Arriving in Nepal- Culture shock !

After 26 hours of travel which involved a car ride to the train in Lison, SNCF to Paris,walk to the metro, change trains to the RER to Charles de Gaulle airport. Fly to Heathrow, catch the underground to terminal 3 , pack a tea chest( box) with half our clothes to send back to NZ, and check in to fly to Delhi. After a 8 hour flight , over night, no sleep and a curry we arrive and transfer to another flight ( Kingfisher , business class- what a way to go!) to Kathmandu. We arrive in Kathmandu , bus from the plane to the 'terminal' / shack, find out we need a photograph and $80 American dollars to get a Visa . No ATM machine in sight but thankfully someone to take your photograph for 460 Indian rupees ( thankfully we had taken some rupees out at Delhi airport) ! .We think...What now?..... immigration allow Mark to jump the queue, clear customs (not!) run downstairs to an ATM and the outside world, to get the money out. In another country he would have been arrested or shot by now. Alas...ATM machines both(2) not working! Mark spots Pauwan the young man who is collecting us from the airport( holding up a sign which has our names written on it or something like our names ) and informs him of our dilemma . Pauwan then hands over 18,000 rupees for us to transfer into US at the money exchange back upstairs in immigration! Wow...Mark was sweating by this time! Finally we complete the documentation, try to pay the money ( no one wants to take it after all this as we had been fast tracked in the queue and missed the person collecting the money! We give up trying to pay and eventually obtain the visa and leave to the outside world of Nepal.
When ride in Suzuki 900 with Pauwan and his 'taxi' driver friend through the streets of Nepal, dodging rickshaws, motor bikes, bicycles, pedestrians and other cars on single lane roads in the rain. Alot of tooting, near misses and times when I close my eyes and pray to Allah or Budha or whoever is out there. We arrive at our accommodation in the centre of Thamel ( tourist area) .
One hour after arriving there is a knock on the door of our room and low and behold it is the friendly immigration man asking us for our $80 American dollars ! He is very humble and friendly stating it is a months salary in Nepal ( which it is). We happily hand over the money rather embarassed and sit down in disbelief at the whole escapade! Welcome to Nepal .