NEPAL : Finding Beauty Amidst the Mess

The plane circled a few times, allowing me enough time to appreciate a marvelous bird's eye view of Nepal before it's final descent. The Himalayan range was covered with thick clouds and nowhere in sight but that didn't dampen my spirit. The mountainous landscape of mostly hues of green and terracotta from below is more than enough to overwhelm my senses. I'm not climbing Mt Everest, I wish I can, nevertheless, I knew it's going to be a unique experience exploring an epic destination usually reserved for extreme adventures.

The nerve-wracking landing is proof that every activity you experience in Nepal is an adventure in itself.

As we hold on to our seats before the final stop, triumphant mood filled the room as if we conquered something big when the plane skillfully completed a successful touchdown.

 

Seemed like everyone braced their arms against the seats during the landing ... we're safe!;)

I wonder, did I just ride Air Asia or entered a time capsule? It felt like I'm in a time warp. I felt giddy when my feet hit the grounds of Tribhuvan International Airport, could be from excitement or the thin air, that, I'm not sure. But maybe it's the anticipation of the very long queues we'll have to endure to formally enter Nepal. 

We followed the huge crowd walking towards the immigration. There were several long lines of foreigners queuing up to secure a Nepal Visa. I'm glad I did my homework and applied online for the Nepal Tourist Visa, it saved us the hassle of filling up the forms and attaching a passport size photo to it. Still, we have to line up and pay the 25 USD tourist visa fee.

fill up the disembarkation card and the Nepal Tourist Visa application form before lining up

Waiting in queue took forever until we found something to entertain ourselves with. 

Cooky, look behind me, I whispered. 
"Ohlalaaaah!", he muffled, obviously excited with what he just saw. 
I think he's following us, I whispered again and then we laugh like thrilled teenagers kidding ourselves.

paying for Nepal Tourist Visa

And before we become delirious, it turned out the tall, model-like, mestizo looking guy was indeed following us, well, not exactly how we envisioned it, hahaha.  He's also a Filipino and he saw us holding the same passport among a huge crowd of different nationalities. We exchange pleasantries and learned that he's there to model and compete for an event called Nepalinked. He showed us a photo of the huge tattoo on his back which reminded me again, I need to get inked real soon and I feel having it in Nepal would add value to that tattoo. Too bad, I missed that once in a lifetime chance, time was not on my side.

here's where you need to muscle your way to the front of the baggage conveyor

Getting past the immigration was a relief and waiting for our checked-in baggage was more challenging than I thought. The influx of people of different looks and varying built, all wanting to get in front of the lone baggage conveyor is hard to get past at. You need some manly force to muscle your way to the front (I did!), otherwise it will take us forever waiting for that baggage to arrive. After almost an hour, we got out.

Finally, a breath of strange air welcomed us, as we stepped out of the airport. The weather is cold and dry, the dust-like atmosphere filled the air and the chaos outside tripled in number, everyone is busy doing their own business while we seemed lost in another dimension.

feeling lost in another dimension

Several guys approached us offering a taxi ride. I said yes readily to the first guy who agreed to 1000 rupees who will bring us to the doorstep of our guesthouse in Bhaktapur. We need a bigger taxi to accommodate the four of us including our baggage.

our taxi ride

Seeing everything peculiar happening right before our eyes is overwhelming enough. I knew this is going to be one helluva ride. Brace yourselves, NEPAL it is! Love it or hate it. My choice led me to find beauty amidst the chaos and the mess. You'll find out more in my succeeding posts.

Nepal is madness, as is love.