my usual sigh of delight when I walked out of the airport with the hotel driver. The air was unusually fresh and the temperature was perfect, and as sad as it is to be here without Steve and Griffin (my favorite adventure partners), the sense of adventure, of travel, and of getting out of the office was just so great. As I rode to the hotel, I kept trying to figure out if I recognized it or if the city had changed much, but frankly I couldn't tell. In the 12 years since I'd been here last, I've seen so many cities around the world that they sort of start to blend together. The more I travel the more I think the world, and people, are more alike than they are different. And I think developing country building architects all study from the same textbook and buy from the same cement company. I took this picture below from the roof deck restaurant at a shopping mall near our hotel.

  

On Friday night while waiting for my glasses to be ready, Kat and I grabbed some dinner at that restaurant. Here are a few photos. If you want to know what it looks like to travel 25+ hours and not shower or change your clothes, that would be me below. Thank goodness for a low res camera and bad lighting. But I got my new glasses and we had a great Nepali-Indian meal of butter chicken, palak paneer and naan, frankly both of our favorite dishes we order at home too. But man was it good!

    

Here are a few pictures of the hotel, called the Summit Hotel, which is a super quaint little place that I already adore, tucked away in a quiet neighborhood just a block or two from our office. It is the cutest little garden oasis. The internet doesn't work that well but I think that's somewhat endemic to Nepal overall. They also get CNN, which is not always guaranteed, and although it cuts out here and there from satellite issues, it's always a strange little comfort of home for me. I don't watch it at home (CNN US is nothing like CNN International, plus at home I'm an NPR junkie) but love it when I travel- it's kind of like having old friends follow you around no matter where you are, since the many of the broadcasters have been the same my entire adult career. It's like they're old friends. (that's right, Christiane Amanpour and I meet up regularly for a cold beer). 

Yesterday (Saturday), we went into the office and worked most of the day, planning out the trip, mainly discussing the data collection methods we'd be using when we go to the field. Then I met up with an old colleague from the Red Cross, who is here leading up IFRC's earthquake operation for 6 months, and transitioning out next week.  We both served in Sri Lanka together, when he was leading IFRC's work there, and I was with American Red Cross.  Ironically, we are actually both originally from the same hometown in Lansdale, PA.  It was nice to catch up for a coffee. He was already retired and came out of retirement to run this operation, and it was particularly encouraging to hear him talk about how well the coordination of this operation went. In our lives we hear so many stories of relief (not to mention development) operations that are a mess, and less effective that they can be. So for someone who's pretty much seen it all, it was an encouraging testimonial that maybe the international community is really, indeed, learning. 

In the evening, Kat and I headed to a little touristy shopping neighborhood called Thamel, which is made up of old, narrow windy streets, with lights, lanterns and prayer flags sort of hanging across from building to building. There are dozens and dozens of touristy shops with handicrafts and trekking supplies, mostly. It's the best place to buy North Face and other key brands of jackets, backpacks, sleeping bags, whatever you might need. You could literally show up here with nothing and outfit yourself entirely for a week-long trek in the mountains, no problem. They have really great handicrafts and clothing also. I got a postcard and stamps for Griffin. I sent him one from Niger in January and it only arrived about a month ago. I also sent him one from Brunei in April and it arrived a month or two later. So we'll have to see how long this one takes. Luckily, the shopping, walking and dinner was enough to stave off jet lag, so I was able to stay up until about 10:30pm (watching the Pope on CNN of course) and sleep straight through until 6:30am. Not bad for the second night. Now we're enjoying a sunny, warm, relaxed Sunday at the hotel, working and planning for the field trip.  Well, if we go on the field trip, that is! Stay tuned for more on that!