It was time for country 93 and my first “business” trip.
Arriving in Nepal was interesting. It felt special. All these spiritual things inside the poor and rugged down looking airport. For sure a unique combination.
Arriving in Nepal
Arriving in Nepal was like mentioned before something unique. Besides the religious stuff in the airport it is just a full chaos.
There are a few queues with hundreds of people and just a few workers who manage the place. While waiting in line for quite some time, the immigration officer literally left his place in a peak situation.
Everyone was like “is he joking?”, he wasn’t. He didn’t come back, so a local was just entering another queue from the side. Everyone joined the action.
Besides in Tajikistan and at the worst airport out there, I am not used to airports like this.
Usually it is crowded, but organized.
After more than an hour, I was out of the airport, with a guy with my name waiting for me outside in the rain.
He was working for the hotel, in which I would be staying during my time in Kathmandu.
I booked a hotel, because I didn’t have time to spend with people even though Couchsurfing would have been great.
The airport transfer was included, that’s why I chose the place and it was located in the center.
Finding suppliers
When I visited India in December, I bought singing bowls to see if there is a market at home and there is. I decided to find good quality singing bowls in Nepal and ship them to Germany in order to sell them and maybe make a business out of it.
I bought the suitcase in Iran and was ready for it.
The first supplier was located more then 5 kilometers away from the hotel, just walked there and passed through really poor neighborhoods where it looked a bit shady to walk around, but still I felt quite safe. This was the only guy I was in contact with beforehand, but after a nice conversation and him showing me everything, he seemed to be quite expensive, which ended up being actually the case.
After being done there, I was just walking though Kathmandu and had many conversations inside the stores, but there wasn’t the big supplier which I was searching for.
It was hard and annoying as well. After the first day I had some information, but not that helpful.
Day two
The second day was a bit better, I was having breakfast and started a bit later than the day before. It wasn’t necessary to start after sunrise.
I found some more information and it was weird, there wasn’t much space for negotiation, which wasn’t expected. Everyone had their prices and even by saying “I buy 100kg” they wouldn’t go down.
In Kathmandu, there are locals which will be annoying to you and follow you around. They want to help you, but basically they are just there making your life harder. I didn’t feel like being with them and told them, but you need to be very strict with them and don’t accept them. I was with these idiots for over an hour and it was rough for my mental situation.
At the end I was luckily meeting a guy from Couchsurfing and then they left. I didn’t give them anything, because there was nothing I wanted. After that they were quite pissed, but you don’t need to feel bad, when you communicate it well from the beginning. It is up to them to stay.
Wholesaler Visits
After people realized that I had an interest in purchasing large quantities of singing bowls, everyone seemed to have an idea where I could get what I was searching for. I was sent from one wholesaler to another, picked up by motorcycles every three hours. It was an interesting experience to be welcomed so warmly as a business partner. Usually, when I travel, I try to avoid places like that, and those people usually avoid me, but I found it interesting to dive into a new perspective of the country. In the end, the visits weren’t that enjoyable because people expected me to buy large quantities from them, even though the pricing wasn’t as good as others. I had to decline nicely and move on to the next one.
The motorcycle rides were intense, with smoke from city life. I expected Nepal, especially Kathmandu, to be less polluted. However, as the capital and business center of the country, it was what I should have expected. After countless visits to wholesalers in Kathmandu, I found the best two options. One was a little cheaper but of lower quality, and the other only accepted cash, which was annoying due to the exchange rates and ATM fees.
Buying
It was time to buy the singing bowls, a huge process of deciding, listening to the sound, and determining which bowl should match which chakra. Buying such large quantities was quite interesting. Finding a good cargo service was also hard; many seemed unreliable for international delivery. In the end, I found a good contact for both the singing bowls and cargo. It was a lot of pressure during my stay in Nepal, but it worked out well. The delivery also went smoothly. Now, I have many singing bowls at home but haven’t started selling them yet. Still, I learned something new and need to find the time and motivation to start the next phase.
Exploring Kathmandu “Happy Holi”
During my visit, I didn’t see much of the tourist attractions due to my stress in finding what I was searching for. However, I attended the Holi festival, which was happening during my stay. It was crazy to see people screaming and throwing things at each other. You start the day clean and end up colorful. To avoid being a target, I bought water balloons and threw them at kids before they could throw at me. The kids were stealing some of the water balloons from me. Some kids were relentless, chasing and attacking you. It was quite relieving to throw water balloons at the faces of the annoying kids.
The festival wasn’t just about annoying kids. People barricaded themselves on rooftops, throwing buckets of water. As a tourist, you become a target at any moment. It was funny to fight back, taking paint from the ground and putting it on clean people. They weren’t happy, but they got what they gave. I attended the festival with a British guy who enjoyed it a lot. The Holi festival is overwhelming, perfect for extroverts who like being in a mess of people. It was enjoyable for a moment, and interesting to see a different culture.
During the same time, there was a free music festival in the city with many international bands. I found it by accident while walking through the side streets. Locals were dancing traditional dances with arrows, flowers, and plants, and hundreds of people were watching. Kathmandu is usually known for its nature and hiking, but it has something to offer in the city. There are many temples and religious places, which technically cost money to enter, but if you’re sneaky, you can avoid paying. The air quality is bad, making it hard to stay outside for long. The city has everything, from clothes to religious items.
Summary
I was happy to leave Nepal and fly back home because I was exhausted and couldn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped. I sent a huge package to Germany and had a full suitcase of items I bought. The flight home was long and tiring, with multiple stops in Mumbai, Istanbul, and Austria before taking a bus to northern Germany. My luggage broke during the journey, causing some trouble with the bus driver. When I finally reached home, I was just happy and relieved. Despite the exhaustion, I look forward to revisiting Nepal in the future and hope for a better experience.
Also the kids had fun as well when I was attacking them, it was more like a game for each and nobody would be hurt during the day, at least I haven’t seen anyone in pain.
What’s Up Next?
In the next week, you’ll read about something completely different. I believe it will be entertaining, so stay tuned!
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