Adventure is a State of Mind: Nepal VI: Why I Almost Left

Waiting... and waiting... and waiting. It became far too close for comfort. Frequent breakdowns into tears, waking up shaking with anxiety, trying to cope with the deep discomfort that is the unknown.

Read on to learn why I almost left Nepal - and how I ultimately got to stay.

Reading time: 6 minutes

Let me back up to tell you the full story.

I have been in Nepal for over one year now. I entered on a three month tourist visa, which I then extended until the end of May. In Nepal, 150 days per calendar year are allowed on a tourist visa, so I should have had to leave by May 29... but the coronavirus pandemic changed that. We were on lockdown from March until July, four full months. All of the tourists were on expired visas, but of course there was no option to extend or to leave. The government had released a notice in March that tourists did not need to worry about visas during the lockdown period. We were thus not concerned... until lockdown ended, and a new notice was released saying that we needed to leave within 2 weeks of the international airport opening (although, no one knew when that would be). It sent hundreds of foreigners into a panic. Flights were extremely limited then, and most of us were terrified to travel through multiple international airport hubs for fear of catching the virus. So, we spoke up.

As it happened, I was very vocal in the effort to request the possibility for tourist visa extensions. I belong to a Facebook group for expats living in Nepal, where I volunteered to share my story with the media (why I wanted to remain in Nepal, why I felt unsafe to travel, etc.). One thing led to another, and I became the main spokesperson for our cause, in the media. We held a press conference in the end of July, as the airport was set to open on August 1, necessitating all of us to leave by August 15. Four major TV channels, along with over a dozen print and online news sources, attended the press conference. Our story went viral.

Watch the Himalaya TV feature here.

Within a matter of hours, our message had reached tens of thousands of people. The wonderful Nepali public was overwhelmingly in support of our request. The head of the Nepali Hotel Association along with other business tycoons lobbied the government on our behalf. It took a long time (until August 17 - thank goodness the airport opening was delayed so this was not after the deadline) for the government to release a decision. They decided that we could stay!! We were allowed to extend our visas until December 15, paying the normal visa fees of $3 per day.

It was a great success for hundreds of tourists who had remained in Nepal through the entire pandemic. We were feeling infinitely grateful. Some of us had the thought: "But what happens on December 15?" We had to put that aside, as that was four months away then.

Fast-forward to November. There were still at least 200 tourists remaining who wished to stay beyond December 15, including me. The core group who met with the media before (pictured above) banded together once again with hopes to do what we had successfully done in August. This time, for unknown reasons, everyone who had helped us before (media, business heads) went radio silent on us. The time was drawing closer and closer, and we were hearing absolutely nothing. We were writing letters to immigration, the homeland ministry, our embassies... no responses, except that the embassies would not get involved. Hope was plummeting fast. November came and went. It was now December, two weeks until all of the tourists in the country would need to leave, or face the heavy penalties of remaining on expired visas.

Now, I will give you a little bit of insight into my personal experience during this time. I haven't written about it before in this blog, but I have had a partner in Nepal since early March. His name is Sanam, and he is simply one of the best people I know. Leaving Nepal would mean leaving him. It would also mean catapulting back into a world I haven't been in for over 2 years... the United States, which is in turmoil now for many reasons: pandemic induced health crisis, politics, social unrest, unemployment, to name a few. Needless to say, I did not want to go back at this time.

I am so grateful that my boyfriend has been so supportive through all of the ups and downs.

We spent weeks hoping and praying that we would hear a positive result from the government. Then, it turned to hoping and praying that we would hear a response from the government at all. Living in the uncertainty was eating away at me. I was having breakdowns over tiny things. I was waking up in tears. I was having anxiety that never seemed to really dissipate. My mind was always at least partly aware that I still didn't know if I would need to leave Nepal in a matter of days. I decided that, if we reached one week until the visa expiration date, I would book a flight ticket.

December 8 came. One week before my visa was set to expire. And we still had heard nothing.

By this point, I had a total plan in place. We would go to Kathmandu on December 10, I would get my COVID test on December 11 (and pray it came out negative), and I would fly out on the night of December 12. I knew the exact flight I would book. I knew the exact diagnostic center I would go to for my COVID test. I knew the guesthouse we would stay in. I knew everything... and I didn't want any of it.

Now, some news began to buzz, coming from secretive underground channels. The news said that the government was having meetings to decide about our visa request. Immigration officials began sharing confusing, mixed messages; the head of immigration in one city claimed that there was virtually no hope for us being able to extend our visas, and the head of immigration in another city claimed that the government was most likely to allow us to remain. My boyfriend encouraged me to wait to book my flight ticket for a couple more days. We went to the bus station to ensure that there would be a bus to Kathmandu on the night that we needed to travel for me to make my flight, but we didn't book any tickets, just in case. We held our breath for something, anything official to emerge.

The morning of December 10 came. We were supposed to take a night bus that evening to Kathmandu to prepare for my departure. Then, as if by divine intervention, we got the news we had been praying for...

THE GOVERNMENT OF NEPAL WOULD ALLOW TOURIST VISAS TO EXTEND UNTIL DECEMBER 31!!!

We were leaping for joy. I was crying with relief and disbelief. I had become fully convinced that I was leaving Nepal in two days. Now, I was going to be able to stay for at least two more weeks. Then, the next day, we heard even better news...

THE GOVERNMENT OF NEPAL WOULD ALLOW TOURIST VISAS TO EXTEND THROUGH 150 DAYS INTO 2021!!!!!!!!!

So, as it now stands, I will be able to stay in Nepal until May 28, 2021, if I choose to extend my visa until then. I still have a fluttering feeling in my heart as I write about this. It was so recently that I thought I would need to go back to America, separate from my love and not know when we would be able to be together again. Now, I am writing this with the most joyful feeling. I have the chance to stay in my happy place with my person. And I am savoring it. The experience of almost needing to leave gave me a renewed sense of gratitude for being here. I cherish this opportunity to continue living here for some more time. This time is truly a gift.

I have learned quite the lesson in patience while living in this part of the world. Things tend to happen very unexpectedly, and very last-minute. Nepal has been and continues to be one of the most important teachers of my life. Although the lack of ability to plan drives me crazy sometimes, it is also one of the most crucial lessons that I need to learn: plans are always illusory, anyway. And in this, we can suffer, or we can find freedom.

I will end this post with the photo taken immediately following hearing the decision that we could stay.