NP Winter Amp Day 0

Day 0-1: Saturday-Sunday, Jan 3-4

Today marks the beginning of an incredible adventure as part of the Global STEWARDS program. Our group, consisting of Dr. Suhana, Opeyemi, Samyam, Rafiyan, and myself (Ujjwol), gathered at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) bright and early at around 7:30 AM. We cleared our check-in and security checks. We are now eagerly waiting to board our flight. 

Our team will grow along the way grow, as Tiberias will meet us during our layover in Qatar and Dr. Leena will join us upon our arrival in Kathmandu.

Our layover flight to Nepal was at the Hammad International Airport, Doha. The Airport greeted us with a warm welcome. The airport was clean and well-organized, and the staff were friendly and helpful. During the brief time we spent there (2 hours), the immaculate facilities helped create an environment that felt more like a high-end hotel than an airport terminal. 

The airport also doubles as an art gallery. There were artistic pieces such as the “Small Lie” which is a 30-foot wooden statue inspired by the Mickey Mouse. The "Untitled Lamp Bear," a massive yellow teddy bear that sits beneath a desk lamp. The statue served as a meeting point for travelers passing through. We also had the opportunity to visit “The Orchard” which is Doha airport’s indoor tropical garden. The garden helped create a much needed serenity from the usual airport chaos. 

Tiberias joined us at the Doha airport and we had relatively short flight (4 hours) from Doha to Kathmandu. The flight offered us the view of the Himalayas for the first time. We arrived at Kathmandu in the evening and after resolving some visa related issues we headed to Hotel Imperial in Kathmandu to call it a day.