Four Countries and Three Days Later

So this is what the Amazing Race must be like, without the camera crews of course. We left Los Angeles at 11 a.m. on Monday, Dec 1 - 12 1/2 hours, 4 movies, and 3 meals later we crossed the international date line and arrived inTokyo, Japan on Dec 2. Two hours later we departed for Singapore. Seven 1/2 hours later, 2 movies and 2 meals we arrived at 1 a.m only to find out that the transit hotel was completely full. We scrambled about the airport asking just about anyone for advice on where to stay, inexpensively but not in the Red Light district as we anticipated the "noise" might have kept us from sleeping. 

We spent the day in Singapore, visiting Little India and the City Centre. It felt a lot like home. English was spoken everywhere and while sitting in a mall having a latte I could have easily been at The Grove rather than in Singapore. That evening we headed out for Bangladesh. This flight was only 4 1/2 hours, but like Singapore we arrived at 12:00 a.m - but unlike Singapore where no visa was required, Bangladesh required a visa -- and we did not have one.  So, after a very long wait, we were finally "processed" and on our way being the last ones to leave customs that evening. 

Given the lack of accommodations in Singapore, we had luckily been able to book a room via my blackberry at a Best Western. Of course their shuttle was no where to be found so we took a local taxi to the hotel. Dhaka was a sensory overload, even at 2 a.m. The hotel was located on a street which also housed the local markets, people were everywhere setting up for the next morning. It was frantic, and it didn't calm down in the morning either. It was quite a sight. We spent less than 10 hours in Bangladesh, by 9 am we were on our way back to the airport to try to secure tickets to Kathmandu. The hotel estimated 1 1/2 hours to get to the airport, a mere 14 kilometers away! Well, I know LA traffic is bad, but it could not hold a candle to this traffic. Bumper to bumper, some of which are scraping along the bus next to it, rickshaws, people on bikes, pedicabs, taxicabs, you name it. All trying to share the same piece of concrete. We made it in an hour, and we considered ourselves lucky. Even luckier when we were able to get tickets to Kathmandu departing in an hour. Finally we might reach our intended destination.