Day 18: Kathmandu, Nepal

Chinese Version / 中文版本

The main purpose of today was - apply for Indian visa. For me, a person who is from Hong Kong, I didn't worry that much of my application. But I was rather worried about my 2 companions, because there had been proof that the sent application had not been able to reach the Indian embassy in China on time, and their trip had been delayed unfortunately. In case they could not get the visa, I would have to go to India by myself, because the bought flight ticket can not be changed. Or I could stay in Nepal to wait with them, and then we would fly to India together once they got the visa, because of the same reason - the bought flight ticket could not be changed! The more I thought of it, the more annoyed I got. It would be more wonderful if I hadn't bought the return ticket!

We arrived at the Indian embassy at 8:30 a.m. as usual, and saw the same security guard in the front door again. We decided to have breakfast first. While we were waiting, we got to know 2 Chinese from Guangdong province who were also applying for the Indian visa. They come from Shenzhen and Guangzhou respectively, finally I could speak the long unspoken Cantonese! It was a pity they just got to Kathmandu, otherwise it would not be bad to continue our journey with them too. 

When we were having breakfast, I saw another terrible scene: Actually, there was a glass cupboard filled with soda cans next to our table. And my left eye just glanced that there was a huge cockroach crawling inside the cupboard. When I started to look more carefully, there were few of the same sized cockroaches playing hide-and-seek inside. When I looked more, more and more carefully, there were actually more than one cockroach hiding under every soda can. At that precise moment, I wanted to collapse on the floor. Luckily, we were about to leave the restaurant. If we were about to start eating when I saw them, I guess I would just pass out and then die. There would be a news headline after the Namtso's cucumber incident like: One Hong Kong tourist dropped dead in a restaurant in Kathmandu due to the huge cockroaches she encountered!

Musical instrument store in Thamel

After the horrible breakfast scene, we went back to the Indian embassy to get our number in line. When our numbers were called, we had to go to counter no. 1 to hand in our filled application form with photos on it, passport and the copy of our return flight. If your previously sent application was confirmed by your chosen embassy in your home country, you can then pay the application fee in counter no.2 (please prepare change in advance, they don't have change). The process was quite smooth, except the staff in the embassy worked very slowly. We ended up waiting for one hour for the whole application process. After payment, we had to keep our receipt and then waited until 4 in the afternoon to get our passports back!

We then went back to Thamel to have lunch and wandered a bit. There are actually many bookstores in Thamel, for both first-hand and second-hand of many different foreign languages. Why they worth this recommendation? Because the books are incredibly cheap. It's just one third of the price in Hong Kong and half the price of the US. Hence I bought one book from Haruki Murakami to kill time in the later-on journey.

Another often seen souvenir - handmade paper lamp shades

At around 3 in the afternoon, we went back to the Indian embassy again. In the midst of waiting, we talked with others of how to get to India (8 out of 10 visa applicants are Chinese, of course we did see that Shanghai couple again, but we pretended we didn't see them and finally we were officially rid of them, thanks god!). We had planned to take the 20 hrs bus to Varanasi, but there wouldn't be enough time to travel to other cities later. And most importantly, Chloe and I did not want to give up Varanasi, therefore I have struggled for a long time to work out a vain plan. 

The people we met in the embassy suggested us to take a plane to New Delhi, or take small sized plane to Varanasi. The more I heard of the suggestions, the more painful my head became, as if it was going to explode in any minute! 

We waited in the embassy for some time, Chloe and I got our passports successfully. However, Eason's one was kept by the embassy. Until every one left, a guy walked casually towards us with a passport. They said that in the photo of Eason that he was dressed in a soldier uniform and they suspected his identity. After a very long persuasion, that guy accepted his reason that he was only a student in a police school, and finally gave him back his passport.

Gas cylinders in Thamel

When we got back to the hotel, we immediately searched the flight ticket online. The single ticket from Kathmandu to New Delhi only cost around 80 USD, so we decided to take the plane directly to New Delhi instead, goodbye Varanasi, maybe next time! 

After we bought the tickets, we went out for the final crazy shopping. This time the rarely out Eason went with us too and we couldn't be more contented with our harvests.