Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Day 11 Hong Kong to Japan

Monday, September 26, 2011: Day 11

The last day of my summer vacation.
After having breakfast I left the hotel to go to the office of my ex-counterparts. I have not been there for 15 years and a half, but I could go there by myself. Station and appearance of the building were changed and there are some new convenience stores around, but basically everything was the same as before. We have not met for such a long time, but we could recognize each other. Four of us had dim sum together.

I came back to the hotel to pick up the suitcase and headed for the airport by bus.
When I checked in, I wanted to have a window seat. But they said today they were full, and there was no window seat. Instead they offered me a flight one hour earlier to Narita. I paid yen 10,000 to change the flight from Narita to Haneda, so I said no. But they offered me a business class seat. So I decided to take it. There was no time left, therefore I could not buy anything at the airport and headed for the plane.
Trips by business class is one of my dreams. So I enjoyed the reclining seat, delicious foods and a good service called by name.

There were some HK dollars, I bought something at the in flight duty free shop which I have not used for a long time.

One thing I felt really impressive was the donation pouch which you can give the coins you did not use in the countries you have just left. Any coins are acceptable. I put some HK dollars and handed them to the cabin attendant. I think this is a very good way to donate to UNICEF. I think all of the airlines should do this.

It was rather cool when I got to Narita. I came home around midnight.

I really had a good time in Nepal and Hong Kong to visit many places and old friends.

Thank you very much, everyone!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Day 10 at Hong Kong

Sunday, September 25, 2011: Day 10

I left Kathmandu at night and arrived at Hong Kong early in the morning.
It's been 16 years and a half since I came to Hong Kong last time, I think.

I exchaned yen 10,000 to HK$946.
I bought Octopus card which enables me to ride on bus and train cashless which is similar to Japanese Pasmo or Suica.
I went to Yau Ma Tei by bus and went to the hotel, but it was too early to check in. They were kind enough to keep my suitcase and let me use the Internet.
I called my friend who has the same birthday as mine, and decided the time and place to meet.
To kill time I took the open-top sightseeing tours. There are three courses and it cost HK$290 with $30 off coupon. First I took the Kowloon Tour (Blue line) which lasted for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Then I met my friend and ate dim sum. We took the Stanley Tour (Green line) which lasts for 2 hours if you do not drop anywhere, but we stopped at Aberdeen to take Sampan and at Stanley Beach Road to see the market. On our way we saw the track and field meeting of Japanese school.
After that I took Hong Kong Island Tour (Red Line) which lasts for 1 hour and a half. It rained a lot.
Then we met again at night to have dinner. We enjoyed the Symphony of Lights from the 30th floor restaurant.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Day 9 Kathmandu to Hong Kong

Saturday, September 24, 2011: Day 9

The last day in Nepal.

I got up early to do mountain flight. At first I heard it starts at 6:45 AM, but actually it started around 8:05 AM. It was cloudy in Kathmandu, and there were many clouds in the 6000 meters above sea level around the mountain range. I only saw the summits of the Mt. Everest and other mountains. It took about 1 hour.

We came back to the hotel and ate breakfast.

In the afternoon we visited Pashupatinath where has the biggest Hindu Temple in Nepal. We saw the crematory from the other side of the river. These places only allow Hindu people to enter. The entrance fee is different depends on where you are from.
We went to Boudanath where has the biggest stupa in Nepal. It is really big.
Then we visited my friend's sister's place. It started raining heavily when we got there. I met some children there and taught origami.
We went to the supermarket which recently opened. But it was still under construction and only 3 floors were open. I like to visit local supermarkets. It was hard to find local sweets there because so many goods were imported there.
At night we went to the restaurant where we could see and listen to the Nepali's traditional dances and songs.
After that we went to the airport finally to fly to Hong Kong. I still had some money and had to buy something at the airport which is much higher than in the local supermarket.

Day 8 Nagarkot to Kathmandu via Patan


Friday, September 23, 2011: Day 8

This morning I got up early again to see the sunrise. It seemed to have rain at night and the earth was wet. There were many clouds but I could see the beautiful sunrise. (See the picture) In the other direction I could even see the rainbow.

We left Nagarkot around 10 AM and went to Patan where my friend is from. Patan is another old town. It is very famous for the artifacts of statues of Buddha. There are so many shops to sell statues of Buddha and my friend also runs one of them and we went there too.

When we left Patan, it started raining.
After coming back to Kathmandu, I went walking tour to Thamel area. There are so many shops there and I enjoyed shopping.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Day 7 Pokhara to Nagarkot via Bhaktapur

Thursday, September 22, 2011: Day 7

I got up at 4:30 to see the sunrise at Sarangkot. There are so many people there to have the same purpose. However, unfortunately it was cloudy and we could not see the beautiful sunrise and mountain range, though we saw partially.

Today I exchanged yen 10,000 to Rupee 9,800. It is rather easy to convert.

I flew from Pokhara to Kathmandu. It was a short flight of 25 minutes or so. Unfortunately I could not see the mountains. Interesting things at the airport were prices of the goods which are nearly 3 to 7 times higher than the town and the security check which is done by men and women separately.

After arriving at Kathmandu, we headed for Bhaktapur where is the third largest town in Kathmandu. It was a capital of 15th to 18th century. There are many old buildings built by red bricks. I enjoyed lunch at the restaurant in front of the Nyatapola Mandir.

Then I enjoyed shopping including the local costume.

And we came to Nagarkot where has the beautiful view point of the Himalayan. It is about 2100 meters high and it is rather cool.
I expected to see a beautiful sunset, but I could not.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Day 6 at Pokhara


Wednesday, September 21, 2011: Day 6

Today I went to many places. First to the Devi's Fall where I looked forward the most. Until yesterday it has been raining. So thank for the rain, the volume of the water was tremendous, I could see the powerful waterfall. See the picture.
Then, to the World Peace Pagoda, Nihonzan Myohoji, a Japanese temple. I happened to see a Japanese monk there. In Lumbini I saw the same kind of the Pagoda. They say there are 100 of them in the world.
Then to the Reginal Museum of Pokhara.
Next was the incredible experience of today. To the Bat Cave. It was quite an experience. If you have a chance to come to Pokhara, I absolutely recommend to go there.
We visited two temples. One is Bindyabasini Mandir, the biggest Hindu temple in Pokhara. The other is Barahi Mandir where is on the lake Phewa. We went there by boat.
We ate lunch at the famous local restaurant.
At night I enjoyed shopping. Last year when I travel at this time of the year, my sun glasses were broken. This time again my sun glasses were broken. Therefore I decided to buy one because the sunshine is so strong that I got suntan. Do you know polarized sunglass? I did not know at all. But this is very interesting. And I bought the one.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Day 5 Lumbini to Pokhara


Tuesday, September 20, 2011: Day 5

It was fine in the morning.
We left Lumbini at 9 in the morning. We stopped twice and came to Pokhara where is the second touristic place after Kathmandu. Here it has been raining unfortunately.
The road was dumpy. I could see a waterfall on my way here. See the picture.
We arrived here before 5 PM and went out for dinner after 8 PM. Many shops, restaurants, and travel agencies were still open. There are many places which are available "Wi-Fi."
There is TV in this hotel, and I could see the news after 2 nights. I was surprised at the news of typhoon No. 15. I hope everything is fine.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Day 4 Chitwan to Lumbini


Monday, September 19, 2011: Day 4

Wake up call was made by knocking the door at 5:15 AM. It was raining. We were supposed to ride the elephant to cross the river, but the amount of the water was too much for elephant to cross, we used the boat to cross. We attended the elephant safari. At that time, the rain was stopped fortunately. It was higher than the bus I think. We saw some deers and rhinos. The tour lasted for nearly 3 hours. After coming back to the hotel, we ate breakfast.
We left the Chitwan National Park around 10:30 AM for Lumbini where is the birthplace of Buddha. After 4 hours drive we arrived at the Lumbini Hotel Kasai. As you can see, this is the Japanese style hotel. The room is big. Air conditioning is working wel. I was surprised to see the washlet in the bathroom and Japanese dishes at the restaurant. There is no TV here either. Blackout has happened once in a while, but the back up sytem was activated in a minute or so.
We have visited many temples here and the birthplace of Buddha. To see around I rid on Ricksaw. See the picture.
We had a big dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Day 3 Kathmandu to Chitwan

Sunday, September 18, 2011: Day 3

I left Kathmandu at half past seven and came to the Chitwan National Park. It took nearly 6 hours by car. To my surprise the mountain road was crowded in some places. Roads were very rough and narrow. I fell asleep. But I saw some beautiful landscape of the mountain and river.
After arriving here, I ate lunch, had an elephant briefing, visited the Taru Village by caw cart and saw slide show, and ate dinner. I could feed the elephant which was the first experience. There are many Spanish tourist in the same tour.
Foods here are delicious. Room is OK, but hot water is only available from 6 to 7 in the evening. No TV.
There was an earthquake in the evening.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Day 2 at Kathmandu


Yesterday was moving day. Today was sightseeing day.
I have visited Swayambhunath, Durbar Square, Bagamati Bridge, and Kirtipur.
Swayambuhunath is known as Monkey Temple and there were many monkeys. At Durbar Square I could see the special event of Nepal Tourism Year 2011 and the living goddess Kumari. At Kirtipur I tried Newa dishes.
Here is a picture of Napali lunch.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Day 2 at Kathmandu



Saturday, September 17, 2011: Day 2

Good morning.
There are 3 hours and 15 minutes differences between Japan and Nepal. When it is noon in Japan, it is 8:45 AM here.
It is fine but there are some clouds.
I have just eaten breakfast.

Day 1 at Kathmandu

I have arrived at Kathmandu.
After leaving Hong Kong, it flew to Dhaka, Bangladesh first. It was raining there. Many people left there and some people got on. During the flight from Hong Kong to Kathmandu there were a drink service, dinner and snack. It took 6 hours and a half from Hong Kong to Kathmandu. It is raining here too.
After arriving here I paid for the VISA which cost $25.
My friend from Expo 2005 was there to meet me. It is so nice to have someone that welcome me abroad.
I have checked in the hotel.
It was a long day just for moving from Japan to Nepal. In total it took about 21 hours.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Day 1 at Hong Kong


I am at the Hong Kong airport now.
I left the Haneda Airport at 10:35 by CX543 and arrived at Hong Kong Airport at 14:25 (Japan time). Local time is one hour behind from Japanese time.
When I got here, it was raining, but now it is fine and cloudy.
Druing about 4 hours flight, refreshment and lunch were served. The menu was interesting. There were Japanese noodle, seafood rice, chocolate cake, and Japanese rice cake too.
On the way I could see Enoshima and the beautiful Mt. Fuji. (See the picture) There is no snow there.
I was watching the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" but I fell asleep because I could not sleep long last night.
Here I have about 4 hours. I wanted to use the lounge, but even if I have a citi's gold card, since it is issued in Japan, I could not use the loung for nothing. I should better have a card of airline company.
So I am just sitting and waiting for the next flight.
While I was checking emails here, I had a chance to talk with an old couple from the United Sates who now live in Cambodia.
The impressive things here at the Hong Kong Airport were the Prayer Room and the Free Internet Service. I have never seen the prayer room before.

Summer vacation 2011: A trip to Nepal and Hong Kong

Friday, September 16, 2011: Day 1

Now I am at the Haneda Airoport.
This year I take my summer vacation from today and go to Nepal and Hong Kong by Cathay Pacific for 11 days.
This is my first trip abroad from Haneda Airport after its renewal. I have looked forward to using it and finally the time has come.
At first I booked the flight from Narita Airport, but Haneda is closer, so I paid yen 10,000 more and changed the airport. It is very convenient. The airport looks very nice. There are some Japanese old fashioned restaurants and shops on the upper floors.
I left home around 6 in the morning and arrived Haneda before 8 and now I am at the lounge.
I exchanged yen 10,000 to $126.
Weather is fine and it is very hot now.
When you travel abroad, the Overseas Travel Insurance is very important. This time I bought a flight ticket by Citibank Credit Card, but I decided to buy the insurance too in case there happened something. I used the machine for the first time but it was rather easy.

Ittekimasu!