MoMo Time: First days in Nepal

First off: internet here in Nepal so far has been spotty at best...so these posts may be few and far between. Travelling to get here was actually smooth and relaxing...until I was about to board my plane for Delhi in Munich. Until then, I had a great send-off to my trip by finishing EVERY SINGLE THING I wanted to on my work "to do" list, then had a wonderful dinner with my dad at this super cute Italian place in Burlingame before he took me to the airport. On the plane I napped, sipped coffee and delicious German food (love Lufthansa!), watched all the new Oscar winners since they had a fabulous selection, and just relaxed in my seat. So there I am, groggy in the Munich airport, wandering around deciding if I want to buy anything while there, and I get a text from Indigo airlines saying "hello, your flight today to Kathmandu has been cancelled. Sorry for the trouble!". Whaaaaat. So I'm frantically calling (note to parents: you may see a long-distance charge on the phone bill :( ) the airline, who basically tell me they'd be happy to put me on the flight two days later if I want! Hmm.

So since my flight was about to leave (I was literally the last person on the plane) I had to just get on the plane to Delhi, and hope I could wrangle a last-minute flight to Nepal from there. Whew. I landed in Delhi, and after much back and forth was able to find someone to get me on a flight (for more than twice the price of the original) to Kathmandu. It was one of the last tickets, and arrived in Nepal at the same time as Nolan...which was convenient. So I sucked it up and paid, got through security and went to wait at my gate for like...5 hours.

While sitting there, totally bored because wifi wasn't working and I didn't feel like reading, I get a text from Nolan. Seriously. He was asking where I was because he was looking for me in Delhi. Lol. To make a long story short, he had a 5 hour layover there also, which I hadn't realized, AND was on the SAME FLIGHT as the one I had just booked, which I also didn't realize! To make things more amazing, the ticket I booked was in the super roomy exit aisle and someone switched seats so we got to sit together! So we were reunited randomly in the Delhi airport, and spent our 4 hours until our flight eating a slow breakfast together and catching up. BEST SURPRISE EVER.

I wouldn't know how to top that, but it just got even better.

We arrived in Nepal, got our Visas, and hopped in the car to our lodging way up in the mountains, in Nagarkot. As it turns out, Nagarkot is AMAZING. You can see Everest and many of the highest peaks of the Himalayas from there at sunset and at sunrise. So we settled in as literally the only people staying in this beautiful lodge at the top of a mountain, sat by the fire in the common room, and sipped hot masala chai while having a private date together :) They cooked us a delicious Nepali dinner from scratch, and we had one of the most romantic and relaxing evenings we can remember in many years. It's so quiet and peaceful up in those mountains, and the air is so fresh and cold, that you can't help but feel removed and totally at peace. Before bed, we got extra blankets and two rubber water bottles to stick in our bed at our feet. Those babies stayed hot ALL NIGHT and made the room super warm. We still can't figure out how they stayed hot so long.

When we woke up for sunrise, the whole mountain was completely fogged in, so no sunrise mountain viewing :( But it was still beautiful, so we walked around outside for a bit before a lovely breakfast and more masala tea (I'm going to overdose here, I know it). Nolan surprised me again with a (very early - you know us!) birthday present he had gotten me in Hyderabad. Something I had wanted for a long time: really, really nice pearls, which apparently are a specialty in Hyderabad. He spoils me, truly. So now I'm feeling all fancy...and pretty nervous that someone's going to steal my luggage and my pearls before we leave.

We left Nagarkot mid-morning to stop at the view tower, which was still foggy, and then continue on our way to Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu Valley. It was foggy and also SUPER smogged in because of the Kathmandu factories. Sad. We arrived in Bhaktapur around lunchtime, and checked into our hotel and grabbed lunch after wandering around for awhile. This place is incredibly well-preserved and beautiful. It's a medieval Nepali town that's been preserved by fees you pay for entrance into the old part. The whole town is old pink brick, delicate and amazingly intricate wood scrollwork, and bronze statues. I'd post pictures of the place, but the internet is terrible. Food here is just okay. I really like the unique vegetables and the smashed dry rice and ALL the masala tea, but Nolan's kind of gunning for more Indian curry. We did get to try MoMos (Nepali spicy dumplings) and JuJu Dau (King Curd - like a sweet cream curd that's only really made here in Bhaktapur), and they were delicious!

Today we're exploring a little more, then heading to Pokhara and the lake there for a few days of mountain viewing, boating, biking, and getting to know more Nepal! The people here are lovely and kind, and as they like to say: always smiling. I've heard more people walking around singing here than anywhere else - it's a beautiful thing.

Hopefully will update again sometime soon.