World In My Eyes

Another crazy story ahead, be warned. Woke up at 5am for my mountain flight to Everest, couldn't shower, since the water did not seem to heat up, I bet they must have turned the hot water off in the middle of the night and re-opened again after a certain hours. Picked up by the same driver to the airport. Nobody at the service counter even though the flight was scheduled for 6:30am (50 mins from when I arrived). It was just a domestic tourist flight, maybe that was the reason. I found their office, and they said the counter will be opened in 10 mins. I waited, checked-in, waited again at the gate. He said there would be a 30 mins delay due to weather condition, it was very foggy at the Kathmandu airport this morning, you couldn't even see the runway. Just before 7am, they announced the flight would be delayed till 8am. The sky had started lightening up, but not the fog. A Swiss girl and a Malaysian girl and her mother were on the same flight with me. We were talking a bit. Meanwhile, the airline people came to us and told us that there's a chance the flight would be canceled. We should wait for 30 mins more, it was at 8:10am at that time. I was so devastated when the bad news dropped. Though I could have tried my luck again tomorrow if I wanted to since my flight to India won't leave until 4pm, it kind of a hassle to wake up and have to arrange a car again, but it is Everest, I have to. So, all of us went to the airline office.


Out of curiosity, I inquired the airline stuff, how much the refund money would be if I decided not go again tomorrow. He said US$249. That's the ticket price. I told them but I paid an extra fuel charge of US$350 to my agent. He said it was the agent charged me not them. He was puzzled by the money, so he called the person who booked the flight. It was another agent (not my agent), they operated in so many layer of agents and brokers. Anyway, he confirmed that the ticket only costed US$249 including the fuel charge. I tried to call my agent, no answer. So I told the airline, let's change the ticket for tomorrow for now. Something just didn't add up, I paid such a big surcharge that the agent pocketed. More angry is that he lied to me, said the US$350 was the additional charge for fuel for airplane and the rental car. I expected to pay more because I found this online. But that is more than double the plane ticket. I was not happy about it. When I got back to the hotel, I had breakfast, and the owner came over to my sad face, and was like, guchi guchi, what's wrong? So I told him about the whole thing. He was calling the airline, and calling different people, and said that is not right, ba..ba..ba.. it kind of got me all pissed off too. He suggested I should cancel my ticket with the agent, ask them for the money back including the surcharge they billed.


You know me, I don't like confrontation really. I kind of just wanted to let it go and go on with the flight set for tomorrow and try again. He continued after you got your money, I will help you to re-book another flight the same price. He told me a whole strategy how I should tell my agent, I would first go to two other different travel agents on the street, ask for their quotes, took their name card or quote paper. And showed them to my agent and proved them how much they had charged me extra. I hesitated, the plan was kind of complicated. But after I went into the first agent on the road for a quote, I started to believe in it. The quote was much lower, obviously, than what I paid. The second travel agent quoted me a price closer to the original price I paid without the surcharge. So I stormed into my agent office, the guy who I was dealing with was not there. But his partner (the other owner) was there. I told him about it, he said Rabi would be back in an hour, he would explain to you. I was like, cut the crap, I was asking for more excuses, I wanted money back. Money money money! He called him and siad he would come to my hotel in an hour. I said I was angry and felt being ripped off. I demanded them to tell me how much refund I was going, of course, they did not tell me. So I went back to my hotel, and waited for an hour.

They arrived with my guide from yesterday as well. I showed them all the evidence, quotes from other agents, and the mountain flight ticket price. He gave me this crap about the USD$350 was the extra service charge, their service was better than other travel agents. Ba..ba..ba.. Don't even get me started. I said I anticipated to pay a little more, but with the surcharge, the price was almost doubled than the other agent quote. Worst of all, he lied to me, said the surcharge was primarily for the airline due to the fuel crisis. The ticket price was increased for 30 dollar from what he originally quoted to me. I paid the difference, then please explain to me where the other US$320 went. Ok you rented a nice car, but that was part of the original deal of the tour. The little thing about no lunches and no dinner (which was different from what they stated on the website) I didn't even care. But they couldn't just rip people off like that. I said I understand there was a price difference for the plane ticket, to be frank, I needed US$300 back. Nepali words flying in front of me between themselves. They did not want to pay me back anything, and thought they could just talk me out of it. I was totally lid up at that time, that was no going back. I was like, if you were not planning to give me refund, why did you even come here, what was the point, the conversation was over. I would take all the evidences to the tourist police and add a comment on tripadvisor with every single details, and let people decide whether I was being tricked. The guide still tried to soft tone me and said they would gave me back US$100. I said no way, I would rather take the loss and report this. I was not begging for some lunch money for back. I already found the tourist police address on my computer I showed him. A long silence, I asked if this conversation was over. The guide said no. They said US$150. I said, look my bottom line is US$250. With the extra US$100, the price I have paid was still way higher than the other agent's quote. I could live with that. Rabi, the manager, said no, and I could find the police and write whatever I wanted he didn't care. Shake my hand and left.

I packed my things, tried to stay calm, breathed in, breathed out. I walked over to the front desk, we were pretty much having this loud conversation in the lobby of the hotel. I asked the stuff, they all knew what happened, to find me the address for the tourist police, it was on my computer, but I rather had a local to make sure I was heading the right way if I was going to do this. He called them for me and said the police would come to me instead. Two men arrived after 20-30 mins, one is more tidy than the other. I told them my story, and said, look I am not asking for the entire US$350 back. I just wanted a fair refund from this extra money I paid, I felt like I was totally being ripped off. They said they understood. And we marched to the agent together, me and the two tourist police. The agency was near Kathmandu Guest House, the building was old and stair was dark. We walked up, the tourist police talked to the other owner I talked to in the morning. Rabi and my guide from yesterday was not there. They were speaking Nepali, so I had no idea what they say. Next thing, they opened the window and called two uniformed policemen up. So, the four of them were sitting in a tiny sofa that normally seat two persons. They looked at my paperwork and discussed. Rabi and another man who I might have met on the first day came back and sat down in that tiny room, totally 8 of us.

They spoke mostly Nepali, but the owner occasionally spoke to me saying their business was tailored for European and American customers, so their prices were normally higher than the other agency on the street (which were for mostly for Indians). What do I care what he said at this point really?! After another round of calculation, police talking to them, they talking to police. They offered me a US$200 refund. They asked if I wanted to cancel the mountain flight tomorrow. I originally said Yes, I could re-book it with the hotel manager. But the police suggested me not to, since they were penalty from the airline if we cancelled this late. With hesitation, I accepted it to keep the flight and get a US$200 in US dollars back. The owner said this was a rare incidence, and care for me as a customer ba..ba..ba.. and they would give free transfer to the airport, I said no need. At 5am, who know where they would take me to. I said I have already booked a taxi with the hotel. Got my money and ran. The policemen stayed, I guessed they would have more to talk about this crazy Chinaman creating all this fuss.


The hotel manager of course was waiting for me at the lobby for the juicy details. He was like, come, come, come sit down, want some tea? tell me what happened. I told him I got US$200 back. There was an invisible high-five with the eyes, I could tell. I told him some high level details, but not many since they pretty much talked in Nepali at the agency. I liked to discuss it some more but I was really hungry, so I left to eat, it's close 3pm already when all these were done. From the bottom of my heart, I really didn't want to create all these troubles for them, for myself, I was just saying yesterday I would let it go, and try not let it bother me. Once the flight was cancelled, found out the price, and talked to them about it. Their faces of that guy was unbelievably evil. They were just dishonest people. Without trust, there is nothing, I don't want to use your service, I don't want to let you earn another dollar from me. That's the bottom line.


After lunch, I came back to hotel to type up my blog so I wouldn't forget any details of the whole incident. Since I still had some time left for this afternoon, I decided to go for a late walk to Kathmandu Durbar Square like 5pm-ish when it was just getting dark. Otherwise, I would have no pictures for this post tonight. I wished I have taken pictures of the whole conversation in the agency office and how the 4 policemen squeezed in that tiny sofa. That would be funny. Anyway, the market on the way to Kathmandu Durbar Square were still bustling as usual even in the after dark hours, some had candles on, some had lights, others just sold their stuff in the dark in these one lane tiny streets, the people and the motorbikes were still coming and going from all sides. At night, it was hard to see motorbikes, but you wouldn't miss their honks, just try not be a deer and stand and just look at them. I even bumped into a Nepali wedding. How interesting I have seen a burial in this trip, now a wedding. They had the ceremony in the alley right next to the meat store, I thought that was kind of interesting. I guessed one of their parents must be living there. The chimes and drums were adding the charms, but I must continue my way to the Kathmandu Durbar Square.


I just had a quick walk in Kathmandu Durbar Square, which was definitely more damaged than the other two Durbar Squares I visited the day before yesterday. There were a lot of street food stands, I took a lot of picture of those. I hope they added another sense (smell) to my pictures. I thought about the whole incident on the way to Kathmandu Durbar Square, and then I was looking at these people on the streets. They lived in such harsh condition, a lot of the buildings really didn't look very stable at all and were supported by wood beams, their stores were just underneath and they continued running the business. For the normal citizens, they were lack of electricity, lack of gas, they still carried their smiles and lived on despite the hardships. It moved me a little bit. I think the scam that I have encountered was really isolated incident. I mean, there are dishonest people anywhere, whether here, or in US and definitely in HK too. It was just an incidence of bad luck and poor planning. I definitely became more guarded because I was here alone in a really foreign country.


So there, the incident was behind me officially. Now I have some money back and I still have a second chance to see the Mt. Everest tomorrow. Let's hope, let's just hope I will make it. If not, "someday" I guess. The hotel will arrange a taxi for me at 5:15am this time. I have liked this hotel, each stuff have been helpful and polite, and definitely loved juicy stories. I happened to have a few.

See the other photos from Day 14 here.

Waking at 5:30am, expecting to see the sunrise over the mountains, the sun was rising from the east, and the Himalaya mountains range was in the north. I imagined when the sun hit the snow capped mountains, it would be a pretty spectacular. I stepped out of the balcony, the sky was just breaking, it was a weak blue with a line of orange, we were above the clouds, I could see some mountains backdrops but it was a little hazy in the air. I put on Kenny and walked up the rooftop. The sky colors was changing in thousands chroma of hue a minute, the sun was coming up, so did the clouds. It made sense, the sun provided the heat, the heat evaporated the moisture in the air, and pushed the clouds up. The moments we could see the Himalaya mountain range with the light was very brief unfortunately. But still, sunrise always gives me a feeling of hope, I was looking at it, feeling utterly peaceful. To be honest, I kinda liked it and was not really ready to return to the Kathmandu jungle to fight my ways with the people and cars.



Have my breakfast in my room. The same server served me "room serviced" breakfast. Not that I love to eat by my bedside, but there was no dining room in the hotel at the moment. They are still trying to fix that after the earthquakes. He was super attentive and polite, I gave him a good tips. We hit the road around 8:30am, the driver took a different road this time, we were heading to the city of Bhaktapur where I have seen the 5th UNESCO site, the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, and also other interests including Duttatraya Square and Nyatapola Temple. The temple was really impressive, there are 5 layers that formed the top, it almost looked like a tree. And it has survived multiple earthquakes. Though I must say, after seeing so many temples, squares, amazing stone cravings and wood cravings, my eyes turned pretty much to the local, especially kids. I was more interested in their lifestyle and living conditions. The tour was kind of short. It was a half day tour, we got back to Kathmandu around 11-ish. I told the driver to drop me at the Monkey Temple instead, so I could see it some more since I kind of skimmed through it yesterday. Of course, my guide Prasad did not forget to remind me about the tipping system in this country after they have already charged me so much and the driver too.


At the Monkey Temple, I was finally by myself, saw a lot of monkey, I stayed as long as I wanted, I hiked down the 365 steps back to the foot of the hill where I took a road (one of the many roads) and headed straight, supposedly that's the direction back to the Thermal area where my hotel and the tourist jungle are. Prasad told me it would be about 20 some mins walk, I figured it would take a lot more for me, given that the streets of Kathmandu are very confusing, and there is no name, even if there is a sign somewhere, it would be in local language. There is no name on the map neither, I guess street names are overrated. I had no idea whether I was on the right street or not to be honest. But I had to rely on the landmarks such as temple or hotels, or the amount of shops with English to attract tourists to keep myself in the right direction. I was quite lost at one point, and ended up in some residential area. Somehow I found my way back to a place where I have just completed a loop, that's ok, full circle is good. So try again. That's the good thing about traveling solo, right? You make a mistake, nobody there to complain or judge you or bitch about it, you just keep walking, and you will find your way, worst case scenario, I could always take a cab. As I got closer to my area, I started to recall a few buildings that I walked pass before, and then I eventually found my way back to the hotel.


The hotel owner was asking how my day was, I told where I have been and I was kind saying my trip was getting really expensive due to fuel crisis, the surcharge and everything. I told the cost, he was totally jaw dropping. He was more ticked off than I was, he said he felt bad there were other Nepali people taking people adventure like that... ba ba ba... he was a very animated guy, but seemed like a genuine guy. And then the next 20 mins, he was literally using a calendar helping me to figure out how it should have been cost, and said I needed to ask for a refund. I know the two tours I have joined was probably about 1/3 more expensive because I found them on the internet. If I came here and find tours locally after I arrived. It probably will save me a hundred two hundreds bucks. But you know what, done is done, I really have tried not to let it bother me. I have seen what I wanted to see here. Well, not completely yet, still have a Mt. Everett for tomorrow. I am hoping the weather would be good enough to fly and to see the summit. Otherwise, bygone, let it be bygone.


Had a late lunch, and coffee, catching up with my blog at the cafe, and just had an easy evening. Not crazy, no jumping out of windows or anything like that. I still need to wake up at 5am again for the mountain flight, the driver will pick me up at 5:30am.

See the other photos from Day 13 here.

Let's the official tour begin. In Nepal, I joined two tours with Adventure Discovery. Prasad would be my tour guide today and tomorrow. He found me at the lobby finishing my coffee at around 8:30am. I grabbed my bag and joined him and the driver outside. I was welcomed by a cleaned and fancy looking car, a silver Volkswagen, probably a rental car. We kind of stand out-ish from all the other dirty and rusty vehicles and motorbikes on the streets. I felt a little uncomfortable to be honest, to have a private guide and a private driver, and I sat in the back like I was somebody, while I have always preferred to be the nobody, I am on freaking backpack trip for Christ's sake. I didn't like the attention or the special treatment. They opened the door for me, it was totally not my thing, wanted to puke. Anyway, now I at least know where the tour money went, some of them. It is more of a deluxe kind of tour. When I first signed up, I thought it would be a group tour, until yesterday, Rabi, the manager, told me that I would be the only one and Prasad would be the guide. That's when I was like, a-ha.


Anyway, since I am here and have already paid. I might as well enjoyed it, right? There are 10 UNESCO sites in Nepal. Prasad told me, I would see at least 5-7 of them by the time I leave. Today alone, we would be visiting 4 of them. We started off at the Monkey Temple (Swayambhunath), there were a lot of monkey, it made me think of Planet of the Apes, but who was the master in that Temple I don't know, they just roamed anywhere they liked. The Buddhist temple was a different kind from the ones I am familiar with. Definitely not like the ones in Thailand, it looked quite interesting, with a white dome in the bottom which had nothing in it other than a lotus flower. No one can get into it I was told. On top of the dome, there was a square-ish structure with a face-looking feature on each side, there were 2 eyes, a nose and a dot above the eyes (the third eye). Prasad told me that Buddha taught us the sufferings are within us, we created the suffering from our desires (maybe passions from sexual desire, in his own words, maybe he was right!). There are 8 ways to be free from suffering, or be enlightened or able to achieve Nirvana. To be honest, I was kind of confused exactly what is what, but each eyes are supposed to look over one aspect. One of them is right to meditate if I remember correctly. Above the square-ish head, there was a tower hat-looking thingy with multiple levels. I think that each level represented different level of enlightenment, the higher the level the more enlightened. He only gave me 10-15 mins to take pictures. So I was kind of rushed through it. He didn't know me yet I think, I tempted to tell him, please cut the story short and just let me take my pictures, or tell me the story in the car, so when we arrive a location, I can just do my own explorations.


Next we visited the Patan Durbar Square. A long time ago before Napel was a country, the region was divided into 3 kingdoms: Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. Each of these 3 kingdoms had a Durbar Square, they were like the places where the royalty family lived. I will be visiting the Bhaktapur Durbar Square tomorrow, another UNESCO site, and possibly the Kathmandu Durbar Square the following day after the mountain flight on my own, the Kathmandu one is not far from my hotel. Anyway, I liked the Patan Durbar Square, there were some damages from the massive earthquakes last April. At least two of the structures collapsed, some other buildings required woods to support them so they wouldn't collapse. In fact, Prasad was at Patan Durbar Square when the earthquakes hit. He told me he grabbed and held his two customers very tightly, but the next thing he knew, they just witnessed the collapse of one of the temples right in front of their eyes. Though they were safe, that must have been quite shocking. After he explained me a few things and we visited the inside of one of the buildings where the royalty lived. We walked around the area nearby Patan Durbar Square a bit. He brought me to a healing center, where they were selling the healing bowl. Sounded all interesting, a metal bowl made of gold, copper, iron, and other metals, but man, I already told him souvenirs are not my thing. I would not buy a US$200 bowl and carry around on my backpack. Me no turtle, you hear! Anyhow, the bowl itself when the "healing professional" tried it on my knee and my back, it did feel kinda good. So, I took a card and pretended that I may buy that online later. Like I will... it's US$200 freaking dollar, you know, how many records I can buy with that!


The third site we went was near the airport, called Pashupatinath Temple, a Hindu Temple. I witnessed a Hindu burial with the real dead body by the river, they did something to the body, and then they would burn it later on. I have to say, I have never seen anything quite like it. Some of the pictures might make people uncomfortable. So, you might want to skip them if you will be opening up the photos link for Day 12 at the bottom. This was also a place where I saw some Hindu religion men with paint on their faces, but Prasad said they are not real, they just want you to take picture with them and ask you for money. The Hindu traditions are quite complicated when Prasad explained to me. Like one is supposed to mourn for the dead for 3 generations, the dates when your father, your grandfather and your great grandfather died. And on the year one of your family member died, you cannot eat meat if you are non-vegetarian, you have to wear white the whole month or the whole year. It sounded extremely foreign to me. I kind of half-joking, you almost need an accountant to keep tracks of all these dates, when you need to fast, or dress in a certain colors. All kidding aside, I respect what they believe in. This was an interesting experience, to say the least.


Last stop in Kathmandu city is Bouddhanath Stupa, it's a gigantic Buddhist Temple, it was built by monk coming from Tibet many many years ago. Anyway, unfortunately, this site was destroyed by the earthquake, the top part was completed gone. It was kind sad to look at. This is another UNESCO site, Prasad said UNESCO have a lot of requirement how it can be repaired or how to repair, so the progress was going slow. I had lunch there as well. But as we arrived at the restaurant, the waitress gave me a full menu, but there was only 4 items available, the dumpling and curry with rice, either with veggies or chicken. They explained to me that this was due to the fuel crisis, they had no cooking gas, and they could only cook on wood fire. It took longer and also had a limited type of foods they could cook. There are indeed a lot of problems going on in this country right now.


We were ahead of schedule, I guess. We started heading out of the city around 1:30-ish in the afternoon. As we left the city behind, the countryside air was much better, the dust was still there, but at least not as polluted. The driver took a back way which hiked up a hillside road to the top of a hill where I had some panorama view. But the city of Kathmandu was so smoggy that there really were not anything interesting to see up there, other than some farm lands, goats, villagers looking at our fancy car and wondering who the hell this guy is. Awkward... we arrived at our hotel of the night just before 4pm. After we checked and I was shown to my room, we passed by a building completed torn apart. The old building on the right side of the property collapsed during the earthquakes earlier this year. But they said the building I am staying tonight was new and I should not worry. Rubble was everywhere. I entered my room, no power, no hot water. So I checked with Prasad, he asked the owner of the hotel. He said it was the government regular power cut, he didn't have power at the front desk too. Only half of the day they get power. I was like, oh joy! This is true in Kathmandu also, my hotel in Kathmandu has limited power in the afternoon also. So I was ok with that. They said the power should come back on after dark. And the hot water, they would find a way for me to take shower. I didn't worry about the shower, but more of the power, my camera battery needed to be recharged before tomorrow' tour, and we are in the countryside, it would be pitch dark if no light. Prasad also said they would provide candles if that happens. That's promising.


So we went out to see the sunset. There were some mountain peaks, and the sun was beautiful. But it went down pretty quickly since the lower part were all covered by fog or clouds, whatever this white smoky thing was. Nagarkot where we are staying is up on 2100m above sea level. At night, the clouds dropped so low, that we were above the clouds. I walked back to the hotel alone, while the guide and the driver went to dinner. I had a room serviced dinner (a Nepali national dish, the same one I was offered by the tour manager yesterday, it is called Dal Bhat, I have taken a picture this time). I really quite like it actually. The hotel stuff were very friendly and polite, I liked him. It was dark after dinner, I was typing my blog post on the balcony, because that's where wifi connection the best. It became cold on the mountain after dark, I had my Kenny jacket on. And boom, all in a sudden, all lights went out. Pitch dark as I predicted. Oh lord. My computer monitor became my light source, I managed to find that candle by the bedside, and tried to use the matches to light it. Dear mother of gods, all of the matches were so weak that they all broke as I tried to light them on the box. Oh my god, I tried so long to light that stupid candle till I gave up. Think I tried half of the matches in the box. Went back to my balcony and continued typing in the dark. After a while, I heard the generator sound, and the light came back on.

Prasad said I can take a shower in room 208 in the morning. I probably will skip that, I thought. I can wait till I get back to my hotel in Kathmandu. Went to bed just before 11pm since I have to wake up at 5:30am to see the sunrise over the mountains. With the fog and low clouds, I worried if we will see anything at all. It is part of the programme, we'll see.

See the other photos from Day 12 here.