After nearly 21hrs of flying and another 10 hours of layover between London and Qatar, we have made it to Kathmandu! The view on the flight in was incredible! I could see the Himalayan Mountain range rising in the distance like icebergs lazily drifting in a sea of blue. The Appalachian Mountains, of which I am accustomed to, are nothing like this. I could compare it to a fourteener in Colorado, but the peaks I am looking at are most likely 17,000ft or higher.
The city of Kathmandu is amazing and the epitome of controlled chaos. There are so many buildings (most of them falling down), so many people on motorbikes dodging traffic like an extreme game of frogger…I just saw a small van like car with 5 seats carrying about 20 people. Despite its third world appearance, there is a mystical beauty that surrounds the city, and I cannot believe that I am nearly 180 degrees around the world…I’m in Nepal!
Our Trekking guides met us at the airport and greeted us with leis of orange marigolds, symbolizing good luck/safe travel/welcome. The guides had huge smiles and carried all of our gear and threw it on top of our van. Most of the guys were about my size, which is a nice change coming from a place where everyone seems to tower over me.
The hotel is beautiful in a quint way. The power is out most of the time, which is a minor, problem, but really cool at the same time.
We ventured out onto the streets, an entirely new world. There were people everywhere, people selling knock off adventure gear, guys trying to sell you chess sets who would NOT leave you alone, men and women of all cultures dressed in their respective clothing, and most of all…dust/pollution. It’s almost hard to breathe through it all. It is nothing like Selinsgrove or any city I have visited in the United States. There are stray dogs sleeping everywhere and people washing clothes in the street. As dirty and crazy as it sounds, I already love it here. I have never seen or experienced anything like this!

The view of Thamel (the district we stayed in) from my hotel room
