Going half way around the Globe for a new Adventure

September 18^th, 2026

Kathmandu, Nepal

We are off on another adventure, this time to travel several regions of South Asia over the next two months.

My first trip was supposed to be a 2 week motorcycle trip from Nepal to Tibet and back.

Sadly, the recent flooding in Nepal had destroyed the border crossing, and for reasons not yet known, China has closed its borders to tourism travel, and also closed down many of the tourist spots along the mountains on their side of the border, so even flying into Tibet was not a realistic option.

The tour company has already agreed to move all of our reservations and funds to the exact same tour, on same dates in 2027.

As I have multiple trips planned in the region, I decided to go ahead and keep my flights and start in Nepal, and will just figure out something to do for the time I am there.

I was invited by two Brits on the tour to join them on some adventures they put together, but still not sure that trip is what I want to do as it only has 3 days of riding involved and more time spent at a safari park and requiring several flights inside the country.  They sent me some basic dates and stops, along with costs, so will look at some stuff from 2 other sources I have been talking with and make a decision my first day in Nepal.

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The first order of business was the long travel to get to the starting point of the trip here in Kathmandu, Nepal.

My flight was not till midnight on the 16^th of September, so I spent much of that Wednesday just finalizing my packing, having lunch, and visiting with relative I stay with while between trips.

I had arranged for a shuttle to pick me up in the small town I stay in and take me to the airport in Phoenix.  They are scheduled to pick me up at 7:45 PM on the 16^th.

A friend of my relative picked us both up and drove us over to the gas station the shuttle stops at and we waited till the shuttle arrived.

They were a few minutes late, but arrived and we did our goodbyes, loaded my two duffel bags onto the van and I took a seat in the back with 4 other people that were picked up earlier in another town.

Ride takes just over an hour to reach the Sky Harbor Airport, was a quiet ride, just the road noise and rain that came down intermittently during the drive.  Two ladies in front of van talked for a bit, but then both fell asleep.

We arrived at the terminal I fly out of first, so got off, grabbed my bags, tipped the drier $5 and then went into the airport.

The check in counter was empty for United, which was a bit odd.

I stopped at the kiosk, scanned my passport and answered the questions to get fully checked into my flight.

The attendant came over when called by the machine to verify passport and check to see what my Visa status was (Nepal allows several visa options, I will get mine on arrival in the country).

Then checked my bag with the riding gear and few things and attached the tag.  Then dropped the bag and headed up to the gate area.

Security checkpoint was fairly quick, no issues there.

Once through, I found my gate and sat down for a 90 minute wait till we boarded.

Flight boarded on time.  I was in zone 5, and by time I got onboard and too my seat in the economy plus section, there was exactly 1 spot left in the overhead for my bag.

I took my seat and got settled in.  Full flight tonight to Newark, New Jersey.

Flight was uneventful.  I must have fallen asleep as it went quickly, and as it was an overnight flight, there was no meal or beverage service on the flight (or I slept through it).

We landed around 7:30 AM local time in New Jersey where I would have a 4 hour wait for my next flight.

I got off the plane, verified my information for the terminal and gate for my next flight and then looked for the shuttle that runs between the 3 terminals.

I had arrived in Terminal C, and needed to go to Terminal B for my next flight.

Followed the signs for Terminal A/B shuttle, boarded and it drove all the way to Terminal A, so I figured they would stop at B on way back to avoid the left turn.

But I was told to exit the bus, and when I asked the staff at the bus stop, they told me that the shuttle would not stop at Terminal B until after 1:00 PM.  WTF?

My options were to exit the terminal to the outside, take the exterior shuttle over to terminal B and go through the full security check again, or go back to Terminal C, and take the Air Train, which is also outside security, so requires a full screen again.

Not sure what absolute moron setup this system, but this is the last time I will ever fly through Newark again.  FFS.

I returned on the next bus to Terminal C, grabbed the Air Train and then once in Terminal B, had to go through security for my gate area.  Oddly, each gate wing has separate security, so if gate would change, you would have to go through security again.

Newark, one screwed up Airport, avoid at all costs unless that is your final destination.

Completed the security check, which was not too bad, and arrived in the gate area.

I found the gate, verified the flight was mine, then I went back over to other side and went into the SAS Lounge which my business class flight allows me access too.

NOTE: I had upgraded my flights the day before when I tried to check in online to Business Class to avoid that long flight in coach – 16 hours is just too long to be that cramped.  I also upgraded the final leg as well, even though it’s a short flight, the cost was not bad, so did it anyway.

In the lounge, I found a seat and then had some basic food from the food bar.  Not much there, and was kind of weak quality, but did not cost me anything extra and was a bit quieter place to sit and work on stuff.  Bit warm in the room was my main complaint.

I sat for perhaps 1.5 hours, then left to go sit at the actual gate.

Much cooler out in the main area, so relaxed for a bit till the gate opened and then I approached to get my boarding passes updated to Air India as the originals were printed on United, and from past experience, those will not get you on the plane.

They got me setup with the correct passes for the next two flights, and verified my baggage check to make sure it moved to the correct planes.

I then sat a bit longer, then the announced the Business Class boarding line, so moved over closer to it and waited for it to open.

Once they started boarding, I was able to get on the plane quickly, stow my bag and then relax in the very nice, private cubicle in the front section of the plane.

Had walls all around, though the middle section was open to start with, only after take off do the permit it to be closed, and guy in other seat closed it, though he did introduce himself when we both sat down originally.

There was a nice large screen, huge area to put up and rest legs, small table next to me, cabinet to put stuff into, a small reading light, or larger cubicle light, and the chair could be adjusted all the way flat to make a bed.  Blankets and pillows were also in the space, along with head phones, slippers, and toiletry items.

The aisle wall could be closed for privacy when you were sleeping.

I got comfortable, got a drink from the attendants and waited for the plane to leave.

We got out of the gate 20 minutes early, but lost that time waiting on the jetways for other flights.  But still took off on time.

Once airborne, they came around and took our meal orders from the provided menu.

Food was very nice.  Once done with food, they cleared everything and provided hot towels to clean up, then offered everyone night clothes to change into to sleep if they wanted.  I opted out of this as I am perfectly good sleeping in what I wear on the plane.

I reclined my chair some, then read my Kindle for a few hours, till my eyes were tired.

I then put ear buds in and played music for a couple of hours, drifting in and out of sleep till my batteries were low.

Put them away and then just sat there watching the flight map till I dozed off.

Woke for the next meal, and then slept off and on till we arrived close to Delhi India.

The 16 hour flight had taken us along the US east coast, over small part of Canada, across the Atlantic, then across the UK and much of Europe, then unlike my last flight, we went across the Med, and cut over Egypt and across Saudi Arabia, then over the sea until reaching India.

Once we landed, we were quickly off the plane.  I stopped to use toilet soon after as I had not had chance to use it prior to landing with everyone trying to get changed back into normal clothes.

Then I found the transfer hallway and had to go through security again, which was a bit annoying as they had me unpack all the electronics and run them through again, which was about half my bag.

Once that was done, I checked the flight boards and no gate had been assigned yet for my flight was it was still 5.5 hours away.

I again found the lounge (Maharaja Club) and relaxed in there for several hours, having some light food and drinks while I waited, even dozing a bit, I think.

Finally left to find my now assigned gate 45 minutes before boarding time.

Gate was quite a walk, but then found chair near the front and sat there watching people as the Wifi was not free at the airport.  You had to get a code from businesses or kiosks, so probably required a purchase at least.  I had used the Wifi in the lounge which I also had to request access too (they scan your passport and then give you the code), but it was not working in this area of the airport.

They announced the business boarding, and I was first in line.  I was not sure how full it would be as when I upgraded my ticket, the entire section was empty, I was first to buy a seat there.

We reached the plane, but they then had us wait in the hallway before the jetway as they were still getting the cleaning crew off the plane.

Once allowed, we boarded the plane.

This smaller plane just had the business class at the front with the larger seats, but not much for extras here, not even a TV screen that I could see.  Did not even have power via USB, only via plug, which I did not bring with me, but battery was still good, and only 1.5 hour flight, so no need to charge.

The section eventually filled up except the seat next to me, and rest of the plane was quite full as well.

Once airborne, we again got a meal from the menu and drinks, and then once that was cleaned up, we were almost ready to land.

Landing was after dark, so could only see the city lights spreading out from the area, so not much to look at.

We stopped the plane on the tarmac and used a stair way to get off the plane and walk over to a waiting shuttle bus.

Once full, the bus took us over to the arrivals terminal where people started running to get inside.

I was not in a rush, so found my way inside and followed the signs for the visa on arrival kiosks.

Filled out the application on there, it quoted me a price, but the attendant helping me said I needed to photograph the app info on the screen and then take it over to the payment desk.  They also emailed it, but since I did not have internet yet, could not get that.

At the desk I paid the $50 fee for the 30 day visa and they gave me the receipt to provide to the immigration check point which I walked too next.

Since it was later in evening, about 8:30 now, there was no line, so just took the next window and they guy stamped and applied the sticker to my passport, took my photo and then we were on the way.

I stopped at the edge of the building before the exit hallway to buy exchange some currency, and then bought a SIM card from place next door.

$100 gave me 14,500 NPR, which means they kept about 1000NPR as a fee.  The official rate was 1.53, the exchange gave me 1.49, so pretty close.

The 28 day unlimited data/call SIM card cost me 2000NPR, which was about $13 US.

Once done, I proceeded down the long exit hall, where more currency and SIM vendors were.  The currency places all seemed the same, but not sure I got best SIM card, but what I got will cover my needs.

Once out of there, I went down to the main exit, expecting to see someone to pick me up for the hotel as arranged.

However, there was no one, and so I checked my WhatsApp messages to see if I needed to call someone, and there was a message that they were trying to reach me.

Turns out the local people were provided the wrong data for my arrival time.

When I first booked the airfare, I was on a flight that would arrive at 4:30, however, the airline canceled that flight a week later, moving me to the later flight arriving at 8:00.

Unfortunately, the tour organizer had forwarded the original message I gave him about the flights, not the updated one.

So, they had been there earlier in the day waiting for me, and had already left.

In the end, it was not going to be possible to get a driver there in time, so I had to grab a taxi instead.

As I had already been approached by someone outside the building when I arrived, he had told me he had a taxi and was also tour guide trying to sell me on his tours, which did sound interesting, so will think about it, if anything, for next year when I come back into the area for the postponed Tibet trip.

They got me to the hotel, cost me 1500NPR, so about $10, not a bad price for a 15 minute cab ride.

I got checked into the hotel, which was the place we were supposed to stay originally.  I had booked an extra 3 nights in front of the tour, as I had planned to explore the city a bit before we left.

I asked to keep those nights, and will then adjust as needed.

I got into my room, and then met up at the rooftop bar with Avo, who is one of the companies’ agents who helps out on the tours.  He was here for 1 more night before going off the prepare for some other tours in other parts of the world.

I sat with him for about an hour before we headed down to the rooms.

I unpacked a few things, organized some stuff, and then now will head to bed.

Will be up early to have breakfast with Avo and meet up with Ganesh who is a partner with the company and has the possibility of getting me on a ride to the Mustang Valley which is what I was really hoping to do, so will see what becomes of that in the morning.

Catch ya down the road.