March 21, Wednesday – March 23, Friday

March 21, Wednesday – March 23, Friday

Wednesday

Worked on my blog, watched TV and went to pick up by Tourist Visa for China.  Unfortunately they only granted me a “single entry” rather than a “double entry” since I have less than one year left on my passport…   ( So what !)  So I’m not sure I will be able to do the Tibet portion of the excursion through China.  I’ll have to wait for Tasneem to confirm

Thursday

Stayed in and continued to work on publishing the missing portions of my blog.

Friday

All packed and ready to go.  My flight for Kathmandu leaves at 12:30 and I have to be at the airport at least 2 hours before.  I’ve checked the weather for my destination and also found out that the elevation is not that high, only 1,400 meters (4,600ft) meters above sea level, it is supposed to be around 26 / 27 C during the day, going down to 8 / 10 C at night.

The first part of the day went according to plan, although the plane was half an hour late taking off; we were waiting for passengers coming from connecting flights.   The flight was supposed to be less than 1 ½ hours.  I was taking pictures of the Hymalayas from the window when they announced that we were approaching Kathmandu. 

 
 
 

BUT, there was a problem since we could not land immediately due to weather conditions.  It was nice and sunny, we could clearly see the ground, so it was obviously not rain or clouds.  They did not tell us what it was, but on one side of me I had a Nepalese man who was returning home, and on the other an Indian man who was flying in to do business with 3 other men.   They both confirmed that it was probably strong cross winds.   OK, but we’re in a REALLY BIG PLANE !   We circled around Kathmandu for about 20 minutes, hoping that it would clear up.  I started meditating, thinking positive thoughts….. It didn’t work.  They announced that we would be flying to Lucknow, India  and hoping that conditions would clear up within an hour.   We were on the ground, sitting in the plane on the tarmac for 1 ½ hours ! 

Then they announced that the company had decided to fly us back to Delhi.   WHAT ?

They said that the conditions had not changed and that they could not land after dark.   Crap !  I only had 3 days in Kathmandu and one of them was already shot.  

We landed back in Delhi at about 5:30, but they did not open the doors to let us out.  At 6 pm they announced that we were taking off for Kathmandu.  Everybody cheered !   At 8 pm, we were STILL SITTING IN THE PLANE AT THE DELHI AIRPORT !  They had neglected to tell us that they had to call for another flight crew to come in.   So we finally took off and landed in Kathmandu at 9:30 pm,  NINE HOURS AFTER OUR INITIAL TAKE OFF.   For a 1 ½ hour flight, it turned out to be a really long time sitting in a plane.

You apply for a Nepalese visa at the airport, so I filled in the papers along with everyone else, got a picture taken and waited in line for another hour !  Only 2 agents for at least 3 plane loads of clients.   I was dead on my feet.   There was supposed to be someone to meet me at 2 pm when my flight was originally supposed to come in, and I figured that due to the lengthy delay, no one would be there to meet me.  Before purchasing a pre-paid taxi though I decided to check out the people waiting outside with name cards in there hands.  I had almost gone through the entire line when I spotted my name !   THANK YOU GOD or my guardian angel, or Buddha, or whoever it was that took pity on me.  I was never so glad to see anyone!

In no time at all, my luggage was in his car and we were off to the Blue Horizon Hotel.  Couldn’t see much of the city since it was dark, but the roads are narrow and rough.  We passed a parade of people carrying one of their “god icons” and chanting.   We got to the hotel where I received a warm welcome and was escorted to my room.  Poor guy who had to carry my 34 kg suitcase up 3 flights of stairs !  

I could barely keep my eyes open.  I just had a quick hot shower and fell into bed.