Putting together a 3 day plan was intentional to:
- Reduce the number of close plane connections - just in case something gets cancelled
- Find the cheapest routes
- Be reasonably well rested when we arrive to our volunteer placements in Nepal
- Get the laundry done - Nepal is not too big on Laundromats
Here are a few things that we’ve learned along this journey.
1. Airport Wifi - All of the 5 airports we’ve been in have had free wifi. One was limited to 1 hour, however, we exceeded that and didn’t have any issues.
2. Arrive Early - We are always keen to arrive early when travelling. We’ve continued this tradition and have enjoyed less stress because of it. These first two items have given us lots of time to write blog posts!
3. Be Prepared to Wait - Every traveller knows this, but we were reminded several times as queuing up seemed to be a theme for this round. The best plan is to stay positive and remember that the people working are not the one causing the wait. We waited for shuttles and taxis, waited for security, waited for check-in, waited for customs and even waited to fill a water bottle. We waited yesterday for an hour to have a tire changed on our plane. Yes, we are still waiting for our hotel room.
4. Watch YouTube Travel Videos - there are lots of hints for travellers about what to expect - we learned about the taxi stand in Bangkok and the visa fee in Nepal from Youtubers.
5. Read ALL of the Signs - After waiting in the domestic line for 30 minutes in for an international departure today, this will become a new part of our routine!
6. Time Changes - Yesterday we took our first flight at 8 am (New Zealand) and arrived at our hotel at 6 pm (Bangkok). Not bad until you add the 6 hours of time change. So, it felt like 12 to us and we were up at 5 am, so we went to bed. We awoke at 2 am “ready to go”. The rooster was up at 4 am to keep us company. After another time shift of 1:15 today we’ll be feeling it tomorrow.
7. Don’t even think about driving in Kathmandu. Being a passenger for 30 minutes made us feel unsafe to even walk.
It’s 3:15 and our room is still not ready.
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| MG - our airport host in Nepal |