Accountant Adventures: Goodbye India, Hello Nepal

Super strong Nepali drink, with fried rice in it

The plan was to wake up at 6 and be packed and on the rode to Nepal by 7am. We would have the family driver drive us near the border and then have a taxi take us over the border and into an airport in Nepal so we could fly from there to Kathmandu. All the flights from Bagdogra airport fly through Delhi and we didn’t want to do that.

Unfortunately we stayed up until after 2am playing cards and my alarm didn’t go off, so I didn’t wake up until 8:30 and rushing we wouldn’t make it to the airport in Nepal by the last flight of the day 3pm. We decided to drive to Nepal and spend the night there and take the earliest flight to Katmandu the following morning.

As usual I was served my morning tea followed by a ridiculously filling breakfast. Praj’s aunt sits at the table with me and every time I finish one item she puts another helping of it on my plate. We packed our things and said goodbye. I really like Prajwal’s aunt and uncle. His uncle is hilarious, despite Prajwal insisting I laugh only at his jokes because I am too cheap to pay for a hotel. I thanked them for a wonderful time and assured them I would return and visit them again with or without Prajwal.

On the drive to Nepal I again stuck my head out the window to enjoy the breeze and the spectacular views. I am sure that I look like a dog hanging out like I do, but I don’t care it is so wonderful. There were wild monkeys, dogs, goats, chickens and cows all over the road. The animals don’t seem to mind the cars, people will honk and the animals might move or might just lay there and force cars to drive around them. Our car got another flat tire, something has to be wrong with these tires, other people do not get flats this often.

We made it to Siliguri, India and got out of the car and into a cab to take us the 40 minutes to the border. On the Indian side of the border I had to get out and fill out paperwork so that I could leave India and then we went to the Nepalese side and I filled out paperwork to get in Nepal.

In Nepal we went to a travel agency that Praj’s Mom uses all the time to get airplane tickets to Kathmandu. Praj’s ticket was Nrs 3000 and mine was over Nrs 11,000. I got angry and annoyed, what a rip off! I could take a cab back to India and get on a plane from Bagdogra to New Delhi and from there to Katmandu for cheaper than Nrs 11,000! Of course I didn’t do that but I was very tempted.

At the airport in Bhadrapur all security measures are manual. When we pulled up to the airport they had us put our bags on a platform and then the bags were opened and searched. Then we went inside and I had to have them manually swipe my credit card for my overpriced ticket. Then I had to check in my bag and it was again opened and inspected. I was told that I was not allowed to bring my Indian Alcohol with me, but we smiled and talked to the security officer who allowed us to take it anyway. Next we had to wait in the man’s line to go behind a curtain and have our carry-ons and bodies checked for contraband. Once you clear this check you go on to another room to wait for everyone to clear the check. Praj went first and then I went. The guy asked me something that I didn’t understand and I kept silent and looked at him. “What country are you from” he asked in English. I told him I was from America. Then he patted me down and asked me to empty my pockets. He asked me to open my backpack one pocket at a time and pointed to items asking me what they were. “What is that?” He would ask. “That is my laptop”, “That is my camera”, “That is my cell phone” I would reply. Then I opened the last pocket which is full of various small items. He dug through the pocket and found a sealed package of condoms. Again he asked “What is that?” I ignored him and hoped that he would figure it out for himself and put them back. He asked me again “What is that?” and still I didn’t answer him, I just looked at him and smiled waiting for him to figure it out. He opened the package and looked inside and then he figured out what they were. “Oooooooohhhhhhhh” he said in a mock sexy voice. Then he took the package and started to kiss it with exaggeratedly loud kissing sounds with a giant smile on his face. It was beyond hilarious and I burst out in laughter.

Once in Katmandu we went to Prajwal’s cousin Bunu’s house, where we will be staying in Katmandu. Bunu had her helper make us lunch and within having 5 bites I got terrible heart burn and had to leave the room, I went and took some medicine drank some water and waited for it to go away. Bunu and Praj were worried about me, I knew I would be fine I would just need a few minutes but it was more embarrassing than anything.

We hopped into a new mode of transportation for me, it’s like large auto but it operates like a bus running a route and stopping when people need to get on or off. We rode that to Durbar square and started to walk around. After we had walked around for a few minutes we were approached by a security guard to inform us that I had to pay Nrs 300 to walk on that street because it was a World Heritage Site. Since we had already walked around the street we left. Then we went to another street that is also apparently a World Heritage Site and I would have to pay to walk on that street as well so we didn’t go and instead went to a nearby restaurant to view the street without paying.

For dinner we met some other people and went to a Nepali place. Everyone else ate with their hands but I used my spoon. When I try to eat with my hands the food always ends up all over my shirt unless I hold my hand above my head in the air and recreate a baby bird being fed. I have also started to use a spoon instead of a fork with my meals because it is so much easier to get rice and sauces with a spoon.