Nepal. First Impressions in Kathmandu.

Its now been over 2 months since Rick and i arrived in Nepal. As we relax in Pokhara, which has easily become our home in this beautiful country, the white sand of the Perhentian Islands now seems a world away.

Deciding on our next travel destination came easy. We had discussed our options in brief conversations after we had come back to Asia from Spain last year, and we agreed that we would stay in the region for a while. We finalised the sale of our house in Kuala Lumpur, which effectively released us from debt and spent time with our family. As we were coming to the end of our time on Perhentian Kecil island, we finally decided that we would travel to Nepal and continue on to India. Well that was the broad plan at least.

NEPAL

Back in Kuala Lumpur, everything fell into place and we ended up departing after only a week. I flew in on Malaysia Airlines (since my brother helped me take advantage of his staff family discount) and Rick took a later Air Asia flight, the cheapest alternative. Upon entering Nepal via Kathmandu airport, you can opt for visas of up to 3 months. We paid USD100 each for our 3-month (the maximum) visas on arrival.

Approaching Kathmandu.

From Kathmandu airport, we took a taxi to the tourist area of Thamel, which is filled with shops, restaurants, bars and hostels, but we wandered to the neighbouring area of Paknajol, and ended up preferring it there. We found a quiet hostel and set off to explore. The thing that hits you first is the chaos and noise of the traffic. You need to be constantly on the lookout for motorbikes and cars while walking along the potholed, dusty roads of this city.  Maybe we felt the chaos more  as we had spent the previous months on a tranquil island with no roads or traffic. The main attraction for visitors are the Durbar Squares (Old Palaces) and the unique temples dotted around the valley.  The entrance fee of 1,500 NRP (or RM50)  for the Kathmandu Durbar seemed a bit too high for an essentially open area with many access streets so we entered incognito a couple of times to watch the locals going about their daily tasks while enjoying a milk tea.

One of the few photos we took of Kathmandu’s Durbar Square.

Mangled electrical wires in the streets of Thamel.

A small stupa in Thamel near the Durbar Square.

Larger stupas such as this one can be found by following small passageways that branch off from the main roads. Quiet and tranquil places hidden among the busy streets.

Street art in Thamel.

As the country with 8 of the 14 “Eight Thousanders”, the highest mountains in the world (over 8,000m), the Himalayas and its mountain culture come to mind, and visiting Katmandu for the first time, you see that it is a huge basin, surrounded by rolling green hills and mountains. Situated at 1,400m, the Kathmandu area is huge and contains many areas of historical significance, designated as UNESCO world heritage sites. Nepal’s strategic position on the ancient trade routes between India and China also can be seen in the many diverse faces of Nepali people you pass on the street.

Unfortunately, from the moment i landed in Kathmandu, i was sneezing, the dust and the monsoon damp made my sinusitis flare up. After a few days of feeling under the weather, Rick and i decided we needed to leave this bustling city, knowing we would have to come back at some point. And so instead of exploring the best historical sites in this part of the world, Rick and i decided to take a bus to the hills of Pokhara to enjoy cleaner air.

The local bus station where we caught our bus to Pokhara.

Back to Long Beach, Perhentian Kecil.

After the ladies had made their way back to Spain, Rick and i spent some time back in Langkawi with our friends and took our time to relax. We then spent a couple of months helping out at my brother’s wedding and finalising the sale of our house before starting off our latest 3-month stint back on Long beach, Perhentian Island.

Long beach. White sand and blue skies.

The quieter side of the island, facing some of Perhentian Island’s popular dive sites.

The rugged coastline north of Long beach.

The other end of Long beach.

After working for 6 weeks in a dive shop at the end of last year, Rick and I were interested in returning to spend more time on the island (where we had met over 5 years ago) once the monsoon had ended and the dive season had started. We had been offered some work for a few months, which would be ideal for us, allowing us to live on a beautiful island, dive for relatively little and not spend so much money, while planning our next move.

We arrived back on Long beach in early March, when the waves and currents were still strong and the weather had just started to clear up. We heard from the locals how this year’s monsoon season had come late, and brought with it very little rain compared to previous years. Over our 3-month stay on the island, the weather was erratic. Waves and poor underwater visibility came and went, even when the sea was supposed to be completely flat. The lack of rain was a problem that had a huge impact on the water supply on the island, and that, coupled with the fact that more weekend local tourists created a higher demand meant that supply was often interrupted.

Red flag on Long beach. A warning of strong currents and waves.

We managed to rent a room for 3 months at Moonlight Chalets, our first choice on Long beach, where we had stayed and made good friends last season. Our room was basic, but had an amazing view of the beach from a beautiful balcony. We even managed living some distance from the shared bathrooms and soon we had integrated into the family of people staying and working at Moonlight.

Welcome to Moonlight!

Our home for the 3 months we spent on Long beach, Perhentian Kecil.

Our basic but cosy room at Moonlight Chalets. We brought our own mosquito net, a must on the island.

Gab and Amar working on restoring the boat. One of the projects at Moonlight.

Putting the finishing touches on the boat before launching it into the water.

Ijal and Salim, Moonlight brothers.

Our friends at Chill Out Cafe.

BBQ on the beach.

The boys.

Bonfire on the beach!

Great memories.

We are family!

Working in the diving industry is something that both Rick and i knew we would both enjoy, so in addition to doing something we both loved, we were being productive and earning some money for it! This year, we worked with Panorama Divers, and a bunch of really fun people, which made our island experience even more special. The underwater landscape was still beautiful, even though the island was slowly changing with more construction barges on the beach, and fast-expanding resorts.

Fun in the sun at Panorama Diver.

Yann and Steph’s Divemaster Graduation/ Snorkel Test at the Panorama Dive Shop.

At the beginning of the season, there was an abundance baby fish. Baby black-tip reef sharks circled in the clear, shallow water, which the locals had not seen in years, and the highlight of the dives was the first sighting of the tiny blue-ringed octopus, which has enough venom to kill 10 people. Some lucky divers even had the chance to swim with a whale shark, the sea’s largest fish, and dolphins were sighted above the surface on the way to dive sites. We even had the chance to stumble across a giant green turtle on shore laying her eggs one night. In the end, i didn’t end up diving as much as i had wanted, but i managed to get comfortable again with my buoyancy, and really enjoyed the peace and serenity that comes with controlled breathing underwater.

Enjoying being underwater again.

A tiny yellow-spotted boxfish.

Baby black tip reef sharks circling in the clear shallow water.

When the time came for us to leave and return to Kuala Lumpur, we had both decided that since we were now free of debt (having sold our house), we were free to continue traveling for a longer period of time. We had discussed the possibility of flying to Nepal and starting backpacking again, and knew that this was the perfect time to do it. In the end, we spent only a week in Kuala Lumpur unpacking, washing and re-packing, catching up with whoever we could before flying to Kathmandu to start a new leg in our new journey.

Nights were beautiful at the quieter side of Long beach.