Magical Kathmandu. The first time I flew into Nepal about 30 years ago almost seems like it was yesterday. Dropping in over the snowy peaks and descending over the middle “hills” into the Kathmandu valley – the colours alone were enough to make my eyes bug out of my head. It was all so alluring and exciting.
I’d researched Nepal for ages. Nothing I read prepared me for what I saw from the window of that Thai Airways jet I ended up trusting with my life. Bit of a strong statement?
Well landing at Kathmandu airport entails manoeuvring your plane over the worlds highest range of mountains, many hidden in clouds, and dropping into a bowl-shaped valley to land at an airport without the usual radar assistance.
So the pilots needed to negotiate this by the seat of their pants. I chose Thai on the advice of my well-travelled mate who assured me these guys did this regularly. I’m not sure if they’ve upgraded yet but I suspect they haven’t.
The day before the second time I went there, an Airbus A310 slammed into the rim of the valley and all 113 on board were killed. When our flight landed this time the entire plane stood and cheered. It was a happy moment and a huge relief to be on the ground.
One of of the many sayings the Nepalese have is “Don’t fly in the clouds; they have rocks in them”.
People often quiz me when I say Nepal’s a dangerous place. I won’t elaborate now, but it’s one of those places where risk is in the mix of experiences you have. I’d be on a plane back there this minute if I could!
Landing at Tribhuvan airport is an experience. Monkeys play on the planes. Shabby buildings burst with disorder. Soon you’ll encounter the baggage pickup you may have been warned about.
Once you retrieve your luggage, shuffle out the door and into the morass of taxi drivers and shysters. It can be a bit of a shock for a newbie traveller. Wise to read up about it.
Hang on tight to your belongings. Be patient and negotiate until you’re sure they’ll take you where you want to go. Sometimes you get lucky, but once you’re in, you can almost rest assured you’re on your way to their uncle’s hotel.
Sometimes you can offer to pay them a bit extra to take you to your chosen hotel or area, but it’s often easier to go with the flow – go and have a look, and then insist you have a booking or whatever and to please take you there.
If you remain light-hearted you’ll often make friends in the process. By this stage you’re probably beginning to wonder if you’ve made a mistake and perhaps you should have gone somewhere easier and more predictable.
Fear not dear traveller, very soon you’ll settle into the Nepali way of doing things and the spell will be cast!
