Nepal

 This is one of our more exotic trips in my mind.  Nepal and Bhutan sound like they are from a part of the world that very few venture to.  This is also going to be one of my longest trips (including a separate trip to Thailand) weighing in at 25 days.

To get here we flew from Dallas to Doha and then in to Kathmandu.  Because of our twelve hour layover we booked a room in the Doha airport which gave us time to refresh and grab a few zzz’s before continuing on our trip.  The Doha airport is new and big and full of people using it has a hub point.  If you’re a shopper you should plan on bringing an empty suitcase because there’s an abundance of shopping opportunities.




A four hour flight took us to our home for the next several days, Kathmandu.  Most of our group, including our instructor Ira Block, were arriving a couple of days early to get acclimated before our workshop official begins.  We had previously traveled with all but one of the participants so this was a reunion of sorts.  

Staying at Hotel Tibet, we were a short walk to the Stupa (more on that in a later post).  We also had excellent views of the surrounding hills and further away Himalayan mountains when the sky is clear.  A rooftop bar and restaurant served as our gathering spot.

Kathmandu is a large city with over 4M residents.  It can at times be cloudy/smoggy but we seemed to have gotten lucky.  It definitely has an India lite feel to it with the residents speaking Hindi.  This was all ruled by the British until 1949 when India gained independence and Nepal become its own country albeit with Indian oversight.  Today it is totally independent.  You may remember that there was a bit of turmoil recently with protests that has brought about an interim government and stability seems to have returned.

Tomorrow: We start our workshop

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