Nepal-01: Prologue

In 2007, I visited Nepal for the first time. Until then I had stayed in India for 2 years. Most of the time, I was staying in Kolkata, volunteering at the Missionaries of Charity (as known as Mother Teresa's House). Mother House has several institutions and each of them is for different kinds of patients such as sick or injured people, handicapped people, mental patients, orphans or old people. Most of the patients have no relatives to depend on. The institution where I was working at is called Prem Dan, which is one the biggest institution among Mother House for sick, injured, old or handicapped people but not in critical condition.

Prem Dan (2006)

I am neither Christian nor religious. The reason why I had been working there was simply for my own curiosity. And the days in Kolkata were full of new experiences. I planned to stay in Kolkata only for a couple of months at first, but the more I stayed there, the more new things I could see and understand. Eventually, I stayed there much longer than I expected. Also I could meet uncountable number of interesting people from all over the world, and some of them are still good friends of mine.

There was no specific reason when I decided to go to Nepal. Just the reputation of Nepal I had heard from tourists in Kolkata was pretty nice. They told me that Nepal is a beautiful, relaxing and comfortable place. Also I could take a direct train from Kolkata to Nepal's border, and it was quite cheap. That's all. I had no idea about this country at the moment, so I took a bus for Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, after crossing the border without any plan.

Thamel, Kathmandu (2007)

My first impression of Kathmandu was not that different from Kolkata's. It was dusty, muddy and noisy. Only difference was food. There were lots restaurants for tourists, and they served quite nice food. Actually, Kathmandu was an easy place to stay, compared to India. But I didn't really like to be there, so I moved to Pokhara.

Lakeside, Pokhara (2007)

Pokhara is the second largest city of the country, which lies by the Fewa Lake. And the touristic area called Lakeside was just like the reputation of Nepal I heard. Peaceful, beautiful, and comfortable. I liked this place at once. I didn't do anything special but having relaxing days. And it was just then I met the students group from Japan.

Lakeside, Pokhara (2007)