Kathmandu Nepal

Katmandu Nepal, is a place that had been on my mind for a long time. I had a plan to go there and start a small Kukuri knife export business. In November of 2004 flew to Kathmandu from Doha Qatar  where I had been working as a military contractor . As we were flying in I caught my glimpse of the Himalayan mountains covered in snow, that view even after 14 years is still clear in my memory and ill never forget it.
As soon as the doors of the aircraft were opened I immediately noticed the aroma of incense, it was strong and smelled a little like sandal wood.
I followed the crowd through the tiny Kathmandu airport to the passport control desks, there were 2 lines/desks and above each desk was a sign – 1 read “visas” and the other said “non Visas”, I noticed right away that the non visa line had only 3 people in it while the Visa holders line was long and stretched out quite a ways.
I could have kicked myself for Having gotten my visa at the Nepalese embassy in Qatar , Had I known it was a visa upon arrival I would not have wasted the time and money to get the visa before i left – oh well, live and learn.
anyway, after standing in the visa line for a while I decided to slide over to the relatively empty non visa line and just play dumb, I walked up to the counter and handed my passport to the smiling Nepalese immigration officer and said “Hello” he replied in same and said “Oh sir, you already have a visa and should be in that line” indicating the line I had just left. Damn! but then he said, its “ok, Ill take care of it here” and stamped my passport and visa , then handed back my passport, wished me a pleasant “welcome to my country”.
I said thank you and hit the door, Hooray!! my little subversive action had worked and I didnt have to wait in the long assed visa line.
Coming out to the Baggage claim area I looked for and found my Blackhawk Phoenix back pack, grabbed it then went outside past all of the tour operators selling cut rate tours and vehicle services etc.,I Hailed the 1st taxi I saw  and hit the road for my hotel.
While in Qatar ,I had booked a room online at the Marco polo hotel outside of Tamel in Kathmandu, on their website it looked like a decent place but when i arrived and checked in it was a real 3rd world shit hole hotel, and i decided to look for another room in the AM. anyhoo, after stowing my bag and grabbing my camera i hit the town.
After working in a middle eastern country for almost a year i was suffering from alcohol and pork with drawls so I went looking for a decent restaurant where i could get both. I managed to locate a chinese restaurant near Tamel close to the Royal palace. This restaurant had some beautiful decor but the reason I chose it was because of the sign out front that said “English here goodly spoken”, that to me was the selling point.
I went inside and ordered a bottle of Kukuri rum and everything pork on the menu! it was an excellent meal and id recommend the establishment if I could remember the name.
The kukuri rum was about 1/2 gone when i finished eating so i poured the remainder into my nalgene bottle, added a coke and some water, slung the bottle over my shoulder, paid the bill and hit the door.
Nepal is the home of the pagoda and i visited a few just taking a look but personally i didnt find them interesting.
As I wandered around the City and took in the sights , I decided to try some beetle nut a fella was selling on the street – that was a mistake! that stuff is horrible and i almost passed out!
hahaha, Aftter chewing it and spitting red for about a minute or so I had to call it a day and spit that stuff out. Ill stick to skol or copenhagen snuff.
After about an hour or so of wandering around I was getting tired of all the Beggars and hawkers bugging me for money or to buy something so I went back to the hotel and polished off my Nalgene bottle of rum and coke. After drinking the whole bottle I was about 1/2 in the bag so I figured it was a good time to crash. Tomorrow is another day!
In the morning I headed out to get some breakfast and scout out a new hotel, while looking at the Knives in a kukri shop the owner told me about the Marco polo guest house just next to his shop. I went up to the desk and ask about a room, the gentleman told me they were expensive but he had different rates depending on your budget.
Being curious by nature i asked him how much the expensive rooms were he said “5000 rupees” ( if i remember correctly), i did a quick mathematical extrapolation in my head and realized that was only like $7.00 USD!!! I took a look at the rooms and it was 100% better than the other place and much cheaper so I booked a room for the remainder of my stay in Nepal.
The only thing is this guest house didn’t provide was towels, soap, or toilet paper. I went to a nearby grocery store and bought all of those things plus a bunch of dried Yak meat , bottled water, whisky, cookies, and what looked like trail mix.
I headed back to the guest house to drop off my purchases and saw a fellow standing out front passing out business cards to a trekking company he worked for.
He said hello as I approached and handed me a card. I struck up a conversation with him and he seemed to be a decent guy so I asked him if he w employed, he said “no” so I offered him a job as my personal guide while i was in nepal, he agreed and said his name is Raj, we talked a bit more and decided on his pay.
Raj was a bit hesitant about asking for money but we agreed that he would get 500 Rupees  a day, plus lunch and a pack of American Marlboro cigarettes per day. Raj also asked me if I had any extra clothing I could leave for him when I left Nepal, I said sure.
We agreed to meet the next morning for breakfast at a local place which caters to westerners, I cannot recall the name of the joint but the food was excellent and all of the waitresses were deaf – interesting.
anyhoo, after chow Raj and I headed out to scout out some Kukuri Knife shops and just look around the city. I had a great time and was impressed with the fact that Raj had been on mount Everest as a sherpa and had photos and documents to prove it.
we went scouting around the kathmandu valley and checked out the funeral pyres burning along the river, took a look at the royal palace and the police barracks then did a bit of shopping at a carpet store, I bought 3 rugs and shipped them back to the USA as gifts for friends. I checked out the Kukuri factory and several knife shops and bought blades to fill orders from friend in Qatar and elsewhere.
It was getting late in the afternoon so I asked Raj if he was hungry and of course he was so we got some Nepalie style grub and sat around talking about his adventures as a mountain guide and sherpa.
After dinner I asked my new friend if he was interested in going for a bit of whisky or a beer, he said yes so we went to a local beer palace hidden on the back streets of Kathmandu. It turned out to be a Napalese brothel with lots of patrons and working girls.
we drank Beer and whisky, ate food, danced, smoked all kinds of cigarettes talked to folks for about 6 hours in that place. I was getting a little hammered so I suggested to Raj that we depart the area so I could head to my room for sleep.
I was a little afraid of the Bill but it was not too bad – after all of the food, drinking etc. it was only about 14 bucks American.
Kathmandu seems to close down after dark so we wandered the streets back to my hotel seeing all through a mild alcoholic haze. Upon arrival back at the Maco polo guest house I invited Raj to come up and share a drink on the roof of the hotel.
we passed by my room and snagged the bottle of whisky I had bought earlier in the day and headed to the roof to take a look.
In Kathmandu the stars were still shining bright regardless of the pollution and the city lights, My friend and I sat on the roof star gazing and talking about camping, our wives, friends, jobs etc. all the while polishing off my whisky.
after quite a while I woke up freezing my ass off still on the roof, apparently I had passed out , I looked about for my friend Raj and saw him in a similar state close by.
I tried to wake him up to no avail so I went to my room to get a blanket to throw over him before I went back to sleep myself. After sleeping for several hours I woke up and went to check on my friend Raj but he was gone.
We hooked up later in the day and took a tour of the Kukuri factory which makes these knives for the Famous Ghurka soldiers of the British, Indian and Nepalese armies.
The rest of my stay in Nepal was similar to the first day or so, touring, eating, drinking, buying knives, and just hanging out. I had a great time there and plan to return to visit my Ghurka friends.
Ayo Gurkali !!