My trip to Nepal for tectonic geomorphology fieldwork
Tectonic geomorphology fieldwork
Hi’ya! I have been wanting to share my fieldwork experience in Nepal for a long time. However, back then, I have not decided where should I post my story. Since I have my own github web page now, I am going to share my experience here. Enjoy!
The departure
26/09/2019
The airplane I have flown with to Doha
A trip to Nepal took 18 hours flight or so with 2 hours transit in Doha. Nothing is actually exceptional on my flight from Edinburgh to Doha; it was a pleasant flight. On this trip, I went with Emma, who shares the same supervisor with me. Hugh (our supervisor), Mikael (Emma’s other supervisor), and Mark (another researcher on our group) are already in Kathmandu, waiting for us. We took off from Edinburgh at 4 pm and flew for 7 hours to Doha. As I said before, it was a delightful flight. We flew the Airbus A350 (a great, brand new aircraft) with so much rooms for our legs. It was a quite flight with not many passengers on board. I had an enjoyable dinner, snacks, etc. Because I don’t want to miss everything that was going on with this new aircraft, which I am excited about, I did not sleep at all during my flight from Edinburgh to Doha. I was thinking that I should sleep on the next flight from Doha to Kathmandu so I would not have jet lag when I step my feet in Nepal. Soon, I am going to realise that that was a bad idea.
Screen showing plane’s position
We landed in Doha, and Emma was excited to show me the giant teddy bear at the Doha airport. Emma had been telling me about this ginormous doll since the day before our flight at the campus. Since Emma had been visiting Nepal through Doha several times, she is very familiar with navigating through the Doha airport. She took me to the place where the giant teddy belongs (located at the centre of the airport terminal). She also guided me to go to the gate for our next flight to Kathmandu (which was packed with passengers).
The giant teddy at the Doha airport
As I entered the aircraft, suddenly, I regretted my decision not to sleep on my previous flight. The plane was full with passengers! No empty space at all. I sat on the middle row, which was not a very good seat to sleep. The flight started at 2 am. After we were airborne, the flight stewardess served the dinner, yep, a very late dinner. The food was great and I was happy. Feeling stuffed and tired from the previous flight, I started to close my eyelids. After two hours (or so) of sleep, the stewardess woke me up for breakfast (yes, it was breakfast! Since we were heading east, we were going into the sun!). I was not pleasant since I only took two hours of sleep from the long journey, but I had to have my breakfast anyway. It was a very quick meal; I did not even try to enjoy my food because I was really sleepy… But then the stewardess woke me up again, this time it was for a snack! I finished my snack and got tucked up with the blanket one more time. But then the stewardess woke me up, again, and again! If it was not for refreshment drink, more snacks are coming! I should be happy with this very generous airline that keeps my tummy full all the time, but I just need some good sleep. This is when I regret my decision to stay awake all night during my flight from Edinburgh to Doha. I should have got some sleep. :(
To anyone who travels during the night flight, please, just get some sleep. Otherwise, you will end up like me.
Arrived in Nepal
27/09/2019
On the following morning, I finally landed in Nepal. I went straight to the immigration office to pay the visa fee and get my passport stamped. You always want to be in the queue early because it can get busy and hold you up for an hour. Lucky me, my experienced fieldwork co-worker (e.g., Hugh, Mikael, Emma) has trained me well to not to get stuck in the visa queue. I went to the baggage collection conveyor belt to get my stuff and Emma’s equipment. Then, some random woman started talking to me in Nepali, which clearly I couldn’t understand. Apparently, I look like a Nepali person. This feels like a plot twist to me, and this won’t be the last time some random people talking to me in Nepali.
The Tribhuvan international airport visa queue
Emma and I quickly booked a taxi to reach our hostel in Paknajol, a central area in Kathmandu situated around the tourist attraction spot. And I have to say that I am familiar with the scene of Kathmandu city; I feel like I was in Indonesia, but I was not. It didn’t take us long to reach our accommodation from the airport, and this is why I can say that this was clearly not Indonesia. Indonesia’s traffic problem can really make someone aging during their commute.
The taxi receipt from the airport to our hostel
We finally arrived at the hostel and it was a nice place to stay. We stayed at the family-run business called Family Peace House (the title makes it really obvious heh?). The people there were really lovely. Since Hugh, Mikael and Mark are yet to join us, we, well, Emma, decided to go to the Practical Action Nepal office, located around 30 minutes’ walk from our accommodation. She asked me to join her, and I did. During my walk to The Practical Action office, I noticed something which is very Indonesian. I was very surprised that I found the Lion Air group’s (an Indonesian low-cost carrier airline famous for their delay time) office in Kathmandu. Anyway, I had a good afternoon walk in Kathmandu and went back to the hostel after.
Lion Air group’s office in Kathmandu
The location of the hostel in which we were staying in Kathmandu:
The shared bathroom room
Hugh, Mikael and Mark finally arrived not long after we arrived. Since we all starving, we look for a café/restaurant near us. Joining with us is Mr. Bhairab Sitaula, who helped us manage our fieldwork in Nepal. I remember Mikael was fascinated by listening to Mr. Bhairab’s story about three kingdoms in ancient Kathmandu while waiting for our food. It was a terrific story. We ordered momo(s), a traditional Nepali style dumpling with vegetable filling, and dhal for my main course. The momo was served with green and orange sauce, which taste really good. I really enjoy my dishes. However, a story is not completed without any chaos in it. I flipped over my main course, not realising it sits on the edge of the table. The plate used to serve the dhal set was huge, I can’t see where the table was! Thankfully, I almost finished the dishes then that humiliating incident happened.
Complete meal with dhal, vegetable and egg curry, youghurt and the cracker which I forget what it’s called
A nice dinner before my upturned plate accident
After we finished our dinner, we head back to the hostel to get some rest for our long journey tomorrow. And yet, I still have some work to do, getting the Nepalese sim card! So I took Emma as my hostage to accompany me, looking for it. I can’t remember what happened exactly, but when we found the available kiosk, it took us hours to get me a sim card. It was so long, Mikael was worried and joined us! Or was it Mark? I can’t remember who exactly.
To buy a local sim card in Nepal, you have to fill this form and attach a copy of your passport