Kathmandu, Nepal

April 12-18, 2017

Travel Schedule:

Flights

Denver, CO, US (DEN) to San Francisco, CA, US (SFO)

• • • Depart:08:05, Wed., Apr. 12, 2017
    • Arrive:09:55 Wed., Apr. 12, 2017
    • Flight Number:UA277
    • Distance:967 miles
    • Aircraft:Boeing 777-200

San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) to Chengdu, CN (CTU)

• • • Depart:13:15, Wed., Apr. 12, 2017
    • Arrive:18:40 +1 Day Thu., Apr. 13, 2017
    • Flight Number:UA9
    • Distance:6,870 miles
    • Aircraft:Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner

Chengdu, CN (CTU) to Kathmandu, NP (KTM)

• • • Depart:08:15, Fri., Apr. 14, 2017
    • Arrive:11:10 Fri., Apr. 14, 2017
    • Flight Number:CA407
    • Distance:1,149 miles
    • Aircraft:Airbus A319

Kathmandu, NP (KTM) to Chengdu, CN (CTU)

• • • Depart:12:10, Tue., Apr. 18, 2017
    • Arrive:19:10 Tue., Apr. 18, 2017
    • Flight Number:CA408
    • Distance:1,149 miles
    • Aircraft:Airbus A319

Chengdu, CN (CTU) to San Francisco, CA, US (SFO)

• • • Depart:09:50, Wed., Apr. 19, 2017
    • Arrive:07:50 Wed., Apr. 19, 2017
    • Flight Number:UA8
    • Distance:6,870 miles
    • Aircraft:Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner

San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) to Denver, CO, US (DEN)

• • • Depart:11:10, Wed., Apr. 19, 2017
    • Arrive:14:43 Wed., Apr. 19, 2017
    • Flight Number:UA223
    • Distance:967 miles
    • Aircraft:Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Total Round Trip Flight Miles per United Airlines:  33,646

Hotel in Chengdu:  Renaissance Chengdu Hotel 4/13 & 4/18
Hotel in Kathmandu:  Hotel Shanker 4/14-18

1 USD = 103.864 NPR (04.05.17)

1 USD = 6.89360 CNY (04.05.17)

Travel Partners:  United Airlines, China Air, Renaissance Hotels and Hotel Shanker.

Introduction:

“I think I’m going to Katmandu
That’s really, really where I’m going to
If I ever get out of here
That’s what I’m gonna do”

Bob Seger, from the Beautiful Loser Album 1975

This song may have been my first call to visit Nepal.  The rock stars of the day had surfaced Kathmandu, not so much for the religion and culture, but for the wild times to be had.  I had certainly heard of Nepal, the Himalaya, Mt Everest, Hillary & Norgay prior to this song, but it drove me to look at a map and quickly realize I couldn’t fund or find a way to get there in the 70’s.  It also created the urge to know more which led to books on mountaineering and climbers who dared to challenge the high peaks.  This was followed by books on religious treks through Nepal which referenced Kathmandu not as a party town, but the center of the Buddhist religion for Nepal and followers from around the world. The mountaineering books also described Kathmandu as the staging area for the climbing assaults on the tallest peaks in the world.  Slowly some of the holes in my fragmented awareness of Nepal started to fill in. But I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I added in some information on the Tibet annexation, the Sherpa people who assisted the climbers from around the world and then took a deeper dive into the history of this ancient civilization.  Nepal sat at the edge of my thoughts as a travel destination.  The devastating 2015 Earthquakes brought Nepal into the immediate consciousness of the world and awoke my desire to go to Nepal and, at the very least, visit Kathmandu.  My trip has a short duration so I need to make the best use of three full days.  My initial plan is to visit the three golden medieval city states that co-existed in the 15th Century: Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur.  In addition I have the Swayambhunath Stupa & Bodhnath Stupa that are to the Northwest and Northeast of the Kathmandu City Center on the list.  Also on the agenda is an “Everest Experience” flyby of the nearby Himalaya.  I overnight in Chengdu, China on my outbound and in bound legs.  The weather forecast calls for sunny with highs in the low 80’s with night time temps in the 40’s. I arrive the day after the start of the multi-day Nepali New Year celebration.  Lots of moving parts, should be fun.

Wednesday April 12

6:15 out the door to DIA only to circle back to get my forgotten phone!
The remains of yesterday’s full moon shine through in the predawn cloud streaked sky. The new Gaylord Rockies resort is growing even larger and is silhouetted as the morning grows brighter. This is my third trip in two weeks. The traffic is light and it’s an easy ride to the United departure drop off area, which is busy but not a problem. I get checked in with the help of an agent. Since my layover is longer than 12 hours the bags will get checked into Chengdu which works for me as I have a reservation at the Renaissance. Vincent from the hotel responded to my query about the lounge hours and if all goes as expected I should get to the hotel while it’s still open.
I pass my departure gate, 38, on the way to the United Lounge and we have a plane!
777 window seat 2L. Breakfast included. Going to get a walk in prior to boarding. Pretty excited that this trip is underway.

Easy on time boarding. Hazy flight, no hard edges to the scene below. Advertised early arrival into SFO, but will there be a gate? 9:05 MT over Utah and I start looking for the solar array that signals we are over Nevada heading into California. Good coffee. Tom, the passenger next to me, is headed to Hong Kong. He wants to experience the new United Polaris seating on the 777-300 aircraft. Flying back on Monday. And I thought I did some quick turn arounds.
What was a light haze has turned into a brown cloud of nastiness. And our President has rolled back EPA regulations allowing our air to get worse. I saw a report about China’s pollution making it across the Pacific to our shores. At least China realizes there is a problem and is working to mitigate the mess while our leader is blindly moving in the wrong direction.
8:43PT passing over the Tonopah solar array that is feeding the grid with the electrons to be consumed by Sin City to the south. Here come the Sierras.
Kudos to Flight attendant Mary Jo . 37000′

Air is clearing up as we get on approach to SFO. On a clear day you can look north up the mountain range to Lake Tahoe, but not today.
9:02PT Captain says we are 25min out from the airport. My iPod music App has gone flaky, reboot didn’t fix it. Can’t see any of my music. (Turns out there was an ad for Apple Music waiting to queue but with no internet it just shut me down. Cleared up in the lounge once on the internet.)

Cloudy in the Bay Area as we land at 9:27PT and we have a gate! Walk to the united lounge by the 60’s gates and get devices on the Internet and charging.
My flight to Chengdu starts boarding around 12:25PT so have some time to read my Nepal tour book.

Check in gate 100 seat 2D
Advertised flight time 13hrs 27min for an on time arrival.

Pre-flight Heineken and a chocolate.
No one next to me, no show.

Devices in flight mode, ready for take off. +15hr time change to Chengdu.
We are out by the back bay waiting our turn for the runway for a westerly takeoff.
1:37PM PT wheels up.
2:30PM PT 591mph 36000′
Dinner Service
Hugged the coast to Eureka, CA then
Outbound over the Pacific by the time we reach Oregon.
2:41PM off Salem, OR 35997′ 585mph

3:09PM off the coast from Seattle 36000′ 572mph
Good dinner
There is a white haired man, who was on my last Chengdu flight, backing up the flight attendant. The service manager Ed was also on my last Chengdu flight.
3:17PM 570mph 36000′
Distance traveled 1083miles.

6101 miles 11:34 to go

5:36 PM 9:27 to go. 39000′ 549mph passing over the Aleutian Islands
4769 miles to Chengdu

8:11PM 6:54 to go 39,999′ 530mph 3511miles to go

Snack, chicken and rice and a Cabernet
Just listening to music and reading about Nepal. There’s little chance to absorb all there is to do in Kathmandu in three days and then add in Patan and Bhaktapur, but I’ll give it my best. Friday arrival is early enough to get a walk around Thamel and make it to Bodhnath Stupa. Saturday could be a trip to Bhaktapur and more Thamel? Sunday a trip to Swayambhunath and Patan. Monday is the Everest Experience flight and Thamel Durbar Square. Tuesday fly out. I’ll see what the reality is once on the ground. Looks like distances are not too great that I can’t walk most places with maybe taxi rides to a few places like Bhaktapur and Bodhnath. Need to be at the airport on Monday by 5:30AM for the Everest flyby, so will need to check with the hotel on getting a taxi that early. Definitely a scouting trip. Lots to see and experience. Hopefully the time change, +12:45, won’t kick my butt too hard.

8:34PM PT Flying over Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 39,999′ 561mph
11:34AM Chengdu Time
9:19AM Kathmandu Time

11:50PM PT woke to Cabin Lights erratically flashing on/off ,entertainment system reboot.
Flight Attendant walking around in puzzlement. Not good things at 40,097′ 507mph over Changchung north of North Korea with 3:10 to go.
1:09PM PT. 1:54 to go 40,099′ 541mph 7367 miles traveled 847miles to go.

Almost to Chengdu. We followed the sun all the way. 42min to go.
2:22AM 34,100′ 8079miles traveled 425mph

Looks like we will be about 40min early.
Ready to walk and stretch
Too much airplane food.

On the ground 6:02PM Chengdu Time.
Off the plane, thru immigration, picked up bag and in a cab by 6:44.
Cab ride 42rmb. (Approx $6.00) Great check in, fabulous room 3110 suite! Amazing! Thank you CC and Apple. Lounge on 29th floor, very good snacks and drinks, thank you Chris. CC is arranging a taxi and a take away breakfast for 6am. Enjoying the lounge and great internet. They have Olmeca Tequila and Corona beer. Good Chengdu views. Need to get up around 5AM and get checked out by 6AM.

Friday April 14 (4.4mile walkabout)

Some sleep. watched the world darts championship finals won by a Dutch man and some CNN news about the MOAB bomb we dropped in Afghanistan.
Charged devices and repacked and headed down to checkout at 5:45.  As promised, CC had a takeaway bag ready for me with fruit, breads and yogurt drink. Also a cab had been ordered and the driver was a very cheerful man who tried to teach me some Chinese on the drive. Still dark as he dropped me off at the International Terminal 1. 100rmb. I passed through the metal detector and security check into the terminal and found my flight CA407 on the big board. A short walk to China Air check in counter 20 & 21. Long lines, but there was a sign for priority check in which led me to a security officer. After a short “discussion” he directed me to another counter where I got checked in. Along with my boarding pass I got a sticker. As far as I can tell that is for the layover in Lhasa. Anyway I am instructed to wear it on my shirt. I head to gate 16 which is a communal gate for a number of flights. After security and screening I head down steps to a small room with some bench seating. The room slowly fills and gets loud. I have about an hour to go before getting shuttled to the plane. A few minutes go by and a young woman walks in who unlocks and opens up a small first class lounge. I head in and she welcomes me and after checking my boarding pass I get a seat. Rather basic but it is quieter, comfortable and there are drinks and snacks. She helps me get on the airport wifi and I check in with home. Periodically there are announcements in the waiting room and the tide of people goes up and down. The lounge receptionist is going to let me know when to head for the shuttle. Around 7:30 I hear the announcement for the Lhasa -Kathmandu flight and I get an acknowledgement from the hostess so I gather my gear and head out to the waiting room. The line is long so I wait until the agent checking tickets notices me and let’s me cut in front of the few remaining passengers. I get on the large shuttle and notice that there are only two women out of the 100 plus chattering young to middle aged Asian men. We drive around the huge Chengdu airport eventually pulling up to a plane with a gate attached and we exit to some stairs leading to the ramp and into the plane.

There are no window seats in business, all taken by four men dozing. Either they were already on the plane from a previous destination or for some reason they got on through the jet bridge. A flight attendant stashes my pack in the crowded overhead, takes my breakfast order, she recommends the “Western” , and brings me the China Times newspaper and an orange juice.
As we taxi to the runway the air has become noticeably thick. Take off at 8:35. Very quickly we are over snow capped mountain ranges as far as the horizon on both sides of the plane. Breakfast is good and the mountains are endless. Reminds me of flying out of Anchorage, Alaska. Lhasa is advertised as a 1:15 flight. Hopefully, some of the window seat occupants get off in Lhasa and no one takes their place so I can check out the views. Even from the aisle seat they are stunning.
I have to go through the Visa on Arrival process once in Kathmandu. That duration could be awhile depending on how many people are in front of me doing the same thing. I filled out a form on line, but I don’t know if it is acceptable as it is one that you would send to the embassy with a passport to get a visa prior to the trip. I never had a window of time to do that, so I will see how the on site process goes.
Getting an announcement that we will be landing in Lhasa in 13 minutes.
We thread between peaks as we descend into Lhasa. Touchdown at 10:30. Railway lines disappear into mountain tunnels and a military base occupies a section of the airport, camouflaged buildings and helicopters. Everyone off the plane, need to clear Chinese Immigration and security. Long zigzag through unmanned immigration posts then down an escalator and around a corner, down a hall and the immigration officers emerge and man some stations. Clear immigration then through the metal detectors and body scan then to a waiting room for a 11:20AM boarding. I ask the agent at the gate about getting a window seat, but no comprehension so I take a seat in the waiting room after browsing the expensive Tibetan crafts on display. A small weaving caught my attention, but it was expensive. Better not start carrying more items at this point,I go through this transit on the way back…There is a first class lounge that gets opened up, but the staff seem confused as to why I want to check it out so I take a water and head back to the waiting room.

We go through boarding and I score a window seat. Only two of us left in business. The flight attendant says the L seats have the best view, so camp in 2L.
11:38 heading out to the runway.
Flight to Kathmandu is advertised as 1:15 650 km.

Chomolungma is the Chinese name for the tallest mountain in the world, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā. Mt. Everest to the rest of the world, named after Sir George Everest, the British Surveyor General of India. The flight attendant checked with the captain and we will be doing an Everest flyby as we approach Kathmandu. Excellent!

10:00AM Nepal Time 34,000′ 440mph
Ok, the Everest flyby was fantastic!
Bad weather at KTM so we are circling. Excited to be here!
The flight attendant is enjoying my excitement. She is teaching me Chinese as we work on her very decent English.
10:46AM we are descending. Very hazy. 18,000′

On the ground around 11:15AM
We taxi to a tarmac spot near the arrivals terminal and disembark, however we stand by the plane for 15 min before a shuttle can be flagged down to take us the very short distance to the terminal. Several passengers try to walk, but are stopped by airport security. Meanwhile the Turkish Airlines jet parked next to our plane is letting their passengers walk in. Once in the arrivals terminal there are a large number of folks jammed into a small space, with long lines queued up to access the visa on arrival kiosks to complete and print out a paper form. Then there are another series of queues to hand the printed form to an agent who is taking the fees and issuing a receipt to be taken to another line to get to an immigration officer who attaches your photo to the form, prints a visa and inserts it in your passport. I skip the Visa on Arrival kiosk and decide to see if the form I brought with me will work. I slowly work through the payment queue and the agent has no issue with my online VOA form, takes my money and I proceed to the immigration process and then into the chaos that is called baggage claim. People are jammed into an area with 4 baggage belts, one of which is out of service, and a sea of baggage carts. My flight is up on a sign display, but no belt is assigned yet so I find a spot in the back of the room to stay out of the flow. More people are pouring in but no one seems to be leaving. CA407 gets assigned to luggage belt 2 and I sort my way through the   carts and humanity that are wedged in to the belt area. It takes awhile, but eventually my bag rolls up and I wind my way towards the green channel nothing to declare exit. There are security people checking luggage tags, but it must be a random challenge as I slowly roll through the final check point and emerge from the building.

 

Across the road are hundreds of people with signs waiting for their passengers. I look for a sign with my name. I am approached by a man who asks who I am looking for, I tell him Hotel Shanker, he yells over to the crowd and a man responds waving a sign with the hotel name with my name underneath. Contact made! I get over to him and he gets me to a car and driver and after some maneuvering out of the parking lot we slowly creep out towards the exit, pay a fee, get in a merging line towards the airport exit. All is creeping chaotic merging stop and go out to a main street where we sit for a long wait until a traffic cop halts the cross traffic and we do a hard right and gain some speed in a bumper to bumper mix of cars trucks buses motor cycles bicycles pedestrians. Welcome to Kathmandu!
It’s a continual blend of hazy hot chaotic (for this tourist) driving thru low rise neighborhoods full of people, stores, vendor stalls, dirty rivers slowly giving way to a less hectic drive and then we pull in to a guarded long driveway and a drop off point at a side entrance to the Hotel Shanker. The main entrance, lobby reception area was damaged during the 2015 quakes and under repair.  I am greeted by a bellman who grabs my bag and escorts me to a temporary reception desk. I am offered a glass of orange juice as the receptionist attends to my check in. I get room 711 and the bellman drags my bag and shows me the way. He gets the AC turned on says have a good stay, Namaste!, and I have arrived in Kathmandu. It has been several hours since touchdown, but all is well. I made it!

I get unpacked and devices on line, communicate with home and get cleaned up. The time differential from Denver is +12.75hrs. What happened to the 15minutes?! My watch gets set to local time and I get out for an orientation walkabout. The receptionist gave me a hotel card and wrote down some basic directions to a money exchange. I had googled the hotel prior to arrival and had a rudimentary idea of location and how to get to the Thamel area of town, however I get lost for awhile before I home in and start to find my way. I get some Nepali Rupees from an ATM and wander into the shopping/markets that Thamel is famous for. Narrow unpaved roads lined on both sides with a mix of shops selling clothing trekking gear souvenir items such as singing bowels tourist hats, food, travel services, money exchange, just about anything and everything.

Throw in crowds of people, cars, motorbikes, rickshaws, buildings under reconstruction religious statues, hot weather, dusty hazy air mixed with diesel fumes and an occasional restaurant and you start to get the picture of this noisy bustling area. Thamel is full of alleys off of alleys into dead ends or twisty streets that always have some sort of traffic and visual excitement. Mostly dirt roads with shop keepers ladling out and throwing water to keep the dust down.

 

I had done some prep for this trip but I wasn’t fully prepared for the reality of the moment. I slowly expand my walkabout and buy a few souvenirs. As dusk comes on I wander into the Thamel House Restaurant for some food and beverage. I have some snacks: vegetable soup, chicken Momos and an Everest beer and get on their Internet. I google mapped my location and expand the view to get an overview of where I had ended up. The Kathmandu Spa is nearby so head in that direction to see if I can locate it. Prior to the start of the trip I had looked on line for reputable massage businesses and this one was highly recommended. After a few wrong turns I locate the Spa and stop in. They aren’t too busy and I immediately get in for an hour massage. I feel much better after getting some of my travel kinks sorted out. It’s dark when I get back out on the street and I find my way back to the hotel.
I sort out my plans for Saturday and get some restless sleep with the tv on. There are some periodic power outages during the night and I am awakened in the grey of the morning by thunder and lighting and a steady rain.

Saturday April 15 (5.5 mile walkabout)

Great Buffet Breakfast in the Hotel’s massive breakfast room. Hotel Shanker was originally a palace and it has very interesting decoration and design.

I  head out of the hotel around 9:30 on the way to Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple. I mapped the route so I had a general idea how to get there. The compass app always comes in handy.

There are no traffic lights or stop signs so vehicular traffic rules the roost in Kathmandu. Sidewalks are also in scarce supply so walking in the streets and threading your way through traffic to cross streets is how it works for the most part. Some of the roads I travel are dirt and the morning rain has made them slick and muddy, especially up the final grades to the Temple. There is a symbiotic relationship of trust in the mix of vehicles and pedestrians and as long as you are aware of each other it seems to work. It does add time to travel, but after an hour I reach the eastern stairway to the Swayambhunath Stupa.

Statuary, prayer flags, vendors, monkeys and other tourists and a long stairway up to the Temple. I spend several hours checking out the complex with it’s many attractions: the Stupa with the Buddha eyes looking out in the cardinal directions surrounded by prayer wheels and flags and butter candles and shrines.

Intact, damaged and destroyed out buildings and temples, several piles of bricks and some scaffolding indicating areas the quakes did their worst. People practicing their religion, tour groups large and small, photos and selfies and happy faces.

The area is ringed with shops and vendor stands and some snack food establishments. The sun starts to emerge at moments but the view over the Kathmandu valley is mostly cloudy and the haze is building.

I sit for awhile observing the scene and snacking on a Kind bar and some water. A cow wanders by and some dogs are barking at it while some monkey families are playing on nearby roof tops with some running around eating food left out for them, then climbing the statuary playing chase.

It starts to feel very crowded so I circle the Stupa one more time and head back down the eastern stairway.

Pausing at the bottom I reference my guide book and decide to go to Asan Tole, reputed to be the busiest intersection in Kathmandu, which is due west after the river crossing. I backtrack down the now not so muddy roads cross the bridge and go straight until I reach a bandstand type building in the middle of a busy roundabout. I walk up some steps of a closed building on the side of the road and watch the scene. Communication wires are a tangled mess on a pole in the middle of the roundabout and they proceed to spread in an ungainly way down all of the streets that spoke out. This is a familiar view as there is very little underground wired infrastructure in this old city.

I continue to walk west past more businesses then end up back in the muddy Thamel tourist district. I expand my territory from the day before with thoughts of finding Asan Tole and then the Spa for a foot massage, but this time I am getting twisted around in the maze of roads until I finally end up circling back around to Lazimpat, the road I had walked on to get to the Temple. My second day jet lag was catching up to me so I retraced my route back to the hotel for an early end to the day.

I emailed Buddha Airlines in the morning before I left to inquire about canceling my Monday flight. The flyby on the flight from Lhasa had satisfied my immediate curiosity about Everest and the airport inconvenience had negatively influenced my desire to head out there at 5AM to take the Everest Experience flight. They responded to my inquiry and I forwarded my flight information. I assume I will get a confirmation of my refund in the morning.

Sunday April 16 (5.4 mile walkabout)

Up early as the sun rises over Kathmandu. The rainy wet haze is giving way to blue skies and the first clear views of the sun since my arrival. A quick breakfast then some contact with home. Out of the hotel at 9:15 looking for a taxi to Boudha Stupa. I had been cordially greeted by a driver several times on previous days, but he was engaged with a couple haggling over prices so I get the security person to call for a cab. A short wait as the day grows brighter and a taxi shows up. I agree to the driver’s price, 500 rupees, and we are off.

I had thought of walking to Boudha, but as we move along I soon realize that it would have been a long confusing day just to get there. Our travel becomes an advanced game of chicken as the traffic of vehicles and pedestrians grows thicker as we wind our way. And then we are caught up in a massive multi road multi lane jam and come to a complete stop. The driver turns the motor off as we sit engulfed and surrounded. Motorbikes fill any remaining space and we are all intertwined.

After a few minutes this mass starts to inch forward and soon it turns out we were just feet from a hard left that we take into a relatively uncrowded street and we move quickly down a major road. After a few minutes we are pulling over to a busy crowded sidewalk. The driver points up the road as I pay him and as I exit the cab he is already in discussion with his next customers who are climbing in.  I move up the sidewalk not exactly knowing where the Stupa is, but within a minute I am at a gate and I turn left and enter the Temple complex. What an amazing view and as I take it all in I am beckoned by a guard to come over to a booth to pay the foreigner entrance fee. 250 rupees later I am walking into a large courtyard lined on the outer ring with 3-4 story buildings with the huge Boudha Stupa as the centerpiece.

It is a bright blue cloudless sunny sky surrounding the white Stupa. The Buddha eyes stare out from the cardinal points and multi strings of fluttering breeze blown colorful prayer flags run from the base edges to the Stupa height. Amazing initial impression.

I walk clockwise to the Stupa entrance on the opposite side of the structure from the gate and climb up to the second level. There is work going on as men pass buckets up the side of the Stupa towards the upper levels.

Some of the buckets must contain water as the men at the top are throwing the contents down the sides, maybe to clean the huge dome. The water is highlighting the rings painted in multi level uniform patterns around the circumference.

I circle several times taking some photos until I drop my sunglasses and watch as they slide down and over the edge of the level. I look down and see them lying in a fairly protected area so I hustle around and down to the lower level and start walking around to where they dropped. There are a few worshipers, but not many folks just walking around, however when I get to where they should be they are gone. In the few minutes since they slid over someone has found them. Bummer on this bright day. I continue around the Stupa base thinking maybe they landed somewhere else, but no results, so I exit and walk around the outer perimeter and check out the shops. I purchase a Nepali flag for my world flag collection. It is warming up and I find a small restaurant with shady seating and have some lunch. Rested and replenished I walk the circle of shops one more time. A security guard passes me near the entrance to the stupa and it looks like he is wearing my sunglasses! I quicken my pace and check. Sure enough, he Is wearing my old beat up glasses! Unbelievable! I tap him on the shoulder and communicate, mostly with gestures, to ask if he had found them inside the Stupa grounds. He smiles takes them off and hands them to me and resumes his walk. I was just lucky I guess, but my eyes are happier for the coincidence.

I head out the main gate. The busy traffic, pedestrian hustle, general noise level and exhaust fumes quickly melt away the calmness of the Stupa site. It is if someone flipped the chaos switch. I decide to walk around a bit when I am approached by a man asking if I need a taxi as he points to the taxi queue across the street. We agree on a price back to the hotel and he assigns me to a taxi, tells the driver where to take me and we are off into heavy traffic which soon comes to a standstill.

Frustrated, the driver pulls a chaotic u turn to take an alternate route. We flow for awhile then hit some more stop and go, but eventually it’s just the normal craziness back to the hotel.
I regroup in the room, charging and hydrating, then set out to try and find the Kathmandu Spa I visited previously. I walk around the streets and alleys of Thamel for awhile and eventually find the Spa and get my current walkabout aches and pains taken care of and replaced with a new set of massage induced aches and pains ( good ones) before setting out to locate Durbar Square. I set off south and the dirt road shopping alley turns into a paved road with jewelry, gold and silver stores. I pass a shop selling teas and purchase some. I inquire about Durbar Square. I had just passed the entrance so I back track, take a left and I am there.  It is getting late afternoon so I plan to return the next day when I should have enough time to wander through the area. I reach Asan Tole as I walk back to Thamel and pause to check out the reportedly busiest square in Kathmandu.

While taking some pictures I notice a man sitting on some stone steps on the side of an old building with piles of what appeared to be rugs stacked by his side. I climb up and check out his wares which turn out to be blankets. He points me to some men with a shop to his left. One of the men takes me up two flights of stairs in an adjoining building to an office/storeroom to check out his supply of Nepali Yak Blankets. Interesting find, we negotiate a price for a small blanket and I resume my walk back to the hotel. On the way I purchase a duffel bag as I now have way too many “souvenirs ” to fit into my existing luggage. Really a good problem to have as I have found some interesting items on this trip to share with family & friends.

Reaching the hotel I see the taxi driver who was working with some other customers that morning. We exchange greetings and he asks if I need any transportation which leads to a discussion about Bhaktapur. He offers to drive me and wait while I tour the sites and then take me back. I had been sitting on the fence about going due to the distance and transportation logistics, so this chance meeting pushes me to negotiate a price and agree upon a time. The expectation is that Bhaktapur will be a three hour excursion so the Kathmandu Durbar Square visit could happen in the afternoon. Back in the room I spend some time packing souvenirs and contacting home before calling it a day.

Monday April 17 (5.6 mile walkabout)

Restless night dozing between European football and some channel surfing. The sunrise starts to burn off the morning fog as I head to breakfast. This was to be the morning of the Everest flight, I haven’t heard from Buddha Air about my request for a refund.

I am out the door a little before 9AM and the taxi man is waiting. I climb into the left front seat and we pull out into the traffic flow. I ask the driver his name which is long enough and strange enough to my ear that I just call him Shri which he laughs at. He is a good driver and safely maneuvers us out of town and on to a highway headed east towards Bhaktapur. He says the Japanese financed the highway’s construction and went on to say that the Chinese were building a ring road around the city. It it slightly difficult for me to understand what he is saying at times due to the noise and pronunciation, so I guess and try to fill in the blanks. I actually see some traffic lights on the edge of Kathmandu, but they are not working. About 45 minutes into the drive we pull off the highway and proceed northeast on some minor roads through a hilly landscape of continuous small towns. The amount of traffic eases somewhat at this point, but what remains is still chaotic. Approximately 20 minutes later Shri indicates that we have reached Bhaktapur and we soon pull into a parking/drop off area to the north of the historic section of town.

An earlier Google of Bhaktapur indicated a population of 35,000 compared to the multi million population of Kathmandu. It is a beautiful sunny day and as we start to discuss a rendezvous point we are approached by a young man who introduces himself as Umesh and indicates he is my guide. Unknown to me Shri had been busy and had recruited Umesh. I had planned to just wander, but I decided to go with the flow. I agree to his asking price and we set out. The plan is to meet Shri at the drop off point in 3 hours. Umesh starts a dialogue on the city’s history as we walk toward Durbar Square, the site of many ancient temples and buildings. Bhaktapur had suffered severe damage in the 2015 quakes with over 230 people losing their lives. The quakes happened on a Saturday which is the Hindu holy day while many people were outside at the temples worshiping. Had the quake hit on any other day more people would have been indoors and the death toll would potentially been much higher. The historic square lost many structures. I pay $15 for a tourist ticket and enter Durbar Square through the White Gate aka City Gate which is also under construction.

We tour the area and at many of the damaged structures are pictures of what they once looked like. Umesh explains that they were all being rebuilt with financially assistance from Germany. There were a few structures that survived with minor damage.

Nepali New Year celebration (2074) had started on the Day before my arrival in Nepal and it was still going strong in Bhaktapur.

As we left the historic square we walked a short way down a sloping road and as we entered another large square we were greeted by drumming and cymbals as a procession of people and musicians paraded through.

Everywhere we went there were people in native dress sitting around in large groups passing the day with talk, food and drink as they watched different bands parade through the town. In some areas people gathered to sing.

There was a spontaneous joyous happy feeling everywhere we went. People were celebrating and enjoying the day despite the surrounding destruction. I saw many ancient buildings in various stages of repair as well as areas of housing that had crumbled to the ground.

Destruction was being cleared and there were many piles of salvaged and new brick scattered throughout town. We passed some newly constructed homes and Umesh told me about the long waiting list and lone timeline to get the balance of the houses rebuilt. As guides do, I was taken to various shops known to Umesh to see craftwork. Some were interesting like the pottery shop in Potters Square and some were not. I was approached by street vendors but not really hassled. Due to the holiday the Potters were not working which was understandable, but still a disappointment. We still checked out some of the kilns and at least I got a sense of how and where the work got done.

In Potters Square was a long pole leaning up against a small temple.  The lowering of the pole, scheduled for the next day, would indicate the end of the new year celebrations and schools and work would resume.

At one juncture was a huge ancient cart that was being prepared for the annual tug of war which was to take place the next day and also marked the close of the holidays. Teams of people would contest dragging the cart around and thick ropes were being attached and and a top structure was being assembled. After the event the cart is disassembled and stored for the next year.

After a stop at a hole in the wall shop for the king of curds (juju dhau), yogurt made with buffalo milk, which was cold, creamy and delicious, we wound our way back up the hill to the drop off point. Umesh wandered off to find Shri who was at a local restaurant and soon we were back in the taxi and on the road to Changu, another of Shri’s surprises.
Not sure where we are going, but Shri is intent to show me more of Nepal. We drive into a beautiful hilly valley with wheat crops being hand harvested. Traffics is light as we wind up the terraced hillside. The sun is out though the sky is a mixture of blue and a muted haze. I could live in this valley for a month with mountain and sweeping green valley views. The taxi struggles on the steeper grades and Sid shuts down the A/C to give the motor a little more pep.

30 minutes later we are pulling into a parking area for the Changu Narayan Temple. Shri parks and points out the entrance and the ascending stairway and says he’ll wait. I purchase a ticket (rs 100) and I set out passing some shops and residences as I climb the stairs.

It’s not very busy at this site, so I am greeted enthusiastically by some of the shop keepers, but I keep climbing the winding stairway to the temple. There are ducks and chickens and painters with the pounding sounds of men chiseling masks, leaving the bare wood carvings drying along the stairs, piles of wood chips covering the floor of the shops.

It takes about ten minutes to reach the summit and I pass through a gate into a courtyard with a roped off Temple sitting in its center.

The temple sits at the top of the hill and there are expansive views to the west of the valley below and a ring of mountains muted by the haze. A peaceful spot with temple reconstruction underway.

This area around Bhaktapur was heavily shaken and this 5th Century Temple suffered but amazingly is still standing. I walk around the Courtyard several times then head down the hill.

I stop in one of the shops and purchased an amazing cashmere scarf at a very fair below Kathmandu price. Shri is waiting in the parking lot, he has picked up a woman who needs a ride to the big city. He is eager to take me to some more sites “while we are in the area”, but I am done. We have been touring for 5 hrs and I am ready for the hectic crazy drive back to Kathmandu. So we load up with the hitch hiker in the back seat and wind down the hill and start the journey back to Kathmandu. We take a different route to the highway passing through Thimi back to Bhaktapur and onto the frantic highway to Kathmandu. What a contrast to the quieter places where we had spent the day.

The hitch hiker disembarks into traffic on the outskirts of the city and Shri points out various spots all the way back to the hotel. It was a long day, but definitely worth the effort. We roll back to Hotel Shanker, I thank Shri, leave him a little more than his asking price and I walk off to his protests that I was paying him more than our agreed upon price, then he laughs and with a smile he says he’ll make it up to me next time…

I regroup and hydrate. Once again it is late in the day with not enough time for Durbar Square. I head out for some final shopping and I end up at Asan Tole and the Yak blanket store. The same old guy is sitting with some blankets as the man I worked with yesterday greets me and escorts me the two flights upstairs. We look at a number of blankets and he leaves me with the boss man as we negotiate a price for a larger four panel blanket.

Done, I am out of all currencies with just enough rupees to tip my way out of the hotel with something left for the airport.I make the long walk back to the dirt roads of Thamel and the Shanker Hotel.

I haven’t checked all of the boxes that my pre-trip planning had created, but I added some new ones.  It has been a very interesting three plus days in Nepal, enough to make the trip worthwhile and opening up my vision to what to see and do next time…

Back at the hotel and I am emailing with the Air China flight attendant and we plan to meet at the hotel in Chengdu. I bought an additional duffle bag in Bhaktapur anticipating the additional purchases and I start sorting and packing. I am reminded of buying additional bags to get stuff back from my Peru trips. Some tv and a restless night.

Tuesday April 18 (1.5 miles of airport walking)

Yesterday when I booked the ride to the airport, the front desk staff said there would be a surge in traffic with the end of the new year and I should leave by 8:30 to avoid any delays getting to the airport. I stop trying to sleep around 5:30 and complete my packing and go down for breakfast. Final communications and surfing and I head to check out. I am charged for the local telephone calls to Buddha Air, but otherwise all is good. My airport driver has not arrived yet so I go out to see if Shri is there. He is and we talk for a few minutes about yesterday’s journey. A few minutes later I am loaded into my airport car and we take off. Despite the dire warning the traffic is relatively light and we reach KTM in 30 minutes. Someone grabs my bags, despite my protests, puts them on a cart and we proceed into the terminal. I retrieve my bags and head to the metal detector and a preliminary security check. Air China check in is another 30 minutes out so I take a seat. Check in is easy and I get a window seat, 1A. If there are mountains to be seen that seems to be the side to ride. I was given a lounge pass and I take an escalator up to the departure area. I do some last minute shopping and use up the last of my Nepali Rupees. Nice lounge, good wifi and food. I head to security and immigration once a gate is displayed on the lounge monitor. The gate holding area is crowded as many people have chosen to wait in close proximity to their gate.

How they knew which one to queue up to is unknown, maybe prior experience or maybe there was a seat and they just move when the gate is called. We board a shuttle and a short ride later we are on the stairs to the plane.

I am the only passenger in Business. We take off a few minutes early and the views of the Himalaya are once again spectacular.

Short flight to Lhasa, 1:15 minutes. Disembark, security, immigration and a seat in the waiting area. Back on board, Heineken and rice & beef dinner. Advertised 2 hr flight. The view is one of never ending snow covered mountain ranges.

Due into CTU at 19:10. Lhasa was my China entry so I will just have to get my checked bags and head for the taxi stand.

7:00 PM
We have just been notified that due to some issue in Chengdu we are being diverted to another airport. Not sure what is going on but this should be interesting.
7:43PM
We have landed in Chongqing. Now being told that Chengdu Airport is closed due to a disruption possibly a drone/unmanned aircraft. Not sure what is up. The captain is working on a solution. If the airport is closed there’s a probability that the incoming United flight from San Francisco, my return flight for tomorrow, is also diverted. So we are parked waiting for information. I do know that I won’t be meeting up with my flight attendant friend and her family this evening. Since she and her husband both work for Air China they are most likely aware of the issue. I think she was tracking this flight.
8:15
Per the flight purser Chengdu Airport has reopened. Still no announced next steps.

8:30
Some folks from the area just got off the plane. A couple of guys just carried boxes of something on the plane. At some point this will escalate as people get frustrated impatient hungry uncomfortable etc.
8:45
A group of people have come forward and are having a conversation with the attendants. The plane parked next to us is unloading the passengers and luggage. Not a good sign.
9:00
The group up front have deplaned, the door is closed, the ramp is gone and we are taking off for Chengdu “soon.” What the two guys brought on board were cookies and I just got two boxes. Living right I guess.
9:13
We are pushing back. Looks like we have clearance into Chengdu.
10:10
On the ground in Chengdu.
We get bused in and bypass immigration as we cleared it in Lhasa. Baggage is very slow, but I am out of the airport by 11PM. I get a taxi for a fast ride to the Renaissance. (40 rmb) Apple is at check in and my flight attendant friend has been there and left me a gift. Sorry to have missed her. Another great room, 2810. I make it to the lounge before their 11:30 close time but they are done with all service so I take a water and head to the room. Time for a few hours of sleep.

Wednesday April 19

Up at 5:00AM
The room is a large Junior Suite with a curved 180 degree view. I roll back the powered curtains and watch as the dawn takes over from the night. Very hazy and my air quality apps basically recommend not breathing, at least outside.

Lounge breakfast at 6:30AM
Checked out and in a cab to the airport by 7:15
No traffic and we get to the International Terminal 1 in 15 minutes! (45 rmb)
Easy check in at ticket counter 50, work through immigration and security and get on the Internet in the lounge. For some reason I can actually get my gmail! Security slip or easing of restrictions? I couldn’t get Google at the hotel so guessing some restriction slip. SFO plane is here, gate 104, with a 9:00AM boarding.

Easy boarding, security check and on the plane seat 1D. Lydia is our flight attendant.
She was working my last Chengdu flight. Cheryl is the service manager. Wifi not working on the plane, doesn’t affect my universe. 12hrs 27min advertised flight time.
On time push back and a long taxi around the airport to a runway. Chengdu airport is huge.

10:07
We are accelerating down the runway and airborne. California here we come!
10:54
We are over the Xi’an area. Leveled off at 37099′ 573 mph due into SFO at 7:31AM
12:16PM
Past Beijing 639mph 37,102′ 10:12 to go 5918 miles to go
Mid-point
4:28PM
581mph 36988′ 3373miles to go over Russia approaching Ugolnyye Kopi.
Crew change. Rice and beef snack. Music on the headphones.
8:05PM/6:06AM PT
1:22 to go 570mph 39001′ 7660 miles travelled
7:27AM
On the ground SFO
Short wait for a gate then easy immigration, baggage claim, customs, baggage recheck and TSA. 3hr layover, charging devices and email catch up. Next flight is on another 787 and it looks like I might be one of very few who bought a first class ticket judging by the upgrade list. Weather good in San Francisco and Denver so should be a good flight.

Observations/Reactions

Kathmandu is a city on overload. The air is a noxious mix of vehicular exhaust, dust and whatever is blowing in from its neighbors China and India, two of the most polluted countries on the planet. Traffic is a game of chicken, path of least resistance and a contest of wills. Nepal has adopted the steering wheel on the left, probably the India/British influence so I had to get into a full 360 approach to stepping out into traffic. Pedestrians are at the bottom of the totem pole, but it doesn’t take long to get into the flow of crossing streets and dodging the flow even with the lack of sidewalks, stop signs or traffic lights. People in Kathmandu know how to adapt. The 2015 quakes certainly didn’t help the situation and the signs of devastation and restoration are everywhere. Power outages were frequent mostly during the night, but they didn’t last long. The airport cannot handle the amount of traffic with its one runway as it has to  frequently rely on the slower instrument landing procedures due to air quality/low visibility.  The general chaos of the Visa on Arrival processes and inadequate baggage handling/delivery systems could be mitigated. People are pouring in, the rest of the world is still arriving, which can hopefully provide positive outcomes as tourist money flows into Nepal. The roadways are all in need of repair. Traffic loads are heavy, it took over an hour to get out of the airport and reach my hotel just a few miles away. The traffic etiquette reminded me of trips to Lima, Siem Reap, Saigon, Shanghai and Beijing, but the actual road infrastructure was the worst.
All of that aside, the overall attitude of the people I met was very positive. Sure there were instances of the persistent pesky sales people in the Thamel area who were eagerly trying to make a living, but elsewhere folks were smiling, friendly and eager to know how I liked Nepal. And these folks had recently suffered the hell of the quakes and were still suffering the disruptions to their incomes and their personal lives. Tough People.
The cough. Persistent. More so than other countries in Asia. No masks. Resignation. People are not smoking, just inhaling what is in the daily mix. I didn’t picture this, I didn’t have the vision of polluted over populated maxed out infrastructure. The reality is different than the somewhat simplistic beautiful simple rural everything harmonious vision that I once held. But the beat goes on and people are dealing with what they have, what they know, as we all natively tend to do. I still know little about the governmental order of everyday life. I did hear expressions about the bad government, not providing for the citizens, but no deep dive or extensive knowledge on my part. I did hear about Japan and China building infrastructure and German support with rebuilding historic structures destroyed by both the 1934 and 2015 quakes. The flavor of the visitor experience was much better outside of the cityscape. The area around Bhaktapur was still rural and more reflective of the environmental vision I had, beautiful sweeping landscapes of green vibrant valleys bordered by hilly mountainous blue sky edged horizons, but the haze remained a constant. One of the worlds most beautiful environments is becoming extremely polluted.

The mountains call me. I will return to walk the roads and paths leading to the Himalaya.

I want to experience the remaining beauty of Nepal, its still vibrant people and to better understand the historic significance of this one time jewel at the crossroads of the world.

And I hope to one day meet up with my flight attendant friend and her family as I make my way back to Nepal.

 

References:

Nepal, Lonely Planet Guide Book

Various Websites including United Airlines, Marriott Hotels and Agoda.