Day 7 - Nagarkot to Jaipur

We woke up very early this morning. Alison was up at 1 a.m. She slept a little more after waking up, but not much. I was up at 3:30 a.m. Maybe it was the altitude or jet lag, but either way, we did not sleep as much as we hoped.

The good news about being up so early is that we watched the sunrise. It was still somewhat overcast but had cleared quite a bit overnight. The sunrise was not spectacular, but it was very nice. We also had phenomenal views of the Katmandu Valley this morning. We hung out on the balcony of our hotel and watched the sunrise for a while.

When we were done watching the sunrise we went for a walk through the hills of Nagarkot. It was a beautiful peaceful morning. We walked up a hill above our hotel for about 1.5 miles to a couple of nice overlook points.

By the time we were back at our hotel, we had worked up an appetite. We had some breakfast at the hotel. While we were eating the clouds cleared enough that some of the Himalayan mountain range was visible. We wandered out to the terrace and observed the mountains. One of the things Alison and I hoped to accomplish on our trip to Nepal was to see the Himalayas. We got to see them just a bit. We also realized that even if the weather was clear from Katmandu and Nagarkot we may have been able to see them more clearly, but they would have been very far distant. Even the Everest flight, if it had been a go, would not have really been the experience we hoped to have. We would still love to see the Himalayas, but we will approach it differently on our next trip.

That being said we have absolutely loved Nepal. The sites we have seen were incredible and every person we have met has been so kind. This is a really incredible country and we are so grateful for the days we spent here.

After breakfast, we packed our belongings and headed back to Katmandu. Once again Vijay apologized profusely for the poor quality of the roads. We assured him that we understood and that this is his country and he does not need to apologize to us. We are visitors here. Vijay invited us to ask any last questions we had for him during our drive. This led to some excellent conversations about the political future of Nepal, immigration, and the 2015 earthquake.

Vijay told us currently the communist party is the majority party, but the people are unhappy because the party has failed to fulfill their promises and affect change. He expects that during the next election cycle, another party will take the majority. He also thinks the monarchy of Nepal may be restored. The last King of Nepal ceded powers in 2008 at the demand of the people. Since that time corruption has worsened and there is a movement now to restore the monarchy in the hope that would curb the corruption.

We talked to Vijay about immigration. He has a son living in the US. His son works for GMC and is trying to get a green card. Vijay said he does not understand why the US has a lottery where they give a few thousand unskilled/uneducated people from Nepal green cards. Still, his son, who was educated and has been working in the US has a difficult time getting a green card. We could not explain our immigration system to him. We did find it interesting that the US has a special lottery program for Nepal. Vijay believes it is because Nepalese people do not participate in terrorism and their people are generally known to be hard-working and honest.

Vijay told us about his personal experience during the 2015 earthquakes. During the first earthquake, he was leading a tour very similar to ours. He was guiding a young couple from the US and they were in Nagarkot. They were on their way back to the hotel for lunch when the earthquake hit. He said the shaking was so bad they could not stand so they laid down on the ground. A portion of the hotel was destroyed during the quake. He also said that as they drove down from Nagarkot 80% or more of the homes were destroyed. It is so sad. During our trip, we have still seen many of the impacts of the earthquakes more than 4 years after they struck. He said one wall of his home was damaged in the first quake. He was at home during the second earthquake and said it shook violently. He thought his house was going to collapse on him. He told us that many people slept outside for the next month because they were so afraid of the many aftershocks.

We really liked Vijay. He was an excellent guide. There is really no substitute for a good local guide. The conversations above are only a small snapshot of the many in-depth conversations we had with Vijay during our time in Nepal. He taught us so much and made sure we got the most out of our time in Nepal.

We arrived at the International terminal of the airport and I am happy to report that the bureaucracy to leave Nepal was much smoother than entering. We made it through immigration, and security and even changed our Nepalese rupees back into US dollars with plenty of time to spare. We got to hang out at the airport for a couple of hours before our flight to Delhi.

On our flight to Delhi, we finally got some great views of the Himalayas. The air was clear and once we were above the clouds we could see these snow-covered mountains. They were huge and so beautiful. We were glad we got a view of the mountains before bidding farewell to Nepal.

We arrived at the Delhi airport. We had to switch terminals for our flight to Jaipur. Since terminal one is nowhere near terminal three you actually have to drive between them. Rohit was there waiting for us with a driver to make the transfer as smooth as possible. We had a long layover before our flight to Jaipur. Flights are pretty uncertain in this part of the world (in fact our flight out of Katmandu was delayed). So it is best to give yourself plenty of time because issues are par for the course.

The flight to Jaipur from Delhi is only about 30 minutes. Ramish (our favorite driver) was there to pick us up in Jaipur. He drove to Jaipur yesterday and will be our driver for the remainder of our trip. We arrived late and headed straight to the hotel. We are staying at the Shahpura House. It is a unique guest house that is filled with artwork, fine decorations, and beautiful furniture pieces. It looks more like a mansion that was converted into a hotel and is a charming place to stay. By the time we were checked into the hotel, we were exhausted after our long day of travel. We are excited to explore Jaipur tomorrow.