Day 54: Katmandu, Nepal

Day 54: Today I went to Durbar Square, where they have many temples. Hindu and Buddhist and they even have some that are mix of Hindu and Buddhist. In the mixed Hindu and Buddhist temple we saw a living goddess. They claim she is a reincarnation of one of the Hindu female god, Durga. Then headed to the airport. When I got to the airport, they had many security checks there at least three. Since I was planning on going back to India from Nepal I didn't bother to use up my Indian currency, which consisted of a couple $1000 and $500 rupees. At the airport I found out that you are not allow to bring in $1000 and $500 Indian rupees into Nepal. Not having anywhere to deposit them, the airport guy at the airport India let me pass thru, when I was going to Nepal. When I got to my 2nd security check in Katmandu, when I was leaving Nepal, the security guard thoroughly checked my bags and found the $1000 and $500 Indian rupee notes. I told him I did not use them I had come to Nepal from India and was planning on going back to India. He told me that this was a big crime and that his supervisor was watching that I could get in big trouble for this. Thoughts of movies I had seen about the horrible conditions in Thailand prisons passed by me.... As I looked pretty frightend, knowing I was in a helpless situation, at the security guard, he helped himself to a few of my $1000 and $500 Indian rupee notes and let me pass by. I thought boy was I lucky and then realized what had happen. The security guard had try to frighten me so he could help himself to a nice bribe. Well I guess you win some and you lose some. Being upset I had just lost about $80 US dollars I was even happier to leave Nepal and not have to see the sights of any potential Nepalese prison camp. So my advice is if you are traveling from India to Nepal DO NOT BRING ANY $1000 OR $500 Indian rupee notes with you!

My layover was in Calcutta to Chennai. When I got to Calcutta, being on the North East side of India, close to Burma, I noticed alot more of the Indian people looked of Chinese asian descent.