Let's Kathmandu This (Alternate Title: Monks on a Plane)

I made it! After almost missing the bus to the airport in Bangkok I enjoyed a lovely flight into Kathmandu.  It seems that all the Asian airlines provide a much higher level of service than those in North America.  Class acts, China and Thai Air.

(Had to enjoy a couple complimentary plane gin and tonics for my girl Em.  10am is fine, right?)

The 3-hour flight into Kathmandu was very pleasant until the last 20 minutes or so, in which we descended in a spiral of doom pattern.  The majestic Himalayas made up for it.  I couldn't figure out which one is Everest, so figured they just all are.

Oh, and there were actually monks on the plane!  They were a few rows behind me.  They have priority seating in the airport waiting rooms (there's a little graphic of a robed dude) yet they still fly economy.  Pretty cool.

Downward Spiral of Doom

Probably Everest (I have no idea)

Also probably Everest

The BaseCamp coordinator picked me up from the airport, and we had a bit of a drive through town to the house.  A couple girls from New Zealand are here on the same orientation week, and there is also a guy from Edmonton who's already working in his placement.

The house!  My room is on the other side of the second floor.

We took a little walk into Thamel, the main tourist district, and got a bit of a feel for the place.  It is constantly busy in every direction.  Tomorrow we go into 'old town' to see some more before we officially start our orientation.

Prayer flags everywhere!

Electricity is really erratic here, so I'm frantically finishing this post before my computer runs out of juice.  Magically, the modem always seems to work.

I'm looking forward to a good sleep to get over jetlag and any lingering bits of my cold from home.

Goodnight, Kathmandu!