Ku kandziyisiwile: 18.10.2018
...you think it's like India, only much better because the locals are friendlier and everything is somehow more relaxed.
...you get lost 5 times a day in Thamel at the beginning.
...you're once again in a country with squat toilets without toilet paper, which can sometimes be really gross. "English toilets" are not any better either, as it's better to avoid contact with the seat (and I'm not squeamish). If there is toilet paper or you carry something similar with you, it must be disposed in a trash can afterwards. The local sewage systems can't handle it. But that's the case in most countries in the world. So, after going to the bathroom, you have to find a trash can and then a sink. There is always a solution for both.
...everyone calls you Didi, which means sister or brother.
...even the tiniest shack has strong WiFi, but not your own guesthouse. Even the tourist buses have it!
...the national dish is Dal Bhat and there are actually tourists who buy and wear T-Shirts with "Dal Bhat Power" printed on them.
...you are in the country with 8 of the 14 highest peaks on earth, the eight-thousanders.
...you are offered cucumber slices with chili powder or pieces of coconut as a snack.
...you are surrounded by trekking enthusiasts and even the toilet flusher in the bathroom doesn't have a normal handle, but a trekking pole. Haha! Seriously!
...you feel safe everywhere, you can walk around with your camera and even leave your backpack on the bus during lunch or toilet breaks, which are taken very regularly here. Very pleasant!
...life starts early in the morning and even the guesthouse has the WiFi password "wakeupat5am". No joke!
...the locals are genuinely happy to have a conversation with you.
...you pay less than €1 per hour of bus ride in a tourist bus and also get a large bottle of water served.
...there is delicious Mo:Mo: everywhere.
...at the beginning, you get heart palpitations and jump to the side in fright because someone honks extremely loudly right behind you, indicating that you should move aside. After a month, the same honking fits only make you think, "What a wimp! Don't be so sensitive! There's at least 5cm of space." Haha!
...someone next to you constantly brings up phlegm from the depths of their body and spits it on the ground with a loud noise. Eww!
...when everyone is relaxed and nothing is a problem.
...when the sidewalks are rolled up at 9pm and everything is closed by 10pm at the latest.
...before every bath in every guesthouse, there are flip-flops and you wonder who has already had their sweaty feet in them, but on the other hand, using your own muddy flip-flops or going barefoot in a bathroom that has a constantly wet floor because it's both a toilet and a shower isn't a good alternative.
...in every restaurant, there is a bottle of drinking water on every table and you can help yourself as much as you like.
...you internally celebrate when the taxi driver in Patan doesn't know where Dhalko is in Kathmandu and you can explain to him exactly that he has to go out of the city at the Chhetrapatri roundabout, turn right at the Mo:Mo: Center, follow the road and keep left at the Dhalko junction until you reach the familiar footpath. Yeeeah!
...after a month, you think that squat toilets are actually much more practical, hygienic and comfortable.
...you automatically greet and say goodbye to everyone with "Namaste." (Even if you're actually already in another country and it's completely inappropriate. Haha.)