A day in Kathmandu

by Judy Smith

In the last episode in 1994 Judy went to the mailbox and end up trekking in Nepal. After 8 years she is wiser and prefers to do this:

I’m on holidays and it’s 6am. The sun isn’t up yet but the alarm has gone off. Stagger out to see if there is any hot water in the shower - today I’m lucky. After a cup of chiya it’s off with friends to the airport. Today we are going on a mountain flight, surely one of the best views you can get anywhere in the world - and the most difficult thing you have to do is get up in the cold and dark. Jess has no idea what is happening today as it is a Christmas surprise for her; all last night she was asking where are we going, what do I need to wear, will we be away for long. Driving to the airport she recognizes the road and says “oh this goes to the airport” and we just ignore her and keep talking, pointing out the people huddled around fires by the roadside. As we turn in the gates she asks why we are at the airport – so we told her we were taking her to the golf club for breakfast. Even when we have to produce tickets to the security staff we just hide them from her – thank goodness she isn’t very alert in the morning, unlike the Nepalis who have been up for hours already. Despite the emergency, the security at the airport is not intrusive, and the staff just smile and say good morning. They don’t want to freak anyone out, just make you safe. Mr Puru, our Nepali friend thinks it’s very funny that she is so confused about why we have to go to the domestic terminal if we are going to the golf club, and why we get body searched. Finally she realizes and jumps around with excitement : “are we REALLY going on the flight?!” she screams. Mr Puru is also very excited about going on the mountain flight – he works too hard in his business to ever be able to trek, and having a family means that he cannot afford the flight ticket either.

The terminal is getting very crowded because many flights are delayed due to fog. Looking at all the people with poles and porters I’m please that I’m not going trekking this time – after all it’s plenty cold enough in Kathmandu right now. After a long wait the fog finally clears enough for the flight to leave. Our friend is jumping up and down in the plane before we even leave the runway. The rest of the flight is peppered with squeals of “oh wow” and “I can’t believe it” from the seat behind me. An opportunity to see Sagarmatha from the cockpit is something nobody ever forgets, so we make sure both our friends get to see it. And yes Jess, it IS big! Fortunately we had warned her to bring lots of film, because she is clicking away behind me till I can almost see smoke coming out of the camera. An hour later we’re back on the ground and she still can’t contain her excitement. She rushes off to the Internet café to tell all her friends to come here and take a mountain flight. Just in case they can’t she bought the VCD to show them!