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Welcome to Kathmandu, Nepal – Nepal Blog Post #1

Last Updated: October 20, 2021 · Nepal, Travel Blog

July 26, 2015

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” – Lao Tzu

I took that “one step” on July 21st as I bitter-sweetly stepped away from my family’s embrace. I have now experienced this moment several times and each has its own unique sentiment. It’s that single instant where you let go of what you have to leave behind and look ahead to what you have to do. It’s like looking over a cliff deciding whether or not to jump into the vast blue below; you hesitate, you anticipate it, and then it happens – all of a sudden there is “no going back.”

I have found it to be the same with traveling.  After losing sight of my family at the airport, waving goodbye several times over, I was focused on getting to where I needed to be so the emotions didn’t come to me immediately.  It wasn’t until a few hours after in the plane surrounded by sleep and lit-up mini-screens that I found myself in a, particularly quiet and reflective moment.  Two years is a long time, I thought. What in the world am I doing, came the next thought. But then I remembered my family’s loving and encouraging words and thought about my passion for a life of travel and adventure.  No, it’s not easy but the rich experiences one discovers while traveling makes it all worthwhile.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide   

After several exhausting flights, the pilot announced our arrival in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Time: 15:25 with a temperature of 27 degrees Celsius. I peered out the small oval windows as best as I could bring in an aisle seat.  I saw lush green rollings hills and tucked away in the valley was Kathmandu.  Thousands of colorful, strange buildings piled on top of one another, spreading farther than my eye could see.  The airport itself was like that of my high school; brick building, one long hallway with windows.  A “Welcome to Nepal” greeted me in multi-languages. I knew life was going to be very different for me the instant I saw construction workers carrying baskets on their backs to deliver dirt to the worksite.  “Wow”, I thought.

Following the crowd, I entered the airport, obtained a temporary tourist visa, and rushed to collect my bags and Yoda, who had been in cargo for the past 15-20 hours.  A Nepalese man who I thought worked for the airport took care of my cart, leading me past the crowds to outside where there seemed to be hundreds of people, taxis, noise.  Thankfully, in little time I was spotted by the people who came to pick me up, fellow students and future colleagues from the Institute of Crisis Management.

The Nepali men harassed me for tips because they helped me get outside.  I have no Nepali rupees they told them, what’s a girl supposed to do? I hopped into the truck in the front passenger seat which is our driver’s seat.  What? I had no idea they drove on the left.  Learning things already.  Out we go of the parking lot.  One word – hectic.  Cars were nearly running into each other, people seemed to not care for their lives as they cross the streets freely, hundreds of motorbikes zooming in and out of traffic.

The drive to the institute overwhelmed me – I was in culture shock.  Within 15 minutes I saw a level of poverty I’ve never seen before, live animals freely roaming about everywhere; cows, goats, chickens, dogs, even monkeys were running across the road, climbing on the sidewalk walls, just inches from me.  Dirt, destruction, street markets, trash, people everywhere, temples, there was even a bridge with smoke coming from it.  They told me it’s a tradition that on this bridge over the water they cremate people in public.  Public cremations? What?  I kept saying “oh my gosh”, “whoa”, “wow”, “this is crazy”.  The two who came to pick me up giggled at my “first impression” remarks.

In the days since my arrival, I’ve come to realize even more how my Western lifestyle has conditioned me to expect everything (basic human needs speaking) to be easily accessible.  Now I’ve learned I have to be careful and think twice or maybe even three times about what I’m about to do.  Here are some examples of what I’m talking about.

Want to enjoy a bowl of cereal? Only after you boil the milk first, just to be safe.  “Don’t drink the tap water!” There are big blue jugs of drinking water for 100 rupees, the equivalent of $1.  Ahh, ready for a relaxing hot shower? Sorry, expect mild to cold instead.

Let me guess, you would like to dry your hair after right? Well, I tried that with a (tiny) hairdryer and blew out the electricity in the whole house (because of load shedding, we are given certain hours during which we can use higher-voltage products i.e. hair driers, printers, etc.) Ready to return home to your cool, air-conditioned house (or heated)?? Nope, just forget about that.  You bet I’m excited about winter…right next to the Himalayas.. woohoo.  But on the bright side, learning is the outcome of all of these experiences.  After all, I am pursuing a Master’s degree in Crisis Management, so I should be able to handle this lifestyle eventually.  I’ll go ahead and give it a few months. 🙂

Thank you so much for reading !!!! Here is an amazing quote I stumbled upon.

“I beg young people to travel. If you don’t have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Saigon, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown, eat interesting food, dig some interesting people, have an adventure, be careful. Come back and you’re going to see your country differently, you’re going to see your president differently, no matter who it is. Music, culture, food, water. Your showers will become shorter. You’re going to get a sense of what globalization looks like. It’s not what Tom Friedman writes about, I’m sorry. You’re going to see that global climate change is very real. And that for some people, their day consists of walking twelve miles for four buckets of water. And so there are lessons that you can’t get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that flight. A lot of people — Americans and Europeans — come back and go, “Ohhhh.” And the lightbulb goes on.” – Henry Rollins

By: Bri · In: Nepal, Travel Blog

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Comments

  1. Khushboo Yadav says

    February 9, 2023 at 1:44 am

    Thanks for sharing your experience with Nepal. At this time Nepal looks different than in previous years. In Kathmandu there are so many beautiful temples are built.

    Reply
  2. Yakub Ghale says

    February 1, 2023 at 4:52 am

    Nice Blog Bri !!!
    I am from Nepal so it feel great that you share your experience about visit in Nepal and trek to Annapurna Base Camp Trek. hope will can read more travel blog..

    Reply
  3. Afsha khan says

    July 4, 2021 at 11:57 am

    Your information and photos are amazing I love to read about places in Nepal defiantly try to visit these amazing places, and there is anything else that you want to share with me about these lakes.

    Reply
  4. Amit Bhagat says

    February 4, 2021 at 10:23 pm

    Nice to read the post..
    Remembering the times in 2015..
    Umm..u should visit here once again…and you will find some quite interesting changes!!!☺️☺️

    Reply
    • Bri says

      February 5, 2021 at 7:54 am

      Hahah right! I really wish to visit Nepal again. My year there went by so quickly but I would be so thrilled to revisit again soon and see everything that’s changed! Like I heard honking your car wasn’t allowed anymore lol! I’d like to possibly go trekking again! The last time we went did the ABC trek and it was amazing!

      Reply
  5. Arun says

    February 4, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    Great blog, Bri! Having lived in the US for nearly 14 years, I returned to Nepal about 2 weeks ago. All the shocks you’ve listed resonate with me. (Heat and hot water, oh, how I miss them. And the second thoughts: am I making a mistake?). I visited home every now and then, and things here didn’t seem too different. Now that I have returned for good, things seem very different, probably because I cant escape them this time. I am still adapting- I joke around saying “ I am unamericanizing.” But, despite the discomforts and the feeling of being lost, it feels great to be at home.

    Wishing you many insightful adventures. Please keep up the good work!

    Reply
    • Bri says

      February 5, 2021 at 7:52 am

      Hi Arun, thanks so much for your comment and welcome home! I hope you enjoy it to the fullest. I dearly miss it there but am enjoying life elsewhere now. I have yet to see the Buddha Stupa all finished (it was under construction the year I was there due to the earthquake). Take care and eat some momos for me!

      Reply

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Traveling solo in Nepal has awakened in me a confi Traveling solo in Nepal has awakened in me a confidence & sense of self (at the risk of sounding cliché), of “my essence” and inner Knowing, and where my compassion and passions mingle and thrive. I was reading some of your comments on my recent Reel about solo travel and how I put myself at great risk/in danger. But as I was telling my Tibetan friend, Sonam, tonight (yes, the new one I made last week!), I inform my decisions mostly by 1. Asking myself, “Would this make a good story?” and 2. Listening to my body and emotions. Yes, it’s risky to travel solo, to be a female in a male-dominated culture, to go out after hours with people you just met, etc. But doing that — and all the magic that followed by “allowing” — reminded me exactly of who I am at my core: Curious and open to the world, willing to get uncomfortable for the sake of finding magic and serendipity. Some of you said, “I’m too scared to do this, how do you overcome that fear of personal safety?” And to this I say, I don’t! Fear accompanies me along the journey. Living life is one big risk. It’s uncomfortable to be open, vulnerable, and unsure. But once you accept that and once you begin to let compassion and curiosity guide you rather than your fear, the real magic starts to happen in all areas of life, not just travel. I find these moments most in travel though, when I’m confronted with contrast and am left vulnerable to the world and the kindness of my fellow humans. My Reels are not meant to romanticize or gloss over very real risks/threats in life, but rather to share a real account of what’s possible (adventure, connections, love, etc) when you worry less about societal norms and what’s “safe not safe” “right not right” and allow your over-active fears to take a backseat. 
This is your reminder to trust your inner compass to guide you in writing your epic life story. ✨✨

To sum it up: 

1. Choose a life of adventure 
2. Stay curious
3. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable (otherwise said, seek discomfort)
4. Let love and light flow in and out 
5. Change is the only constant 

#solotravel #nepaltravel #solofemaletraveler #soloadventure #localtravel #trekkingnepal #adventurethatislife
The strength of women 💛 These ladies were lau The strength of women 💛 

These ladies were laughing so sweetly while filling up their water jugs at the Manga Hiti fountain in Patan. I watched them for a while and then plucked up the courage to ask if I could take their photos, which only made them giggle more. 

I've always felt that not being able to communicate in the same language makes for even more interesting encounters. Without words, we have to touch each other's humanity with eyes and gestures, and most of the time it leads to unspoken mutual understanding, acceptance, and love. We three walked away with the biggest smiles on our faces. I yelled out "Dhayabad!" (Thank you!) as they hoisted their jugs up the stairs, laughing all the way. I won't forget this shared moment between us 🙏 

Check stories for the landscape orientation for some of these photos ✨ 

#nepal #nepalnow #nepalphotography #nepaliculture #nepalisbeautiful #natgeoyourshot #patan #kathmanduvalley #lifetimeexperiences #photonepal #nepaltravel
Did you feel it? Nepal’s ancient wisdom, its swi Did you feel it? Nepal’s ancient wisdom, its swirling spirituality, its raw humanity? ✨🇳🇵❤️

#nepal #visitnepal #nepalnow #travelstories #localtravel #mindfultravel #slowtravel #natgeotravel
When you say “yes” as a solo traveler and stay When you say “yes” as a solo traveler and stay open to the randomness of life and the kindness of strangers, really wonderful memories can be made. Thank you Lama family and my new Tibetan friends for such a fun and insightful sequence of experiences 🙏 💛

#solotravel #localtravel #nepaltravel #nepaldiaries #nepali #solofemaletravel #kathmandunepal #thamel #tibetanfood #solotraveldiaries
My first week back in the chaos of Kathmandu, 💛 My first week back in the chaos of Kathmandu, 💛 

Being back after 7 long years away has jolted my body, brain, and spirit. At first, I felt overwhelmed with the recurring thought of, "I don't know what to do with myself." It was only when acceptance knocked on my door, and I finally decided to let it in, that things began to shift and flow.
 
In Nepal, particularly Kathmandu, everything around me swarms like a hive. I have nowhere else to go but inside myself. I've discovered through years of slow traveling (and solo travel) that peace awaits me there -- a sense of independence, power, and knowing that is still, comforting, and safe. And I can tap into it whenever I need to.

Chaos and peace reside in all of us, and Nepal has a cosmic, ancient way of reminding you of just that. 

📍 Patan Durbar Square, Lalitpur

#nepaltravel #patan #durbarsquare #nepalphotography #slowtravel #nepal #solotravel #lalitpur
They ask, “Why?” I was 29 when I embarked on They ask, “Why?” 

I was 29 when I embarked on the plane on the 21st, and 30 when I disembarked on the 23rd. How fitting. I spent all of my 20s abroad (except for my two final semesters in undergrad), and moved to Nepal when I was 21. 

What better way to say goodbye to my twenties than by returning to the start? I felt the desperate urge to start my 30s this way—alone on a one-way ticket with no concrete plans. I have both feared and longed to come back all these years. You see, I had made a promise to one of my closest Nepali friends that I’d see her again, but the reality is that I no longer can. 

She, along with another dear friend, passed away from cancer a couple of years back. The thought of returning to my old life here without my friends made me, well, incredibly sad. I had thought that, upon landing in Kathmandu—or taking a bite of my first momo—after so long, I’d find myself bursting into tears of both grief and gratitude. But I didn’t. Instead, I found familiarity in the chaos and chaos in the strangeness. 

Just being here—and the decisions and actions it took to get here—has reminded me of the preciousness of this one very short life. And that, by choosing to celebrate mine—at the exciting turn of a decade no less—by coming back to Nepal on a solo trip that would force me into daring discomfort when I could instead retreat to the comforts of family or my partner, is how I want to live it.

Truth is, a couple of months ago the thought of Nepal felt out of reach. It felt risky, unattainable. But the idea itself pushed open, just a crack at first, a door that had been otherwise closed. I could have more easily ignored my “what if?” daydreams—calling them off as too hard, too uncomfortable, or too far-fetched to actually pursue—and kept it shut.
But sometime in mid-July, I decided to look at flights. And I found one (truly, just one) option that could work. And it just so happened that it would fall on my birthday, or rather bridge my birthday. The idea of getting on a plane at 29 and getting off it at 30—back in Nepal—sold me. I fell in love with the story, the adventure, the unknowingness of it all. 

So, yeah. That’s why. Or as I prefer, “Why not?”
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