Ah!
Have you ever experienced the feeling "FUCK, I JUST GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!!"?? Well that's how I felt about Nepal at 5:30 this morning. So when the woman behind the ticket counter here at Kathmandu International airport told me that I wasn't allowed to get on my flight, I just about curled up into a fetal position to cry until my mom came to recover me. My flight, which was already expensive, was from Kathmandu to Delhi, Delhi to Chennai, and Chennai to Colombo. Again, expensive and a long flight, but I was happy to pay it because I just wanted to be out of Nepal. Alas, the flight from Delhi to Chennai is domestic, so I was told that I needed an Indian transit visa to pass through (despite having an onward ticket to Sri Lanka). You think that they would tell you something like this on the websites when you're booking a ticket like this... So, in a frantic spur of events, I was lead into a back room at a full run to get onto the airports computer to try to book a ticket from Delhi International nonstop to Sri Lanka. I held back the tears, taking deep breaths- assuring myself that no matter what happened that it simply WASN'T a big deal. So what, I'd have to spend another night in Kathmandu? Wait a day or two for an Indian visa? And the thoughts that I was using to calm myself down were actually making me more upset. Anywhere else maybe I would go with the flow, but I have just been SO sad in Nepal- I needed to Get Out. So tears on the brink of overflowing and my stomach doing flips. Also, it wasn't until I tried my FOURTH airline site that I was finally able to find a ticket. Okay, take a deep breath, everything is okay, you'll make a bunch of money when you get home so stop stressing. Problem solved. Boom. Thank god for credit cards! And then...the immigration counter. I politely explained again and again that I didn't need a visa for India because *now* I will only be passing through the international airport, not the domestic. It was about 20 minutes of us going back and forth as I tried to remain calm, showing him my just-purchased-and-printed onward ticket and explained it slowly and clearly. Eventually I think that he just got tired and let me go. I'd like to say that from here on out its smooth sailing, but I'm betting a thousand bucks that my checked bag does not arrive in Sri Lanka (luckily I packed some clothes in my carryon, as I learned my lesson in the beginning of the trip when they lost my boardbag). Also, I was informed that I could get a Sri Lankan visa on arrival and figure out about how to get 2 months instead of one, and I have a feeling that it's not going to be that easy. Putting a positive spin on this:
"I am happy to be moving from Nepal to Sri Lanka. I am grateful for the lessons that I learned which will help me while traveling in the future. I am so excited that Sri Lanka will be receiving me with open arms, and a 2 month visa. I am bountiful and blissful." *and maybe I should add in "I'm sure that they will have extra sets in first class, and will offer me a seat with open arms (and free of charge)."
Wow, I just need to say that about a thousand more times and chant a few "Om Gung Ganapataye"s and I'll be golden. And now the tears have started. Like the shock and 'excitement' from this morning has worn off; I'm exhausted, I don't feel well, I miss my mom and dad, and I'm simply tired of being sad. Onward and upward, onward and upward.
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