Nepal: Day 1

Arrival in Kathmandu

All kinds of emotions were running through me during the plane ride to Kathmandu and I kept wondering if I would be able to handle everything or if I had taken on too much... On top of that, the plane was not exactly the newest and that increased my panic.

But then, just before landing, the pilot announced that we could now see the Himalayan mountain range from the plane.

A glance out the window and for a moment, all my worries were forgotten - I am already fascinated by our Alps in Austria, but I have never seen such a breathtaking mountain range. Incredibly fascinating and beautiful. And then it became clear to me that it was already worth it to embark on this journey just for this moment, and that this certainly wouldn't be the last on my way through the wide world.

After a confusing visa ordeal, I was picked up by Santosh (who founded the Moonlight School and I am staying with him and his family) - on a scooter haha

But yes, the Nepalese are used to carrying a 12kg backpack and a fellow passenger with a carry-on backpack. On the way to Santosh's house, I realized that this was still a small thing compared to other road users. Speaking of road users: Among mopeds, cars, trucks, tuk-tuks, and pedestrians who all go back and forth, there are also dogs, cows, and monkeys. Very exciting to watch and frightening to be in the middle of it.

Since I survived the ride, I was warmly welcomed by Santosh's family. This includes Subash (his brother), Jyoti (his wife), Jenika (his two-year-old daughter - adorable), Susmita (I didn't quite understand the family relationships, but she is 15 and shares her room with me), and then Mum and Dad (those are Grandma and Grandpa - I haven't met Grandpa yet, but apparently he exists) and last but not least, Grandmother (that's the great-grandmother). All under one roof, all very lovely people.

There is a large living room where someone is always present, a kitchen with a dining room upstairs, and a rooftop terrace. The individual rooms and bathrooms are distributed on the floors. There's not much to say about the bathroom except that it's a bit unusual for our standards, but it serves its purpose. Aaand there's a normal toilet!

Other than that, there are only squat toilets here and no toilet paper... Okay, it's like when you go pee somewhere in the bushes here, you always bring tissues with you, but that's not sustainable in the long run.

Then I got some food and tea and we had a good conversation. I was also informed that there would be an excursion the next day or at least I (wrongly) understood it that way, because the excursion turned out to be a visit to two weddings.