The travelerers worst nightmare.

Today had my first experience...surprisingly, of the travelers worst nightmare. It all started, unbeknown to me, at 11am when I went to an ATM to get a little cash out, that ATM didn't work, so I went around the corner to an other. This time it worked and I had 5000 rupees in hand. Every time I use an ATM, especially in a foreign country I tell my self, "make sure to grab your card when you're done." well this time, if I said it, my brain and ears didn't listen. At 6pm I looked in my wallet for some cash, I glanced at the card section and notices one missing, I frantically threw everything out of the wallet, nothing. I searched through all my pockets, nothing. I looked through my day bag, nothing. I figured it could be back at my hotel room, so i hoofed it back to the Annapurna Guest House, knowing full well it was not there, it was floating around Kathmandu some where. I looked around the room like an investigator would, glancing at both tables and the bed in 2 seconds, in that time I knew it wasn't in there. By this time I had deduced that I was 99% sure I left it at the ATM, breaking one of the cardinal rules of travel, don't lose your shit, especially an ATM card when you are with hours of flying out of the country.
It was now 6 o'clock or so, obviously well pass bankers hours, whatever those are in Nepal. But I decided I needed to at least make myself feel better by going to the bank and having a look around. I knew there would be a security guard there who spoke 3 words of English and he could give me some info of when I could speak to someone who could actually do something to fix my problem. Another issue was this wasn't the bank around the corner, this time it was the bank 3 miles away. So I tracked down a cab and directed him in the right direction towards the Nabil bank, across from the US Embassy. 15 minutes adventurous minutes later we were at the bank. The first man I saw was the security guard. I spoke slowly and clearly, and used my hands to express to the guard that my ATM card was left in the machine, and hopefully was still there. He told me to wait and "Sit," meanwhile he went into the unlocked bank, he quickly came back with an employee, who was actually working at 6:20! I told him my situation, that I left my card in the machine. He assured me he would get it. 30 seconds later I looked over at the ATM attached to the building and noticed the screen being removed from inside and replaced. I figured, "that's it, he's got my card." I felt so relieved that it had been resolved so easily, and at such a late time. But when he arrived back at the door and showed me the card, my heart sank. It wasn't mine, I wasn't LGovinda Singh, or what ever name was on the card. After a moment of elation, I was shattered again. I quickly started thinking of all the horrors that would occur. I would have to order a new card, they would have to send it my parents house, because they couldn't trust who I said I was, just a guy in Nepal who lost his card. So my parents would have to send it to where ever I was going to be in 2 weeks. In the meantime I'd have to get cash advances on my credit card, or use western union, or go back to India and besome a Shadu, begging for ll my needs.
But, something else happened instead. I told him I lost it this morning, not just within the hour. He told me to wait, have a seat and he would have another look. This time when he returned, he had my card, a nice shiny silver Visa. Disaster was averted, and I was able to get the card back less than an hour after I discovered I had lost it. And most amazingly I found the latest open bank in the hemisphere.
I shutter to think of how much a stress it would have caused, loosing an ATM card in Nepal, just hours before you are supposed to get on a plane to leave the country. And getting it back in the evening saved me a night of stress. Your last night in a country is supposed to be a celebreous occasion, not stressful. Now I can actually eat, enjoy my food, and pay for it when I'm done.