Finally the day arrived where Mike and I would be off on a biking holiday to Nepal. It had been a long time coming and had been booked in 2010 so both of us were chomping at the bit to get going. We had managed to book a good flight time of 20:50 which meant that we didn't need to take an extra day off work. I worked my normal day and Mike worked from home. 16:30 came and I said my goodbyes to people at work after a torrid couple of days (pre/post release fire-fighting) and got a cab home to grab a quick steak before I left and say goodbye to Alex (my gf) before jumping in an addison lee to paddington to get the heathrow express. Mike meanwhile was grabbing a lift to heathrow via car and arrived around 18:30, I arrived 15 minutes later. Due to the bike bags, we were able to use the first class check in which, speeded things along nicely. The weigh-in came at 32kg for Mike's bike bag and 27kg for mine, both within the ample 35kg that Jet airways allows.
After a quick scrum with security we put our belts back on and set about trying to find somewhere to eat. Amazingly we found a really decent bar/restaurant at Terminal 4 called 'The Bridge Cafe' which serves excellent burgers and a decent pint for a very reasonable price. If you happen to go to T4 anytime in the near future, I'd recommend it if you're hungry!
After a good chat and a sizeable chunk of meat Mike noticed that our flight was boarding (50minutes early), so we grabbed our bags and took a brisk walk to the gate. As always there was nothing to worry about and the flight took off at 20:50 in any case.
Neither Mike or myself had flown Jet airways before so we didn't know what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised when there was more than enough leg room and the seats were very comfy. A film later and we decided to stretch the legs and grab some drinks in the vestibule area. We were asked to sit down after about an hour and having numerous questions from other passengers about where the toilets were. Really people, use your eyes, they toilet signs are illuminated at each end and the middle of the aircraft!!!!
The rest of the flight went by without incident, except a grumpy old man in front of Mike who was complaining about him kicking the back of his seat. He later apologised and admitted he was tired and showing off, but claimed he had just had a back operation. We were a little dubious of the fact that he was flying to Nepal (to do what? sit by the lake?!?).
We arrived in Delhi for a quick stopover (<1 hour). Mike was very impressed when he saw they had cricket nets in the airport (definitely having a go on the way back was the call). Our flight was boarding as soon as we walked off the plane so we jumped on board and waited while reems more people arrived. Luckily no one took the exit seats so we gladly accepted the hostesses offer to sit there.
Flying into Katmandhu has to be one of the most scenic and impressive landscapes in the world. The mountains that are viewable while still at 30,000ft are quite incredible to say the least. This hugely wetted our appetite for what was to come!
Arriving in Katmandhu was a bit of a fiasco. Instead of giving us forms on the plane, everyone had to huddle round a collection of small tables to fill in visa entry forms. Also we didn't know that we had to have 2 photo's and $40 US. Sensibly we thought, changing over some pounds to rupees to pay the visa entry would be ok, but were told it had to be in USD (pesky yanks!). So we then had to go back and change our rupees to USD's (probably losing a few via the exchange rates). 350 rupees (3 pounds) for the passport photos and straight to the front of the queue and we were finally ready to collect our bags.
We set about finding our driver who was holding a Red Spokes sign and for the first time met our guide Ox! Little did we know at that point what good friends we would become with him and the rest of his team. Driving through Katmandhu from the airport is an experience in itself. Crazy drivers, boneshakers, shake rattle and rolls, stealths, pedestrians, random wandering cows, dogs, buff etc.. you would not want to drive through that at rush hour (which was when we arrived)!
We arrived at the Nirvana Garden hotel which was a quaint little place near the heart of Thamel. On arrival we were given flowery necklaces (more akin to Hawaii) and some odd tasting liquid (still no idea what this was). Ox explained a little about what was happening and Mike and I got tucked into a couple of Everests (beer in case you're wondering). When done, we grabbed a quick shower and went to the end of the street where we found Everest steak house (my favourite, and Nepals favourite!). We ate under candlelight as we quickly found out Nepal has scheduled power cuts for 16 hours a day.
After our feed we went to find a bar called Tom & Jerry's and watched some cricket. We met some Danes who were intersted in learning the rules. Trying to explain cricket to someone who has been drinking and isn't English is not something either of us want to repeat again. It was however extremely amusing. Whilst watching India v Australia, some aussie girls asked us who we were supporting, both replying India, they got upset and didn't talk to us again (no loss there). As we were leaving the bar we met a Nepali guy who looked like Spike Lee (we didn't think we'd see him everytime we left the hotel from now on). We grabbed some street food and went to bed. A great first day of the holiday was over!
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