Nepal Field Trip with Someone We Just Met
Shuhei, founder of DEAF SHIRU, and I, Makko, a member of it, went to Nepal to travel around, meet friends and interview Nepalese people with hearing loss. In this series, we are going to talk about our experiences there; what we saw, heard, touched, and felt 📝.
Saturday morning, December 31, 2022. We met up on the 3rd floor of Narita Airport’s Terminal 2.
Shuhei: “Finally, my first meeting with Makko…! I should start recording with my GoPro.”
Yes, as you can guess here, it was actually the first time we met in real person. Until then, though we had talked many times for our organization projects like picture book production project and sign language club but it was all ONLINE. We finally met! But it was not so much a “Nice to meet you’ expression because we had known each other for over one year and half. I saw almost no gap in him between his online persona and in person one 👏.
As for entry restrictions, proof of corona vaccination was required. At least 3 vaccinations are required as of now if you do not have a PCR test result. As we were heading to the gate after checking in our luggage and completing the physical check, an Asian woman said to Shuhei, “Help me!”. I am sure it was because his good personality was evident in his aura and he was easy to talk to 👀.
“What’s up?” he asked. I think when he sees someone in need, he can’t leave them alone. “Please! I need some sake from the duty-free store over there! They only allow one bottle per person, so please go buy some for me instead! 🥺”, the Asian woman said. “…huh? Sake?” It seemed he also did not quite grasp the situation. Both of us were suddenly given $500 in cash each, a total of $1000! That was a lot of money 😲. My first time shopping at the airport 👛.
“HIBIKI!”, I had never heard of this brand of alcohol before. Then I looked it up on the internet and found it cost $700-$1000 👀. And yet, at the airport duty-free store, it was on sale for only $500. No wonder, those who feel the value want as many bottles as possible. It was apparently possible for us to run away with the given $1000. How could she even entrust us, total strangers? I guess people have a lot of trust in Japanese people☺.
After the shopping, we went to the gate, and finally, we were ready to go off! 🛩.
As we boarded and sat down in our seats, a distinctly foreign smell wafted out of nowhere. I hadn’t traveled abroad since the Corona disaster, so it had been a while since I smelled it 👃. The in-flight meal this time was a bit small in quantity to be honest. We were both hungry, so we enjoyed it very fast. 😋🍴
The flight to Kathmandu was a direct flight, so we arrived in Kathmandu 8 hours later. (21:00 Japan time, 18:45 local time)
“Oh, I’m getting excited!”
First, we got a visa in the airport for entry procedures. It took about only 10 minutes using the system! After completing it, we found a SIM card store in the airport, so we bought one on the spot! Within 10 minutes of entering the store, we were able to use the Internet ✌. I used to rent a pocket Wi-Fi when I went abroad, but now I recommend purchasing a SIM card in a country 📱.
As we exited the airport, the staff of the hotel where we had made our reservation was waiting for us with a welcome board! We quickly got on the shuttle and headed to the hotel.
I was surprised by the streets of Nepal, cars, motorcycles, buildings, and, and I had the overall impression of ‘old’ 👀. The dusty weather made the building exteriors look dirty a bit. I was afraid of their possible sudden breakdown….
Maybe because it was the end of the year, the roads were crowded. It took more than 40 minutes from the airport to the hotel, a distance of about 8 km. 🚙💦 We finally arrived at the hotel around 7pm. After checking in, we went to a restaurant on the top floor of the hotel and had our first Nepali dinner.
From a Japanese point of view, it looks like “Curry…🍛 But Shuhei said “Curry in Nepal is not curry at all!”
The main meal in Nepal is a dish called “Dal Bhat Tarkari”.
This carbohydrate-center-meal is definitely high in calories 🐷. Nepalese people eat this kind of food almost 365 days a year, unless they go to a restaurant or something I heard that the type of vegetables and meat changes daily.
As we were eating and talking about each other’s daily activities, we were often approached by local people ☺ They said:
“I used to work in Japan! I love Tokyo! I love Japan!”
The friendliness of the Nepalese people was almost exactly as I had imagined 🌟.
After dinner, we went back to our room to sort out our luggage. I didn’t realize that it was New Year’s Eve, which means the countdown was going to happen in a few hours! We decided to go into the city for count down 🕛 When we went to the city center, there were a lot of people. As we moved forward, people started pouring in one after another.
We were in a big hurry to get out of there because it was scary and reminded us of a tragedy that happened in Korea on Halloween 💦 I was also worried about the risk of corona infection. We took pictures of the New Year fireworks and immediately escaped from the crowd. Then we went back to the hotel and breathed a sigh of relief😅.
