First Time Travelling Abroad Alone.

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No, nothing quite like that happened to me but I had to face some serious grilling and roasting from one of the persons that I had gone to see nevertheless. The other person that I had gone to meet however provided me with some enjoyable experiences which I cherish till date.

Kathmandu

The visit was to Katmandu in Nepal in December 1973. It was cold, damp and most depressing. My primary purpose was to meet up with and appoint a lawyer to handle a sensitive trade mark matter. A local entrepreneur had locally registered a trademark owned by my then employers and was sending goods bearing that trademark into the Indian markets. Our Trademark Attorneys in India had recommended a local lawyer and my visit was to meet with him and do whatever was necessary to put a stop to the infringement. From the minute we met at the hotel where I was staying, the two of us hit it off and he remains a friend till today. He ably organised the various things that needed to be done at Kathmandu before lunch and escorted me around on a sight seeing tour for the rest of the day. He kindly invited me to his home for dinner and I got to meet his entire family who were very gracious hosts.

Since I was already at Kathmandu, I met up with our wholesaler there the next morning and that is where I got my roasting and grilling for a full hour and a half. I was ready to call it quits and leave when the proprietor shifted gears and became a very gracious host and the rest of the day and the next was spent with him visiting customers and end users. He too invited me to his home and I was treated like royalty by the entire family. Substantial quantities of local fiery rum was consumed during the entire visit to keep the cold out! I was also escorted to a cloth shop where suitable material was chosen, taken to a tailor to fit me up with the local dress combination of Daura-Suruwal, which was made, tried on and finished before I left Kathmandu. I was also gifted with two beautiful Nepali caps and a bottle of the fiery rum to take back to India.

All in all, a productive and enjoyable visit except for the unusual for December weather. I however enjoyed clear and beautiful weather the next two visits I made later.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post on the weekly Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium where thirteen of us write on the same topic. Today’s topic has been chosen by Paul the BWT. The twelve other bloggers who write regularly are, in alphabetical order, Anu, Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, ocdwriter, Padmum, Paul, Rohit, Shackman, The Old Fossil and Will. Do drop in on their blogs and see what their take is on this week’s topic. Since some of them may post late, do give some allowance for that too!

16 thoughts on “First Time Travelling Abroad Alone.”

  1. I think I remember the case and the TM involved . If I am not mistaken our company had not registered the TM in Nepal ! But you are right the people from Nepal , Sikkim , Bhutan and the entire North East part of our country are such lovely people who extend warm , cheerful & lavish hospitality ! It s also perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of our country – a lot of unspoilt natural beauty . I will share my ( hilarious ) experience in that part of the country in the late 70’s , also when I worked for the same Company !

    1. Yes, the North Eastern states as well as Bhutan are filled with somehow different people. Not by the looks only but the sheer joy that you see almost without fail everywhere. I used to enjoy visiting all of the states.

    1. There were times when I felt that it would have been grand to take my wife with me to some of the places that I used to visit but when I was traveling our son was still studying and needed her at home. We compensated by traveling within India to a number of places that we otherwise would not have.

  3. Ramana, I am sure that like me, you learned, travelling alone was the road to new friendships. I remember the first time I went alone, to visit Elly in France, the journey involved travelling from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l’Est train stations in Paris. While struggling down the stairs between different levels, I felt a tug at my hand and the heavy suitcase pulled from me. Looking up, I noticed a very tall younger man run down ahead of me with MY case. In shock and not knowing if my luggage was gone forever, I continued down to platform level where I saw the young man standing beaming at me & my suitcase held in his outstretched hand. He had only wanted to lighten my journey.

    1. Such kindnesses because of my cane were almost routine for me and yes, I have very fond memories of such instances too. Some of the friendships that I formed those years continue till date and I am one lucky fellow for that.

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