the first day in nepal was an adventure.. it was the first time i was so far away from home.. a place that i wont even be able to fly home directly.. the political instability of this place and my total ignorance bout the culture made this day not much better.. the last time i was truely away from home was the sec 4 camp in malacca.. but i was with the school then, with nanyang booking the entire hotel and virtually locking us in there the entire duration, it din feel much like i was out of spore.. well.. even if i did felt it.. i was onli in malaysia, wad's the big deal.. although i've flew to hk on my own a couple of times but it was different.. i knew hk so well..
xinyi and i were the only singaporeans who went for training for trainers programme so we flew to nepal on our own, 2 girls.. we transit at bangkok.. both of us never flew far enough to have to transit b4.. when we saw the kathmandu international airport i was shocked although i never showed it.. a little red brick building.. there was no tunnel like thing tt could connect to the plane in any manner.. so i figured out tt we would be walking down the plane.. and it was drizzling..
the walk to the departure hall was no better.. the floors were cemented!!! i mean, no tiles no carpet.. how's tt for an airport huh.. i thought to myself..
and the washrooms were not surprising.. dim, not very clean.. with yellow water coming out of the tap..
i was relieved when we met john, audrey and mary at the departure hall.. i din know them but xinyi intro them to me as the apro exco.. haha.. i felt safe instantly.. cos now i have this bunch of australians and indonesians with us.. with anything goes wrong.. at least we have someone to turn to.. at least we can all stick together..
so we walked on and found uttam (the apps head).. well.. now at least i know i should be able to reach the hotel soundly..
the moment we stepped out of the airport, some nepalese swarm towards us and started offering to carry our bags.. xinyi and i were lucky tt we had only 1 luggage so they din snatched from us.. none of us knew wad was happening.. it was happening all too quickly and there was a serious language barrier..
it wasn's long b4 we were on the streets, travelling to the hotel.. i knew this was a poor country.. but never knew it was so bad.. the houses were tattered and worn down.. and the sides of the tiny roads filled with mud.. cows were walking here and there.. well, i must say that for some strange reasons.. i was always happy seeing cows ard on the streets..
we checked into the hotel.. it really looked good.. miles different from how the streets look like.. finally i felt safe enough.. called mom and smsed my dear.. already beginning to miss them..
dinner tt night was at a traditional restaurant somewhere not too far away from the hotel.. it was a little awkward since it was the first time all of us met each other.. i didn't know wad to say or do.. luckily.. xinyi and i had the comfort of each other..
there was 2 nepalese girls whom i took fancy on the dinner table.. this pretty long hair girl called ruma and another very sweet and sporty looking sunita.. and somehow, the 2 of them became my best international frens in nepal.. with ruma being my group leader and sistering me ard throughout the entire trip.. haha..
i din really like the food thought.. there was alot of curry and i'm someone who don't even eat much spicy food.. my fav for tt dinner was the momo-- smth tt looks like xiao long pau.. but it was prob mutton or beef inside.. it was quite a pity tt that meal was the only time momo was featured on the dining table..
my fav nepalese food.. the momo.. ate them all at one go.. too bad this was my only momos in nepal
the restaurant had traditional dance to go with the fancy 8 course meal.. this is the peacock dance which basically just had 1 person inside wearing this peacock thing and walking ard.. trying to behave like peacock and peck pple's heads..
since nepal was 2+ hr behind spore time and coupled with my homesickness and lovesickness.. my first day there felt really long.. by the time we could finally go back to the hotel i was dead tired..
as xinyi was bathing and i was getting ready to sleep, i suddenly felt a lack in sense of security.. so i held on tight to the little 4ever frens bear (which became my best sleeping companion) and wore my angel ring, hoping that i can draw strength from them.. i even placed my packed bag next to me on my bag.. so tt in case anything happens, i'll just run and go with it.. at least i will have my cash and documents with me if anything does happens..
in the end, i fell asleep even b4 xinyi finished bathing.. slowly, i got used to the hotel bed and all the strange new faces ard me.. but even so.. my sleeping habits never changed thru the trip..