My first "International" tour - Nepal

It’s been a looong time since I have written anything. Looking back, I am really amazed. When I was leaving India to go to Nepal, I thought that I will write one blog each day. Today almost 7 days have passed and I have not even written a single blog entry about Nepal!!!!!

I was just wondering what took me soo long to write my first International blog. The simple answer was I was totally "awed" by this place. Even though this place is so near to India and you can see Indian influence in almost everything, yet I found the place to be very beautiful. I found everything about this place captivating - climate, culture, chaos, girls - everything. Now that I am out of this initial awe...I plan to write something about this country in general and my visit here in particular.

The first thing that I found when I landed here was that foreign countries are not that foreign after all. It's just the geographic boundary that segregates countries, otherwise we are all one. The moment I landed in Katmandu I feel in love with the climate. You know, Katmandu is a valley. By valley I mean that this place is surrounded by hills from all the four direction and the city is right in the center of these hills. The view that you have when the flight is about to land is unforgettable. Seeing out of the window, you feel that you can reach out and touch the pine trees on top of the hills. It was mesmerizing...I am sure it will be etched in my memory for a loong long time.

One more unique thing about Katmandu, which comes from the fact that it is a valley, is that - the climate is not same in entire Katmandu. It is quite possible that at any given point of time, it might be cold in one part of the city, raining at another place and chilly at yet another place. This is something that I had never even thought of before as being possible. Also, I love to peek out of my hotel window when ever I wake up. The dew, freshness and wonderful clouds on top of the hills fills me with soo much energy that, sometimes I feel I should just not leave this place.

One more things that I liked about this place is its people. They are very kind hearted, soft spoken and fashionable. You can say they are a near perfect blend of east and west culture. The guy serving you in the hotel, generally in denims and hip T shirts, bows down to you and asks with the best of manners - "How can I help you sir"? It is amazing. You look out in the streets and you see a Cool, hip and extremely fashionable crowd. Initially I made the mistake of thinking that maybe these people are haughty. Talk to them and you will immediately know that they have not forgotten their roots, culture and manners. One more special thing was that all number plates of vehicle were in Nepali language. Something very different from India, where most of the vehicles have English number plates. Have a look at the news paper; the date will not be as per the Julian calendar, but as per the Hindu calendar. Have a look at the resume of a Neplai person and chances are that you will find his DOB as per Hindu calendar. Now that is what I call preserving your culture.

I also visited some places in Nepal. Namely - Patan durbar square, Dhulikel, Nagarkot and Bhaktpur and Pashupatinath temple. Each place is soo beautiful that it deserves a separate Blog entry. And with me staying here for another week and planning few more visits here and there - I can’t wait to sit in front of my lappy and type my head out. Till then..... Wait to be awed :-)