It is why you always ask questions ...
The start of the journey is always the hardest part for me ... You know what you hope to see and do but you much more tangibly what you are leaving behind. You know you are leaving a pile of work behind regardless of how hard youtried to make sure everything was left cleanly, you know it isn't. You know you are leaving family responsibilities behind for the boys and the cat. And I am sure there was a basket of laundry to be folded and a room still left with clothes that didn't make the cut that were piled high somewhere in that mix. So you have to help yourself sort through the pictures you hope to get (and hopefully one that can be turned into a print for the wall at home), the experiences of hiking and learning about new cultures, the learning how to cook Nepalese food, the rafting, and the exhilaration of traveling somewhere where you know nothing. That may be the aspect that I love the most - the realizing that everything you thought you knew may not help you answer your question you face on the road. In the end you get on the plane for that very reason.
So getting to Chicago was super easy and a shoutout to American Airlines for doing a technical update right. Saturday was their first day of a new traveler facing kiosk. They had plenty of staff to sort you through it .... Which I needed because Travelocity dropped a letter of my name which makes the auto-passport review process logic not work so well. In Chicago, I was amazed how alien the international terminal 5 was at O'hare. But the Etihad Airways team did a great job of keeping me from standing in the insane line (because I asked a question) and so getting to he gate was a breeze.
Unfortunately the next 15 hours weren't so much of a breeze. Wow when you have to rebook flights a week in advance, you get hosed. I ended up in a middle seat on a row of 5. It worked out fine but I may have bought the business class seat if I had known how bad being in the LAST row with no reclining seat and row mates that are more portly than I would be feeling with 8 hours to go.
I got to Abu Dhabi where for a mere guarantee that you have $1400 to your name you can leave the airport on a layover. Unfortunately, I only had two hours between flights (the originally rebooked schedule called for 6) so I didn't make it out into the desert.
And then it was onto the 4 hour flight to Nepal. An uneventful flight except I was finally able to sleep and got to make friends with some Nepalese that were returning from vacationing in Vancouver. They ended up with an even worse travel experience than I did due to China Southern cancelling their flights so that question asking worked in my favor again.
And last but certainly not least, I arrived in Nepal. Where you can't buy you Nepalese visa with Nepalese rupees but they do take Visa. And I go outside to be greeted but he onslaught of taxi drivers and porters .... And there isn't a sign for me. So I walk back to the terminal to pull up my contact's number and determine that my phone isn't connecting. So now I am screwed. But then that old ask a question thing pops back in my mind and I again face the gauntlet, but this time I ask, "Bohemian Tours?" Note I didn't pick the tour because of the company name so no grief on that one. And someone identifies himself - with the wrong sign apologizing that he picked up the wrong sign. He keeps apologizing and explaining but I know that after 28 hours I am getting in his van, even if he is a serial killer. But he insists in showing me an official looking document with my name on it before I put my luggage in the car.
After a good night's sleep, I woke up before breakfast time at the Thamel Eco Resort to roosters to write this and start the adventure ...
The start of the journey is always the hardest part for me ... You know what you hope to see and do but you much more tangibly what you are leaving behind. You know you are leaving a pile of work behind regardless of how hard youtried to make sure everything was left cleanly, you know it isn't. You know you are leaving family responsibilities behind for the boys and the cat. And I am sure there was a basket of laundry to be folded and a room still left with clothes that didn't make the cut that were piled high somewhere in that mix. So you have to help yourself sort through the pictures you hope to get (and hopefully one that can be turned into a print for the wall at home), the experiences of hiking and learning about new cultures, the learning how to cook Nepalese food, the rafting, and the exhilaration of traveling somewhere where you know nothing. That may be the aspect that I love the most - the realizing that everything you thought you knew may not help you answer your question you face on the road. In the end you get on the plane for that very reason.
So getting to Chicago was super easy and a shoutout to American Airlines for doing a technical update right. Saturday was their first day of a new traveler facing kiosk. They had plenty of staff to sort you through it .... Which I needed because Travelocity dropped a letter of my name which makes the auto-passport review process logic not work so well. In Chicago, I was amazed how alien the international terminal 5 was at O'hare. But the Etihad Airways team did a great job of keeping me from standing in the insane line (because I asked a question) and so getting to he gate was a breeze.
Unfortunately the next 15 hours weren't so much of a breeze. Wow when you have to rebook flights a week in advance, you get hosed. I ended up in a middle seat on a row of 5. It worked out fine but I may have bought the business class seat if I had known how bad being in the LAST row with no reclining seat and row mates that are more portly than I would be feeling with 8 hours to go.
I got to Abu Dhabi where for a mere guarantee that you have $1400 to your name you can leave the airport on a layover. Unfortunately, I only had two hours between flights (the originally rebooked schedule called for 6) so I didn't make it out into the desert.
And then it was onto the 4 hour flight to Nepal. An uneventful flight except I was finally able to sleep and got to make friends with some Nepalese that were returning from vacationing in Vancouver. They ended up with an even worse travel experience than I did due to China Southern cancelling their flights so that question asking worked in my favor again.
And last but certainly not least, I arrived in Nepal. Where you can't buy you Nepalese visa with Nepalese rupees but they do take Visa. And I go outside to be greeted but he onslaught of taxi drivers and porters .... And there isn't a sign for me. So I walk back to the terminal to pull up my contact's number and determine that my phone isn't connecting. So now I am screwed. But then that old ask a question thing pops back in my mind and I again face the gauntlet, but this time I ask, "Bohemian Tours?" Note I didn't pick the tour because of the company name so no grief on that one. And someone identifies himself - with the wrong sign apologizing that he picked up the wrong sign. He keeps apologizing and explaining but I know that after 28 hours I am getting in his van, even if he is a serial killer. But he insists in showing me an official looking document with my name on it before I put my luggage in the car.
After a good night's sleep, I woke up before breakfast time at the Thamel Eco Resort to roosters to write this and start the adventure ...
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