Kathmandu omissions

I never really went much into my mystery illness. So let me begin. I wasn't feeling all that well. Something to do with my stomach. So I deduced from that that it must have been something that I drank or ate. Then I suddenly remembered that I'd taken a vitamin earlier in the day that I started to feel not so good.... with tap water.

So after my one day of sightseeing and me planning to do a half day the next day with my bus leaving at 6pm, someone Sam had been traveling with for a few days back in China showed up at our hostel. Apparently, she had amoeboid dysentary. Not all that fun. So after she mentioned this I immediately became concerned that I had amoebas inside of me. After she left I looked up my travel guide health section and read all the water-borne diseases. All of them involved diarrhea. Good, I don't have dysentery. Of course that meant I could have any number of other things. I went to bed not feeling all that great so I took the garbage can and brought it close to my bed.

I don't know how long I'd been asleep but then I got sick 3 times. That didn't feel very good but I felt a bit better afterwards. Then in the middle of the night it became obvious that shall we say, I might have had amoebas. It was sudden and violent. The next day I still felt funny.

I still had to do a bit of running around also. I forgot to mention what a dolt I've become. Actually, I'm a bit iffy on the definition of dolt but I've become a bit forgetful. I just forgot my shoes on the bus actually, and I forgot my daypack on the beach a couple nights ago, I left my sunglasses behind on another bus, and while in Kathmandu I forgot my ATM card in surprise surprise an ATM. I didn't realize for a few days while when I next went to take out money. Who ever heard of a return card button? Once I get my money and receipt I figure I'm done and I leave. Anyways, I had to call the bank, meet a guy at the ATM, find out since it happened days ago my card is at the head office, go to the head office later but miss the appointment because my rickshaw driver was slow at getting me change, and go on my last day. I got my card back though. I was shocked my student card worked though. It's through a bank but I'd thought it would only be accessible in Texas. Don't ask me why I still have a bank account based in Texas.

The missed appointment is visa related. Don't try to get an Indian visa in Nepal. It's next to impossible. Scott, Sam, and I showed up one day at 1 trying to get visas. We were told there were closed and to get there the next day by 6am. It doesn't open until 9:30. The next day, days before my illness, I'm the only one to get up. I get there by 8:30. The line is long and I'm number 68 on the list. I doubt I will be seen. I spend the day there and read most of my book. Prisoner of Azkaban. Yep, been reading Harry Potter since Beijing. Anyways, I'm barely seen just before 12 when they close. They can't do anything for me. I need an onward ticket for a transit visa, of course I don't want to buy a ticket until I have a visa. Anyways, I buy a ticket online and head there the next day at 6 with Sam and Scott. They are getting tourist visas. This time we are numbers 44-46. A lot of people between 40 and 60 just leave because they lose faith that they will be seen. That's how I managed to scrape in the first day. Anyways, this second time I go in the line for transit visas. I was there the day before but someone moving from the visa line to the transit visa line convinced me I needed to be in the visa line first. Dumb since I got seen right away in this other line and just had to wait for hours while Scott and Sam waited in this miserable line. They were the last 2 to be seen before the window shut. Actually, that's what they like to say but really they were seen at 11:59 so technically the last before when they should've closed. There was still a line of people waiting and we were hoping they would shut the window and for things to get ugly. We got impatient and left. Scott and Sam had to wait a week for the telex clearance form to go through and then standing in that line all over again. My transit visa was ready in the afternoon and that's why I was late getting to the bank to get my card.

Let's see if there's anything else I should mention about my time in Nepal. Umm... I've rarely seen such a marked border. Nepal really is a lot greener and hillier than Tibet. I guess it began to change a bit before that but anyways. The change in scenery was as dramatic and Lonely Planet made it out to be. I would quote it but I've sold my China book. It was also much warmer and I only ever needed to wear 2 layers there. Well aside from when I felt cold during my brief illness.


Entering Nepal

Mountains floating in the sky

Dine and Scott

Look at how drunk I am

Good times, the Tibet 5 (minus 1)