We left for the Varanasi airport at about 8:00 for our 12:30 flight. Sure it was a bit early, but as it turns out, exiting India involves a lot more than steps than you would think possible. Varanasi is a small airport with 3 gates making it smaller than Victoria's airport. Security is an important issue for India; I saw at least 4 soldiers standing around with large rifles. Here were the security steps to leave:
Step 1. Bag Scan. We had to pass our checked bag through a scanner. Since we were so early we lined up at the only scanner that had people lined up at and mistakenly put our bags through the IndiGo airline scanner. It was the only one that had staff working it; all the other two scanners were closed. It turns out each airline runs its own scanners, so we had to wait another 20 minutes until the Air India scanner opened and put our bags through. The bags are tagged to show they've been scanned.
Step 2. Flight Check In. Once scanned we lined up to get our bags checked and seats assigned at the Air India counter. That went smoothly. They check your passport before issuing a boarding pass.
Step 3. India Exit processing. We next went to the international travellers waiting area for processing by the India Government. They need to check you out of the country. There were about 6 employees here but they don't start processing anyone until most people for our flight were there. So another wait of about 20 minutes until the processing lines open up. The clerk stamps your passport takes a digital picture of you (retina scan?) and stamps your boarding pass twice.
Step 4. Security clearance into the security clearance area. Before entering the security area we queue up to have someone check our boarding pass and passport that was just stamped about 10 steps away.
Step 5. Security Clearance. We queue up to have our carry on baggage scanned. Once the bags are on the scanner belt, there are separate male and female security lines to check your person. The women have a modesty booth where they are searched by a female soldier. The men are searched in the open. They stamp your boarding pass to confirm you've passed the personal check. Then over to pick up your carry on luggage. My carry on luggage has been set aside. They don't like the fact that I have my curling iron stuck into my metal water bottle to conserve space. I have to open my carry to show my deadly curling iron. They attach a stamped tag on both my purse and carryon bag to show these items have passed security clearance.
Step 6. Waiting for the plane to board, We wait for the plane in the clearance area for Gate 1. The gate is not listed on the board but everyone seems to congregate there. Two people sitting nearby are hacking away. I think we're there for 30 minutes or so.
Step 7. The gate number flashes up on the board and everyone is up like a rocket and to form a line snaking up the escalator to reach Gate 2.
Step 8. We're in a queue again waiting at Gate 2 for the boarding to commence. Judith and I decide to wait in nearby chairs. Eventually the line begins to move, and we get up to join the line and get to enter the boarding runway.
The flight was short and uneventful. It wasn't very full. A boxed lunch and then we getting ready for landing. We couldn't find our driver right away, so Judith went to investigate. By the time she came back out she had already arranged for a different driver. Fortunately, we had to go past the pick up area and this time spotting someone holding a sign with our names on it. The time difference between Delhi and Kathmandu is 15 minutes. It seems to be a why bother question for me.
The drive into the city was just as crazy as India, except they don't have those tuk tuks and we didn't see any animal driven carts. There are no cows on the streets either. We chatted with our travel agent and filled out our trip with a few more things.
We got to the Hotel Tibet International and we got checked in. Actually we just sat down in the chairs in the lobby, while the travel agent, Lila, checked in for us. That's him by the counter in the hotel lobby picture. While he's checking us in, someone brought a hot steamed towel for us to freshen up with and some tea while we waited. Lila's responsible for out Nepal trip portion so makes all the hotel, guide and sightseeing arrangements. Staff seem to be excellent. People speak English far better than India, we find out later that schools are taught in English using English language text books.
We're impressed with our room as it's a suite. That's great because we're here for 3 nights.
We then went for a walk around the area. It's located in the downtown area. We were advised of a local attraction, a stupa, so we headed towards that. The streets were much cleaner than our recent India experience. No cows or goats is a big plus if you want clean streets. It's clear that either someone cleans the street or residents don't litter or maybe both.
A Stupa is a place of meditation for Buddhist monks. They're usually conical in shape and contain the ashes of Buddhist monks. This one is ringed with tourist shops selling Tibetan souvenirs. Monks meditate by walking around in a clockwise rotation; hence everyone who comes and visits also does the same thing.
We decide to eat an early dinner in one of the rooftop restaurants and I get to snap this picture. While we're in the restaurant we hear some music being played. It's the tail end of their New Year's Festival (Nepal use the same Gregorean calendar system as the Chinese), so this festival event had a Lakhe dancing around in front of the music. The Lakhe is a demon in Napalese folklore and protects the townspeople from evil. There was a huge crowd following the Lakhe and the band and of course everyone went clockwise around the Stupa.
There are street beggers and Judith is a magnet for them because she stands out. There seems to be more tourists here on a per capita basis than in India although that may be incorrect. The vast majority of tourists in India are residents. The streets are just as crowded as India, but we find that people are more likely to bump into you more. There seems to be much less of that in India.
When we got back, from walking the streets that evening, Judith decided to have a drink so we headed for the bar and she got the bartender to mix a drink up for her by relaying all the ingredients. Ice, coffee, cream and Kahlua. It's the first bit of alcohol either of us have had the entire trip, although I'll admit I'm not a drinker by any sense of the imagination so would never think to initiate such a thing.
Then back to he room to check out the cricket match and get ready for the next day of sights.
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