So to prepare myself for it all I put on a
few extra pounds, dug out my old crinkled map of Kathmandu and beefed up my first aid kit. Certainly I'm all for overcoming the obstacles of arriving in a new unknown place and making the best of a difficult situation. I'm well skilled in navigating labyrinthine streets, weaving through crowds with a heavy pack, finding a place to stay and safe food to eat, but it is so much easier showing up in a place like Kathmandu for the second time and knowing
how the show is run.

Even my experience of flying from San Francisco to Kathmandu via Taipei and Bangkok was no more complicated than stopping off at a couple of friends houses on the way back home from work.

After about 25 hours in transit I walked out of the airport terminal and met the barrage of taxi drivers with my head up, already knowing exactly where I wanted to go, how to get there and how much I was about to be ripped off. Simple luxuries.