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Arriving in Kathmandu
I visited India and Nepal for the first time on a Buddhist pilgrimage led by Shantum Seth in 2007. The following is from my 2008 trip to India, Nepal, and Tibet.
I arrived at Tribhuven International Airport in Kathmandu, where the weather was gloomy, gray, and pouring. I didn’t hear thunder and the rain was nothing compared to torrential downpours in Kansas, but it was certainly raining steadily.
I remembered that on the pilgrimage last year I had no trouble using Indian money in Nepal, and since I was running late, I didn’t wish to hold up the travel agent anymore, so I didn’t stop to exchange money. I furthermore figured I could do it at the hotel front desk. I met up with the travel agent Naresh, who in the airport stood with a cardboard sign with my name on it, and he led me out to a small white car with a driver.
I climbed into the back seat through the left passenger door, but the travel agent started getting into the car through the same door, so I quickly slid across the seat. I wondered if the other door was broken or this was a local custom.
Oddly, after we were settled into the back seat of the car, I noticed his right hand was draped across the back of the seat, almost as if he were trying to touch my shoulders. I scooted as far as I could to the window and pictured him sitting in the front seat, next to the driver, a…