Sunday, 13th May 2018
I awoke on Sunday to find it raining although not cold. The hills were shrouded in mist. As arranged, morning tea was served in my lodge at 6.30 a.m. Breakfast was available in the main lodge between seven and nine and the rain had stopped when I went up the stone path for my meal. The stillness of the mountain top location was very relaxing and, after breakfast, I was quite happy to wander around the main lodge, studying the layout.
An engraved brass plate commemorated those involved in the creation of the lodge, which was opened by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1998 and has since hosted Prince Charles and Princess Anne.
During the day, the mist lifted and it was pleasantly warm, but without the bright sunshine of the previous day. After lunch, one of the guides induced me to take a short trek with him to the nearby village, although I was a bit worried about the terrain and my impaired mobility. I armed myself with a wooden stick from the lodge (albeit rather long for me) and we safely completed the walk, including a rather stiff climb up a hill to a viewpoint which I'd seen from my lodge. At the viewpoint was an abandoned house, now used as a rendezvous by the young people of the district. We also met my guide's wife, who was displaying jewellery and artefacts.
In the evening, the same friendly group of four dined together. I'd enjoyed the day immensely, although not done a lot. I retired a little earlier than the previous night but was woken up during the night by the crashing thunder of a furious thunderstorm.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my first visit to Nepal. Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report.
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
My pictures
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge
Trek at Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge, 13th May 2018
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 8-Aug-2018]
Showing posts with label Nepal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nepal. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 May 2018
Returning Home
Tuesday, 15th May 2018
I'll describe my journey back to Kathmandu and my sightseeing in nearby Bhaktapur City on Monday, 14th June when I can.
After a comfortable night at Dwarika's, I'm about to set off on the long journey home. It should be Qatar Airways A320 to Doha on the QR649, transiting to a 787-8 on flight QR023 to Manchester. The last few weeks have certainly earned the title 'Journey of a lifetime'.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my first visit to Nepal. Clicking on the 'Next report' link (where shown) displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
Clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on my time in Myanmar prior to arriving in Nepal, again in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports.
My pictures
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge
Tiger Mountain, Pokhara, Nepal
Pokhara, Nepal
Pokhara to Kathmandu by Buddha Air Beech 1900D
Kathmandu Airport
Kathmandu
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu
Bhaktapur City, Nepal Nepal from above
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 8-Aug-2018]
I'll describe my journey back to Kathmandu and my sightseeing in nearby Bhaktapur City on Monday, 14th June when I can.
After a comfortable night at Dwarika's, I'm about to set off on the long journey home. It should be Qatar Airways A320 to Doha on the QR649, transiting to a 787-8 on flight QR023 to Manchester. The last few weeks have certainly earned the title 'Journey of a lifetime'.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my first visit to Nepal. Clicking on the 'Next report' link (where shown) displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
Clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on my time in Myanmar prior to arriving in Nepal, again in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports.
My pictures
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge
Tiger Mountain, Pokhara, Nepal
Pokhara, Nepal
Pokhara to Kathmandu by Buddha Air Beech 1900D
Kathmandu Airport
Kathmandu
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu
Bhaktapur City, Nepal Nepal from above
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 8-Aug-2018]
Monday, 14 May 2018
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge
Saturday, 12th May 2018
The main building of the Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge is large, single-storey, stone built, with lots of glazed doors which give access to an open terrace with superb views over the valley below with snow-clad mountains in the background. At one end of the building, the kitchen is at a lower level, forming a basement area. There were lots of male staff in attendance, all English speakers.
"Your lunch is ready", they announced, setting a brass tray with lots of small dishes and rice at a table on the terrace. It was Nepali-style cooking. I enjoyed what I was able and then, no doubt to the disappointment of the Chef, arranged that I would stick to bland, European-style food for the rest of my stay.The sun was warm and visibility good that afternoon: thereafter it remained cool with moderate to poor visibility, for which they apologised. But I enjoyed the ever-changing, rather mysterious views of mist-shrouded mountains.
I believe they have 19 lodges for guests. Appropriately, I was given number 7, the nearest to the main lodge, which still involved a flight of stone steps and a steep path rough-hewn into the living rock. My lodge was well-appointed with a very large double bed and a single bed. I selected the double bed. A section at one end of the lodge had a shower, wash handbasin and W.C. A covered terrace outside the front door was furnished with a table, easy chair and staggering views across the valley. I knew I would enjoy my brief stay.
After my early start that day to take the Mountain Flight from Kathmandu, I was happy to spend the rest of the afternoon in my room backing up photographs and preparing text offline for the blog. I was told that dinner was 'seven for seven-thirty' and found, because it was near the end of the season, only two other guests, Hannah and Oliver Knight, a young couple from London. Our host was the English manager of the lodge, and we dined together very agreeably at a table for four set up in an annexe to the large dining room. I'd remembered to bring the wind-up torch from my room to light my unsteady way back to my room, but the path was also lit by a number of paraffin Hurricane lamps which produced a nostalgic aroma. Exhausted, I slept well.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my first visit to Nepal. Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report.
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
My pictures
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 8-Aug-2018]
The main building of the Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge is large, single-storey, stone built, with lots of glazed doors which give access to an open terrace with superb views over the valley below with snow-clad mountains in the background. At one end of the building, the kitchen is at a lower level, forming a basement area. There were lots of male staff in attendance, all English speakers.
"Your lunch is ready", they announced, setting a brass tray with lots of small dishes and rice at a table on the terrace. It was Nepali-style cooking. I enjoyed what I was able and then, no doubt to the disappointment of the Chef, arranged that I would stick to bland, European-style food for the rest of my stay.The sun was warm and visibility good that afternoon: thereafter it remained cool with moderate to poor visibility, for which they apologised. But I enjoyed the ever-changing, rather mysterious views of mist-shrouded mountains.
I believe they have 19 lodges for guests. Appropriately, I was given number 7, the nearest to the main lodge, which still involved a flight of stone steps and a steep path rough-hewn into the living rock. My lodge was well-appointed with a very large double bed and a single bed. I selected the double bed. A section at one end of the lodge had a shower, wash handbasin and W.C. A covered terrace outside the front door was furnished with a table, easy chair and staggering views across the valley. I knew I would enjoy my brief stay.
After my early start that day to take the Mountain Flight from Kathmandu, I was happy to spend the rest of the afternoon in my room backing up photographs and preparing text offline for the blog. I was told that dinner was 'seven for seven-thirty' and found, because it was near the end of the season, only two other guests, Hannah and Oliver Knight, a young couple from London. Our host was the English manager of the lodge, and we dined together very agreeably at a table for four set up in an annexe to the large dining room. I'd remembered to bring the wind-up torch from my room to light my unsteady way back to my room, but the path was also lit by a number of paraffin Hurricane lamps which produced a nostalgic aroma. Exhausted, I slept well.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my first visit to Nepal. Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report.
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
My pictures
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 8-Aug-2018]
On to Pokhara
Saturday, 12th May 2018
The late running of my early morning Mountain Flight meant that I had less time than planned for breakfast at Dwarika’s Hotel but I had an omelette, tomato juice and tea provided promptly by the attentive staff in the restaurant. I had decided to travel light for my trip to Pokhara so I crammed a few clothes in my rucksack with my computer and put two bags in the hotel’s luggage store until my return. At ten o’clock my guide, driver and the writer set off back to the airport I’d so recently left. The police presence was even more intense: police lined both sides of the main road every 50 yards and there were periodic groups of paramilitary ‘riot squads’, supported by lorries marked ‘Mobile Rest Room’.
At Tribhuvan Airport, I now knew the system for embarking on domestic flights. My booking to Polhara was on the noon flight. The pleasant young man who’d earlier issued my boarding pass for the Mountain Flight recognized me and explained that, because flights were disrupted by the VVIP visit, he was booking me on flight U4 609, due to leave at 10:35 but that this would leave late. I went through security and secondary security into the crowded, noisy Gate Area. On the Buddha Air Flight Information screen, many flights, including mine, had the note ‘DELAY DUE TO VVIP MOVEMENT’. Occasionally, painstaking amendments would be made to the display, or the Windows start-up screen would appear for a while or the public screen would shut down and require re-start by a member of staff with a hand-held remote control. Having found a seat with a view of the Flight Information screen, I stayed put. Thus, the morning slowly passed. Around 12:30, my flight was called and passengers filled up a couple of transfer buses. Then we waited. The Thai flight from Bangkok which I’d arrived on the previous day landed, an ATR-62 local flight took off, followed by a twin jet. Then a Malaysia Airlines 737-800 landed and taxied to the stand, followed by a Simrik Airlines local flight. Kathmandu is a very busy airport. After 20 minutes, the bus drove across the apron to the domestic flight line, where we stopped adjacent to a Buddha Air ATR-62 turbo-prop. Another wait followed. Then we boarded the aircraft and there was a further wait whilst the two stewardesses plied us with peanuts, a fruit drink and water. Suddenly, the engines were started, our snacks were hurriedly cleared away and we taxied to the runway.
We rapidly climbed away from Kathmandu, and emerged above the clouds with views of snow-clad peaks brightly lit by the sun on our right. Before long, we descended through the clouds to a plain well covered with buildings – Pokhara is, I think, the second largest city in Nepal after Kathmandu. The approach to Pokhata is interesting. When approach flap was selected, I knew we were getting close to landing, but I couldn’t spot the runway ahead. Then we commenced a steep right bank, turned right and kept turning. As we continued to turn, I saw what appeared to be a new runway under construction further out on the plain. Just before the runway threshold, the pilot levelled out and we made a fairly fast landing. Landing at Pokhara can be quite a challenge for pilots, so I could see why a new airport is being built, presumably with easier approach from the air. We walked from the aircraft to a small baggage hall but with hand baggage only, I was quickly in the small car park looking for the representative from Tiger Mountain Lodge. I located him and we set off in a black Land Rover through the centre of Pokhara, larger than I expected. A straight main road led us through ribbon development for a few kilometres then the scenery became more rural and we turned off the main road onto a steeply-inclined road ascending Tiger Mountain. It soon became clear why we were using a Land Rover as the narrow road twisted and turned up the mountain through a series of tight hairpin bends. An unsurfaced lane led us to a small car park from where we walked up a path cut into the rock and climbed stone steps to enter the main building of Tiger Mountain Lodge, my home for two nights.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my first visit to Nepal. Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report.
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
My pictures
Nepal from above
Kathmandu Airport
Kathmandu
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu
Pokhara, Nepal
Tiger Mountain, Pokhara, Nepal
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 8-Aug-2018]
The late running of my early morning Mountain Flight meant that I had less time than planned for breakfast at Dwarika’s Hotel but I had an omelette, tomato juice and tea provided promptly by the attentive staff in the restaurant. I had decided to travel light for my trip to Pokhara so I crammed a few clothes in my rucksack with my computer and put two bags in the hotel’s luggage store until my return. At ten o’clock my guide, driver and the writer set off back to the airport I’d so recently left. The police presence was even more intense: police lined both sides of the main road every 50 yards and there were periodic groups of paramilitary ‘riot squads’, supported by lorries marked ‘Mobile Rest Room’.
At Tribhuvan Airport, I now knew the system for embarking on domestic flights. My booking to Polhara was on the noon flight. The pleasant young man who’d earlier issued my boarding pass for the Mountain Flight recognized me and explained that, because flights were disrupted by the VVIP visit, he was booking me on flight U4 609, due to leave at 10:35 but that this would leave late. I went through security and secondary security into the crowded, noisy Gate Area. On the Buddha Air Flight Information screen, many flights, including mine, had the note ‘DELAY DUE TO VVIP MOVEMENT’. Occasionally, painstaking amendments would be made to the display, or the Windows start-up screen would appear for a while or the public screen would shut down and require re-start by a member of staff with a hand-held remote control. Having found a seat with a view of the Flight Information screen, I stayed put. Thus, the morning slowly passed. Around 12:30, my flight was called and passengers filled up a couple of transfer buses. Then we waited. The Thai flight from Bangkok which I’d arrived on the previous day landed, an ATR-62 local flight took off, followed by a twin jet. Then a Malaysia Airlines 737-800 landed and taxied to the stand, followed by a Simrik Airlines local flight. Kathmandu is a very busy airport. After 20 minutes, the bus drove across the apron to the domestic flight line, where we stopped adjacent to a Buddha Air ATR-62 turbo-prop. Another wait followed. Then we boarded the aircraft and there was a further wait whilst the two stewardesses plied us with peanuts, a fruit drink and water. Suddenly, the engines were started, our snacks were hurriedly cleared away and we taxied to the runway.
We rapidly climbed away from Kathmandu, and emerged above the clouds with views of snow-clad peaks brightly lit by the sun on our right. Before long, we descended through the clouds to a plain well covered with buildings – Pokhara is, I think, the second largest city in Nepal after Kathmandu. The approach to Pokhata is interesting. When approach flap was selected, I knew we were getting close to landing, but I couldn’t spot the runway ahead. Then we commenced a steep right bank, turned right and kept turning. As we continued to turn, I saw what appeared to be a new runway under construction further out on the plain. Just before the runway threshold, the pilot levelled out and we made a fairly fast landing. Landing at Pokhara can be quite a challenge for pilots, so I could see why a new airport is being built, presumably with easier approach from the air. We walked from the aircraft to a small baggage hall but with hand baggage only, I was quickly in the small car park looking for the representative from Tiger Mountain Lodge. I located him and we set off in a black Land Rover through the centre of Pokhara, larger than I expected. A straight main road led us through ribbon development for a few kilometres then the scenery became more rural and we turned off the main road onto a steeply-inclined road ascending Tiger Mountain. It soon became clear why we were using a Land Rover as the narrow road twisted and turned up the mountain through a series of tight hairpin bends. An unsurfaced lane led us to a small car park from where we walked up a path cut into the rock and climbed stone steps to enter the main building of Tiger Mountain Lodge, my home for two nights.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my first visit to Nepal. Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report.
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
My pictures
Nepal from above
Kathmandu Airport
Kathmandu
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu
Pokhara, Nepal
Tiger Mountain, Pokhara, Nepal
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 8-Aug-2018]
Mountain Flight
Saturday, 12th May 2018
To cater for the interest of tourists in the Himalayan mountains and, of course, Mount Everest there are daily flights from Kathmandu airport to view the peaks. The weather can be very changeable so good views and the flights themselves are not guaranteed. There are a number of similar flights each day, all operating early morning to secure the best views.
I was booked with Buddha Air, due to leave at 06:15 but I was warned that flight times are notoriously variable, according to weather conditions. In addition, we had the movements of Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi to contend with, hence I was picked up by my guide at 4.30 a.m. The guide said the flight would be affected by Mr. Modi’s planned visit to a temple. The flights leave from Tribhuvan Airport where I’d arrived the previous day but there’s a separate Domestic Terminal for internal and ‘Mountain’ flights. The guide wasn’t allowed into the terminal building so he described the arrangements I’d find. First, there was a ticket and passport check, then hand baggage was X-rayed and, after passing through a detector arch, there was a body search (separate for men and women). I was then in a noisy, barn-like Ticket Hall where I found a group of Buddha Air check-in counters, most with a destination board hung up. I queued at the one with the sign ‘MOUNTAIN’ and was issued with a boarding card by a friendly young man who, like a lot of the people I met, spoke good English. I then passed into a crowded waiting area but noticed that many people were passing through a secondary security to what appeared to be the Gate Area. Since there was no passenger information screen in the waiting area, I went through security to an even more crowded, even noisier gate area. There were a couple of fairly standard display screens but the Buddha Air flights weren’t shown.
But near one of the two gates, there was a single counter with a display screen above in a frame marked Buddha Air Flight Information. There were six ‘Mountain’ flights shown, all departing at 06:15. As I watched, the screen started to change, but slowly, one character at a time. To confirm my suspicions, I walked to the side of the counter and there was a screen and keyboard with a girl typing in the day’s schedule from a printed list originated by another system. It rather looked as if she was using Word, Excel or Access to create the schedule and that the public display was simply a second screen on her computer. New entries appeared in a very small font, so each field was laboriously resized individually, with all the option menus appearing on the public display as well. Occasionally, an existing field would be copied to save retyping. I was fascinated watching this lengthy process and realized that all changes throughout the day were going to be made by this labour intensive process. There was a permanent crush of people around the desk, bombarding the girl with questions but I decided that I could probably use the screen as a source of information. Northing else happened for a while, except that more people arrived in the Gate Area. Then all the ‘Mountain’ flights were bracketing together on the display with the ominous message ‘AIRPORT CLOSED DUE TO VVIP MOVEMENT’. Initially, the girl had type ‘VIP’ but one of her colleagues suggested that she amend it to read ‘VVIP’. To get the remark in red characters, she had to use another sub menu to select colour. A few minutes later the message was amended to ‘AIRPORT CLOSED FOR SOMETIME DUE TO VVIP MOVEMENT’.
A loud roar announced the manoeuvring of a large Indian Air Force helicopter, which was presumably about to fly Mr. Modi on his temple visit. Everybody became very excited and rushed towards the windows to watch. Presumably Mr. Modi had left, because they started to board Mountain flights.
Eventually, my flight was called and a small group of passengers were ushered onto a transfer bus. Three or four other Indian Air Force helicopters started manoeuvring – presumably a backup, the Prime Minister’s entourage and perhaps the Press Corps. The transfer bus drove across the apron and stopped adjacent to a Buddha Air twin-engined Beechcraft. Then we waited. One or two aircraft took off and a fuel bowser replenished the aircraft next to us and then both wing tanks of the Buddha Air Beechcraft. A stewardess looked out of the cabin door, then retreated inside. The pilot was clearly on board, as I watched him exercise ailerons and rudder for “full and free movement”. At last, we boarded the aircraft and took off about 75 minutes late.
We climbed rapidly above the clouds and then the ragged, snow-covered outline of the Himalayas appeared on our left. The seating was 1+1 with a window by every seat but visibility was not too good and as the flight proceeded, the cabin windows started to ice-up. I presume that’s why the stewardess started to call passengers, one by one, to the front of the aircraft where the flight deck windows were all heated. It was all a bit confusing, with passengers moving forwards and backwards in the narrow aisle and crossing a slight ‘hump’ halfway down the cabin where the main wing spar passed under the floor. I didn’t positively identify any mountains at the time, but perhaps I’ll be able to later. We turned to make our return to Kathmandu with the mountains now on our right (the side I was sitting). The icing grew worse as we dropped below the clouds. I heard the rumble from the actuators as the co-pilot selected approach flaps. As we neared the airport, full flaps were selected to reduce the stall speed for landing and after touch-down we taxied to the domestic apron. A transfer bus returned us to the Domestic Terminal and, just outside, my guide was waiting. The same people carrier and driver returned me to Dwarika’s for breakfast but, this time, we were able to use the ‘posh’ front entrance.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my first visit to Nepal. Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
My pictures
Nepal from above
Kathmandu Airport
Mountain flight, 12th May 2018
Kathmandu
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 8-Aug-2018]
To cater for the interest of tourists in the Himalayan mountains and, of course, Mount Everest there are daily flights from Kathmandu airport to view the peaks. The weather can be very changeable so good views and the flights themselves are not guaranteed. There are a number of similar flights each day, all operating early morning to secure the best views.
I was booked with Buddha Air, due to leave at 06:15 but I was warned that flight times are notoriously variable, according to weather conditions. In addition, we had the movements of Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi to contend with, hence I was picked up by my guide at 4.30 a.m. The guide said the flight would be affected by Mr. Modi’s planned visit to a temple. The flights leave from Tribhuvan Airport where I’d arrived the previous day but there’s a separate Domestic Terminal for internal and ‘Mountain’ flights. The guide wasn’t allowed into the terminal building so he described the arrangements I’d find. First, there was a ticket and passport check, then hand baggage was X-rayed and, after passing through a detector arch, there was a body search (separate for men and women). I was then in a noisy, barn-like Ticket Hall where I found a group of Buddha Air check-in counters, most with a destination board hung up. I queued at the one with the sign ‘MOUNTAIN’ and was issued with a boarding card by a friendly young man who, like a lot of the people I met, spoke good English. I then passed into a crowded waiting area but noticed that many people were passing through a secondary security to what appeared to be the Gate Area. Since there was no passenger information screen in the waiting area, I went through security to an even more crowded, even noisier gate area. There were a couple of fairly standard display screens but the Buddha Air flights weren’t shown.
But near one of the two gates, there was a single counter with a display screen above in a frame marked Buddha Air Flight Information. There were six ‘Mountain’ flights shown, all departing at 06:15. As I watched, the screen started to change, but slowly, one character at a time. To confirm my suspicions, I walked to the side of the counter and there was a screen and keyboard with a girl typing in the day’s schedule from a printed list originated by another system. It rather looked as if she was using Word, Excel or Access to create the schedule and that the public display was simply a second screen on her computer. New entries appeared in a very small font, so each field was laboriously resized individually, with all the option menus appearing on the public display as well. Occasionally, an existing field would be copied to save retyping. I was fascinated watching this lengthy process and realized that all changes throughout the day were going to be made by this labour intensive process. There was a permanent crush of people around the desk, bombarding the girl with questions but I decided that I could probably use the screen as a source of information. Northing else happened for a while, except that more people arrived in the Gate Area. Then all the ‘Mountain’ flights were bracketing together on the display with the ominous message ‘AIRPORT CLOSED DUE TO VVIP MOVEMENT’. Initially, the girl had type ‘VIP’ but one of her colleagues suggested that she amend it to read ‘VVIP’. To get the remark in red characters, she had to use another sub menu to select colour. A few minutes later the message was amended to ‘AIRPORT CLOSED FOR SOMETIME DUE TO VVIP MOVEMENT’.
A loud roar announced the manoeuvring of a large Indian Air Force helicopter, which was presumably about to fly Mr. Modi on his temple visit. Everybody became very excited and rushed towards the windows to watch. Presumably Mr. Modi had left, because they started to board Mountain flights.
Eventually, my flight was called and a small group of passengers were ushered onto a transfer bus. Three or four other Indian Air Force helicopters started manoeuvring – presumably a backup, the Prime Minister’s entourage and perhaps the Press Corps. The transfer bus drove across the apron and stopped adjacent to a Buddha Air twin-engined Beechcraft. Then we waited. One or two aircraft took off and a fuel bowser replenished the aircraft next to us and then both wing tanks of the Buddha Air Beechcraft. A stewardess looked out of the cabin door, then retreated inside. The pilot was clearly on board, as I watched him exercise ailerons and rudder for “full and free movement”. At last, we boarded the aircraft and took off about 75 minutes late.
We climbed rapidly above the clouds and then the ragged, snow-covered outline of the Himalayas appeared on our left. The seating was 1+1 with a window by every seat but visibility was not too good and as the flight proceeded, the cabin windows started to ice-up. I presume that’s why the stewardess started to call passengers, one by one, to the front of the aircraft where the flight deck windows were all heated. It was all a bit confusing, with passengers moving forwards and backwards in the narrow aisle and crossing a slight ‘hump’ halfway down the cabin where the main wing spar passed under the floor. I didn’t positively identify any mountains at the time, but perhaps I’ll be able to later. We turned to make our return to Kathmandu with the mountains now on our right (the side I was sitting). The icing grew worse as we dropped below the clouds. I heard the rumble from the actuators as the co-pilot selected approach flaps. As we neared the airport, full flaps were selected to reduce the stall speed for landing and after touch-down we taxied to the domestic apron. A transfer bus returned us to the Domestic Terminal and, just outside, my guide was waiting. The same people carrier and driver returned me to Dwarika’s for breakfast but, this time, we were able to use the ‘posh’ front entrance.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my first visit to Nepal. Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
My pictures
Nepal from above
Kathmandu Airport
Mountain flight, 12th May 2018
Kathmandu
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 8-Aug-2018]
Sunday, 13 May 2018
Into Nepal
Friday, 11th May 2018
Early Friday morning, I’d been booked to leave Yangon on the Bangkok Airways flight PG706 to Bangkok leaving at 5.50 a.m. Eddie Teh kindly suggested that I stay at the Belmond Governor's Residence on Thursday, allowing me to upload some pictures to the internet. This had the advantage that, rather than worry about my departure, Doctor Hla Tun could concentrate on his own flight Friday morning to Bagan, where he would no doubt face another gruelling weekend of consultations at Bagan Medical Clinic.
It was recommended to report to the airport at least two hours before departure for international flights so the hotel car dropped me at the airport about a quarter to four in the morming. There were a few travellers waiting outside the terminal building being held at bay by a rather aggressive young lady with a machine gun. Staff were arriving through the one entrance which was open but passengers were not allowed inside until 4.00 a.m., when I was the first person to enter and pass through a very friendly security check (ticket and passport checked, luggage X-rayed, passengers first through a detector arch then a cursory ‘frisk’ with a ‘wand’). I quickly found the Bangkok Airways check-in counters but it didn’t do me much good – they were all unstaffed. I chose to sit down and wait with my luggage nearby but younger, later arrivals formed a queue at the check-in counter. Eventually, staff arrived and spent some time meticulously preparing for the day’s work and two girls logged on to their booking system. One man appeared with a large plastic storage box from which he unloaded all the various notices to passengers which sit on top of the counters and, a nice touch, a potted plant for each of the three counters. Two of the three desks were staffed and they started check in. This process soon slowed as one of the computer screens stopped working. Just before my turn came, they managed to coax the failed screen back into life. After this frustrating start, the actual flight to Bangkok was uneventful, if noisy, as there was a party of about twenty Thai ladies on board who kept up loud chatter and laughter throughout the journey.
Bangkok Airport is huge. After we landed, it took us over ten minutes to taxi to the stand, then at least as long for the transfer bus to ferry us to the terminal. Then, I had to find the Transfer Desk and get my boarding pass for my onwards journey. The signs said that there were two transfer desks, one East, one West and each a few hundred yards away from me. I couldn’t work out which was appropriate to my flight, so I guessed (a 50-50 shot) and was lucky. A lot of walking and moving pavements took me to a very thorough Transit security check (all items in blue plastic trays for X-ray, shoes in red plastic tray for X-ray, whole body scan cubicle, cursory body search) which, combined with rather officious security staff, always spoils my mood. At least I was near the correct Transit Desk, obtained my boarding pass for the onwards journey to Kathmandu, Nepal, and took refuge in the nearby Thai lounge for a few minutes.
I only had a short walk from the lounge to the departure gate, too, and a transfer bus took us to a remote stand and our waiting aircraft. Matters quickly improved as the cabin service was excellent. It was a busy time at the airport with a stream of aircraft waiting to use the departure runway and it took at least 30 minutes of queuing and taxiing on the ground before our aircraft took off.
Yangon to Kathmandu via Bangkok, 11th May 2018: The queue of aircraft waiting for take-off extended behind my aircraft.
I enjoyed a very decent lunch on the flight. I was surprised that there was no multi-channel passenger entertainment system but a copy of the ‘Bangkok Post’ kept me engrossed for most of the journey.
Of course, our route to Nepal took us back over Myanmar and, eventually, over the mountainous terrain approaching Kathmandu. I had not expected such a large, sprawling conurbation of modern buildings. Even individual dwellings seemed to rise to five stories to make most use of the site area but there were also large blocks of apartments which would not have looked out of place in Europe.
Nepal from above: Arriving in Kathmandu 11th May 2018
I found the ‘Visa on Arrival’ system confusing and eventually managed to apply using a touch-screen machine similar to an automated airport Check-in terminal but including a camera to take a passport-style image of the applicant. This machine issued a receipt confirming my application which I then presented at a payment counter with 25 U.S. Dollars. Armed with a receipt for the application, the cash receipt and my passport, I then went to the row of immigration desks marked 'Foreigners' and was officially admitted to Nepal. Of course, each of these stages involved separate queues. By the time I reached the crowded Baggage Hall, my two bags were on the belt so I was able to quickly move through the Green Channel in customs and into an Arrival Hall lined with tourist information and taxi offices. There was no sign of representatives from tour companies and I found myself on the pavement outside with cars and taxis streaming by. Seeing my bewilderment, a policeman asked, in excellent English, if he could help and he pointed out a row of representatives behind a barrier on the other side of the road. I spotted the representative from ‘&Beyond’ and, having met up, we made out way to the car park and a people carrier. He explained that security in Kathmandu was unusually tight because the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Modi, was about to arrive on a diplomatic visit to Nepal.
The main roads bristled with police security and traffic was heavy. The flags of India and Nepal were frequently displayed and we passed a couple of temporary arches of welcome. Off the main roads, shops lined both sides of the narrow streets, frequently unsurfaced, with traffic and pedestrians crammed together. The effect was a bit like Yangon, a bit like Delhi but, I suspect, essentially Nepali.
We were headed for Dwarika’s Hotel but, my guide explained, Mr. Modi was hosting a dinner at Dwarika’s in the evening (although staying at the larger Hyatt Hotel) and that we would not be able to use the front entrance. Instead, we stopped in a very narrow lane and walked up an unpromising-looking alley to a set of padlocked gates. We were admitted by a uniformed security guard, who gave me a smart salute, and ushered to an outdoor reception desk. A member of the hotel staff gave me a brief tour of the layout of the hotel whilst waiting for a ‘thumbs up’ from a colleague to indicate that my room was ready.
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu, 11th May 2018
I was shown up to my spacious and charming room and, after a short interlude allowing a quick wash, I met my guide at the unlikely back entrance and we went on an absorbing sightseeing tour. First, we went to historic Patan Darbar Square where a number of important buildings and temples are being reconstructed, with international assistance, following the devastating 2015 earthquakes.
Patan, Kathmandu 11th May 2018
In the height of the afternoon rush hour, we made very tedious progress across the city to the Swayambhu Mahachaitva, the iconic hilltop Buddhist shrine. Although Nepal is only about 11% Buddhist and 80% Hindu, this shrine, dubbed the ‘Monkey Temple’ by ‘60s hippies who ‘discovered’ Nepal, is important to both Buddhist and Hindu. There were certainly crowds of visitors during my visit.
Another slow journey, giving further opportunities to study street life in Kathmandu, returned me to Dwarika’s (via the back gate) and my guide said he’d pick me up at 4.30 a.m. the following day. I didn’t venture out again that evening, very comfortable in my room. There was a very adequate Wi-Fi so I worked for a time and then slept very well in the large bed.
Related posts on this website
This is the first in a series of posts describing my visit to Nepal in 2018. Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
My pictures
Yangon to Kathmandu via Bangkok
Nepal from above
Kathmandu Airport
Patan, Kathmandu
Swayambhu Mahachitva Temple, Kathmandu
Kathmandu
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 2-Jul-2018: Pictures added 7-Aug-2018]
Early Friday morning, I’d been booked to leave Yangon on the Bangkok Airways flight PG706 to Bangkok leaving at 5.50 a.m. Eddie Teh kindly suggested that I stay at the Belmond Governor's Residence on Thursday, allowing me to upload some pictures to the internet. This had the advantage that, rather than worry about my departure, Doctor Hla Tun could concentrate on his own flight Friday morning to Bagan, where he would no doubt face another gruelling weekend of consultations at Bagan Medical Clinic.
It was recommended to report to the airport at least two hours before departure for international flights so the hotel car dropped me at the airport about a quarter to four in the morming. There were a few travellers waiting outside the terminal building being held at bay by a rather aggressive young lady with a machine gun. Staff were arriving through the one entrance which was open but passengers were not allowed inside until 4.00 a.m., when I was the first person to enter and pass through a very friendly security check (ticket and passport checked, luggage X-rayed, passengers first through a detector arch then a cursory ‘frisk’ with a ‘wand’). I quickly found the Bangkok Airways check-in counters but it didn’t do me much good – they were all unstaffed. I chose to sit down and wait with my luggage nearby but younger, later arrivals formed a queue at the check-in counter. Eventually, staff arrived and spent some time meticulously preparing for the day’s work and two girls logged on to their booking system. One man appeared with a large plastic storage box from which he unloaded all the various notices to passengers which sit on top of the counters and, a nice touch, a potted plant for each of the three counters. Two of the three desks were staffed and they started check in. This process soon slowed as one of the computer screens stopped working. Just before my turn came, they managed to coax the failed screen back into life. After this frustrating start, the actual flight to Bangkok was uneventful, if noisy, as there was a party of about twenty Thai ladies on board who kept up loud chatter and laughter throughout the journey.
Bangkok Airport is huge. After we landed, it took us over ten minutes to taxi to the stand, then at least as long for the transfer bus to ferry us to the terminal. Then, I had to find the Transfer Desk and get my boarding pass for my onwards journey. The signs said that there were two transfer desks, one East, one West and each a few hundred yards away from me. I couldn’t work out which was appropriate to my flight, so I guessed (a 50-50 shot) and was lucky. A lot of walking and moving pavements took me to a very thorough Transit security check (all items in blue plastic trays for X-ray, shoes in red plastic tray for X-ray, whole body scan cubicle, cursory body search) which, combined with rather officious security staff, always spoils my mood. At least I was near the correct Transit Desk, obtained my boarding pass for the onwards journey to Kathmandu, Nepal, and took refuge in the nearby Thai lounge for a few minutes.
I only had a short walk from the lounge to the departure gate, too, and a transfer bus took us to a remote stand and our waiting aircraft. Matters quickly improved as the cabin service was excellent. It was a busy time at the airport with a stream of aircraft waiting to use the departure runway and it took at least 30 minutes of queuing and taxiing on the ground before our aircraft took off.
Yangon to Kathmandu via Bangkok, 11th May 2018: The queue of aircraft waiting for take-off extended behind my aircraft.
I enjoyed a very decent lunch on the flight. I was surprised that there was no multi-channel passenger entertainment system but a copy of the ‘Bangkok Post’ kept me engrossed for most of the journey.
Of course, our route to Nepal took us back over Myanmar and, eventually, over the mountainous terrain approaching Kathmandu. I had not expected such a large, sprawling conurbation of modern buildings. Even individual dwellings seemed to rise to five stories to make most use of the site area but there were also large blocks of apartments which would not have looked out of place in Europe.
Nepal from above: Arriving in Kathmandu 11th May 2018
I found the ‘Visa on Arrival’ system confusing and eventually managed to apply using a touch-screen machine similar to an automated airport Check-in terminal but including a camera to take a passport-style image of the applicant. This machine issued a receipt confirming my application which I then presented at a payment counter with 25 U.S. Dollars. Armed with a receipt for the application, the cash receipt and my passport, I then went to the row of immigration desks marked 'Foreigners' and was officially admitted to Nepal. Of course, each of these stages involved separate queues. By the time I reached the crowded Baggage Hall, my two bags were on the belt so I was able to quickly move through the Green Channel in customs and into an Arrival Hall lined with tourist information and taxi offices. There was no sign of representatives from tour companies and I found myself on the pavement outside with cars and taxis streaming by. Seeing my bewilderment, a policeman asked, in excellent English, if he could help and he pointed out a row of representatives behind a barrier on the other side of the road. I spotted the representative from ‘&Beyond’ and, having met up, we made out way to the car park and a people carrier. He explained that security in Kathmandu was unusually tight because the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Modi, was about to arrive on a diplomatic visit to Nepal.
The main roads bristled with police security and traffic was heavy. The flags of India and Nepal were frequently displayed and we passed a couple of temporary arches of welcome. Off the main roads, shops lined both sides of the narrow streets, frequently unsurfaced, with traffic and pedestrians crammed together. The effect was a bit like Yangon, a bit like Delhi but, I suspect, essentially Nepali.
We were headed for Dwarika’s Hotel but, my guide explained, Mr. Modi was hosting a dinner at Dwarika’s in the evening (although staying at the larger Hyatt Hotel) and that we would not be able to use the front entrance. Instead, we stopped in a very narrow lane and walked up an unpromising-looking alley to a set of padlocked gates. We were admitted by a uniformed security guard, who gave me a smart salute, and ushered to an outdoor reception desk. A member of the hotel staff gave me a brief tour of the layout of the hotel whilst waiting for a ‘thumbs up’ from a colleague to indicate that my room was ready.
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu, 11th May 2018
I was shown up to my spacious and charming room and, after a short interlude allowing a quick wash, I met my guide at the unlikely back entrance and we went on an absorbing sightseeing tour. First, we went to historic Patan Darbar Square where a number of important buildings and temples are being reconstructed, with international assistance, following the devastating 2015 earthquakes.
Patan, Kathmandu 11th May 2018
In the height of the afternoon rush hour, we made very tedious progress across the city to the Swayambhu Mahachaitva, the iconic hilltop Buddhist shrine. Although Nepal is only about 11% Buddhist and 80% Hindu, this shrine, dubbed the ‘Monkey Temple’ by ‘60s hippies who ‘discovered’ Nepal, is important to both Buddhist and Hindu. There were certainly crowds of visitors during my visit.
Another slow journey, giving further opportunities to study street life in Kathmandu, returned me to Dwarika’s (via the back gate) and my guide said he’d pick me up at 4.30 a.m. the following day. I didn’t venture out again that evening, very comfortable in my room. There was a very adequate Wi-Fi so I worked for a time and then slept very well in the large bed.
Related posts on this website
This is the first in a series of posts describing my visit to Nepal in 2018. Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Nepal reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Nepal reports.
My pictures
Yangon to Kathmandu via Bangkok
Nepal from above
Kathmandu Airport
Patan, Kathmandu
Swayambhu Mahachitva Temple, Kathmandu
Kathmandu
Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu
All my pictures on this trip to Nepal can be found in the collection Nepal.
[Pictures linked 2-Jul-2018: Pictures added 7-Aug-2018]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
