Monday morning, I woke up still sick in London to get early to the airport. You don't want to miss your first flight on a world round trip! As I was afraid of, with my 44kg of luggage, not mentioning my ski backpack as my hand-luggage (my cousin was standing away with a plastic bag and my camera in one hand and in the other the big down jacket), the women at the counter told me that I was allowed to have up to 30kg only, and 7kg for the hand-baggage... Guest my face ;-) I started complaining since the travel agency which sold me the ticket told me that I could have 2 pieces of 20kg each. And I insisted on this point with the travel agency that they double check it, which they did. She took my print-out of my world round trip itinerary and went into an office to check if she could do something. Magically she came out and told me that Thaï Airlines was on a good mood today and that they will take my 44kg without any extra fees. Luckily she didn’t say anything for my backpack anymore...

Now I was almost 3 hours ahead of my flight departure, inside Heathrow Airport... Having said goodbye to my cousin (for a year – it seems always strange) and taken back my down jacket, plastic bad and camera, I was ready for the next check-point: the security gate. After clearing this last step, I sat down and enjoyed my first couple of hours of holidays.

While we were waiting for the boarding, I saw on NBC the "London city" crisis, and I just had one thought: I don’t care, and I won’t even think about this kind of stuff. One year with almost no "news", except of the local ones. Why should I bother about some financial, london city problem anymore...

Now I have 11 hours of flight until we land at Bangkok airport. I enjoyed my first thaï meal and finished typing the log-book I wrote on the expedition in Argentina in 2006 (it will come up on the website). No fancy movies, neither individual screens in the economic seats. I wished to have done this flight during day light to see the landscape we were flying above (Caspian Sea,Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India...). We had a clear sky but it was dark :-( It must be so nice even though it’s desert, kind of desert landscape. Maybe another time.

I didn’t sleep that much in the plane, since I wasn’t really tired, before landing in Bangkok. The airport is big and really nice, but I was not feeling like doing any shopping the Chanel, D&G, Armani shops which you can find all other the place. I just wrote some emails & other internet stuff with the free internet connection at the airport, which was a good surprise! On board of the flight to Kathmandu I started to feel that I was going to be in a different world soon, a bit nervous, but feeling like it’s finally the start of this big adventure! You know, one year where I don’t really know what’s my home, I don’t really know what the next day will be like, I will only be by myself to motivate me doing stuff.. But that’s also the kind of adventure I was looking for, so I can’t complain too much, at least not yet.

On the approach of the airport, I was on the good side to see the Everest over the clouds. It was far away and looked really impressive. First time I could see this summit from my own eyes, what a feeling for a mountain lover like me! But it didn’t get higher on my summits’ list though. It’s still something too commercial for me.

When I got out of the plane... usch it’s warm and wet here... (still with my down jacket in the hands by the way). First thing: the visa. You need to be patient since they’re not in a hurry (me neither) to give one to the 200 people of the plane. Then, surprise, all my luggage reached destination, I couldn’t belive it! But are they going to check my backpack with the 24kg of dry food ? I hope not ... And they didn’t. Out of the airport I was looking for a sign with my name but no one was there as expected. And here, you see the Nepalese coming asking if someone is waiting for you, if you need a Taxi, if you need a hotel ... Imagine a European guy with lots of yellow luggage on his cart, looking like it’s the first time he’s here. They helped me by calling the person who was supposed to be here (I forgot to send the confirmation before leaving; -1 point for me) and he sent someone to pick me up, and to drive me to the hotel he booked for me. They were really kind but you know, nothing is free. Next time I will come here it will be with more 1 dollar bills. It will save me some dollars ;-)

Going through the city in the Taxi I was enjoying seeing something different. I didn’t expect anything about Kathmandu but the pollution. When we arrived at the hotel I already felt that it was going to be way too expensive for my traveler budget but I decided to stay there to have a nice first night before looking for the hotel that Gilles told me about.

After resting a bit, having a shower, it was time to hit the streets and see how it was out there, in my the capital of my new country for the next 2 months. Crowed, noisy, polluted, trek sellers, hash sellers... am I really in some mountaineering dream’s country? I must say that my really first impression of the city (coming directly from Europe) wasn’t that good. I found my next hotel and went for a diner for cheaper that I thought it could be possible. Good thing to balance my luxurious night I was going to have.

I spent the next days looking for a map for the expedition in Tibet we want to do, getting to know the neighborhood and also trying to avoid the trek sellers, which I didn’t manage all the time... And of course, to visit the city, slowly, one thing a day maximum.

The hotel where I’m staying, Hotel Potala, is truly a budget place but the people running it as very friendly. You can ask them anything, even the price that a Nepali would pay on one of those taxi-bikes. And it was really the price, because the guy looked desperate when he stopped bargain on the price I was told since somehow he knew I was telling him the right price.

And yesterday, I kind of enjoyed a first truly long time backpacker day. I prepared the things I wanted to take with me to the Buddhist temple and went down on the terrace for the breakfast. I sat down with an American woman I spoke with the day before. Then another guy I met also, an Australian, came down as well and sat at the same table. And actually we never moved from our table until diner. We sat there speaking about all kind of things for the whole day and I really didn’t bother not going to the temple since I could do it another day... I much preferred to stay with them discussing about psychological, philosophical, life subjects actually. And yeah, for once, I don’t need to rush. It’s so nice to travel when you have time.