Hello from Kathmandu

I can finally see the end of flying and the beginning of trekking now that I am 30 minutes away from Lukla by plane that is!! I had a great night rest in Abu Dhabi and thank god i reserved a room there it was worth every penny! It was noisy off course being in a very busy airport, but better than lounging like most travelers do.... Abu Dhabi airport is huge and bustling with people... a lot of Indians I noticed! It is a hub for them! My flight to Kathmandu was just 4 hours compared to the 15 hours yesterday so it was ok! The flight path took us through the Strait of Hormuz, then southern Iran, then southern Pakistan, then northern India right between Jaipur and Delhi then straight to Kathmandu. We circled Kathmandu twice before landing ?! Once we landed then it was the airport paperwork, buy a visa then go through the customs and then wait for my backpack! They use a machine for the visa in this place, you scan your passport, then type in the reste of the information. A weird thing I discovered is the machine accepted Himalayas as my address in Nepal!!! No street address, no town, just plain Himalayas worked and I got my visa for $25!!! Waiting for my backpack was nerve wracking! I was nearly the last one to get my luggage but it was there nonetheless!! The ride from the airport to the hotel was an adventure in itself!! All the cars, motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, tricycles ... it was chaos!! Never mind the highly polluted air... I now believe that altitude won't kill me but the polluted air will... at least I will have pure air up there at 18000 ft!! Down here I am breathing gasoline and dust... Kathmandu is poor, very poor... still recovering from the earthquake they had couple years ago... streets are muddy, flooded and dug out in places, just a royal mess but I am fine with that... I have seen worse in my lifetime so nothing surprises me... in the middle of that amazing chaos tourists are everywhere and seem just fine with the whole thing... they all came here for a purpose: trek the giant mountains!! My hotel is just ok, not as good as Abu Dhabi but I am ok with it for two nights... I will see worse up the mountains I bet! A short walk in the mud from my hotel was a great restaurant where I had my first Nepalese food! It was great!!! I even had, fittingly, Everest beer!! Everest is marketed heavily in this place, it brings in lots of needed foreign currency and helps the country's economy... 

Here are few pictures from today... enjoy!

Crossing into southern Iran from the gulf 

Flying over the Strait of Hormuz

Flying over Abu Dhabi

My Nepalese dinner 

View from my hotel room 

Kathmandu from the plane

The inside of the Nepalese restaurant