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Got up at 5:30 and wolfed down several Swastik cookies and some orange soda to prepare for my boat ride on the Ganges. The driver and guide arrived at 5:45 and we made our way through the (relatively) empty streets of Varanasi to the river. Sunrise on the Ganges in Varanasi is supposed to be quite spectacular, but today it was very overcast. The Ganges is lined with "ghats", or stairsteps that descend into the river. People come down to the ghats to bathe, collect Ganges water (which is claimed to be holy), and to cremate the deceased (they have special "burning ghats" for this purpose). The whole scene was rather other-worldly, so I'll just let the pictures tell the story.
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After we got back to the hotel, I packed and went to the lobby to pick up my ride to the airport. When I got to the lobby, a guy signaled to me to go with him, and we went out to a car in front of the hotel, where a driver was waiting. He wasn't the same tour manager who had picked me up at the airport, but I have been shuttled between so many guides and drivers, it didn't really matter to me. After driving for about 10 minutes, he asked me for my airplane ticket so he could check it. I gave him the ticket and he looked at it for a couple of minutes and then began an animated conversation in Hindi with the driver. The driver immediately made a u-turn, which is no mean feat in Varanasi traffic. The guide said to me, "I think we make mistake. You are not person we should be taking to airport!". He then got on his cell phone and began barking excitedly to whomever was on the other end. Fortunately, we still had 2 1/2 hours before the flight, so I just enjoyed the ride back to the hotel. When we got to the hotel, the real tour manager was at the door, completely freaking out. He had come to pick me up to take me to the airport, but I was no longer at the hotel, having been picked up by the wrong guide. We all had a good chuckle about that....
Despite the confusion, we arrived at the airport in plenty of time, and after more fun with airport security, I boarded the flight to Kathmandu. The flight had spectacular views of the Himalayas, which I didn't see, because I was on the other side of the plane. Arrival in Kathmandu was uneventful--the airport is suprisingly nice and efficient.
The guide and driver were waiting for me after I got through customs, and we had about a 15-minute drive into the center of Kathmandu. My hotel (Hotel De L'Annapurna) is in the center of town and fairly nice, although it was a lot nicer 30 years ago. It even has a casino, which you can't go into if you are a Nepali citizen. Unlike any of the cities I visited in India, in Kathmandu, you can actually walk out of the hotel and stroll around the city, which I spent the remainder of the afternon doing.
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Kathmandu is wonderful, especially after 10 days in India. Here's a comparison between Kathmandu and any city in India:
| 1) Traffic | ||
| India: beyond belief, with cars, trucks, motorized rickshaws, motorycles, bicycles, pedestrians, cows, pigs, and camels competing for space. | ||
| Kathmandu: Congested, but tolerable. | ||
| 2) Conditions of streets in cities: | ||
| India: combination of potholes and dirt | ||
| Kathmandu: Actual pavement | ||
| 3) Number of cows and pigs wandering down streets and roads | ||
| India: Innumerable | ||
| Kathmandu: 2 cows on a country road outside town. None in the city. | ||
| 4) Percentage of physical space taken up by rubble | ||
| India: About 70% | ||
| Kathmandu: Almost none | ||
| 5) Chances of stepping in animal dung during a 5 minute walk down the street | ||
| India: About 50% | ||
| Kathmandu: Almost none. | ||
| 6) Condition of sidewalks on main streets | ||
| India: What are sidewalks? | ||
| Kathmandu: Excellent | ||
| 7) "Please come see my shop" hassle factor | ||
| India: Unbearable | ||
| Kathmandu: Merely aggravating | ||
Yes, India was amazing (in both a positive and negative sense), but I would say that Kathmandu is like a breath of fresh air. I would say that, but I can't, because the only bad thing about Kathmandu is the amount of pollution--the traffic exhaust here is about as bad as I have ever seen. On the other hand, the temples are spectacular, the city is amazingly clean and walkable, and if the clouds ever lift, (which I think they will tomorrow), the mountain scenery is spectacular. They also have decent internet access here!
