The chauffeur limo arrived right on time and by 1545 both
Sean and I were through security and into the lounge at the South
Terminal. Arriving at the business class
lounge we sampled some Washington red wines before boarding the Emirates
Airlines flight to Dubai, Delhi and then onwards to Kathmandu. The flight departed right on time at 1730. The
service is great and Sean and I enjoy fine wines, spirits and food as we head
on a polar route north and then south to Dubai, nearly halfway around the
world. As we head North, Sean can see
the Aurora Borealis from his window seat.
Emirates business class has nearly lay flat seats with
optional mattress pads. Each passenger
has their own 17 inch LCD TV, reading lights and noise cancelling
headphones) After a delicious dinner (I
had a seared tuna appetizer and a beef filet followed by a generous cheese
platter while Sean had a Mediterranean Meze appetizer and a chicken curry
followed by a chocolate dessert) we watched a movie (I fell asleep very quickly
and don’t even remember what I was watching) and then slept for a few hours
prior to the landing in Dubai.
Update, it is 3 am Seattle time and most people are still asleep. The cabin is darkened under a starry sky (in
the overhead panels). After a few hours
of sleep I woke up and had a snack and coffee, along with a Hershey’s special
dark chocolate bar. The lie flat beds
are long, but not really flat, still at a small incline. The crew puts mattress pads down under you,
and one is quite comfortable.
Update, breakfast was served about 1 ½ hours before landing
in Dubai. Both Sean and I had the full
English breakfast which included scrambled eggs, broiled Portobello mushrooms
and veal sausage, along with a fruit plate, Greek yogurt and assorted breads.
We landed on schedule at 7:00PM local time and after
clearing security headed to the business class lounge to wait for about two
hours before boarding the flight to Delhi.
Update; after a pleasant wait in the lounge, with some
samples of Halal food, we boarded the Emirates flight to Delhi. We definitely dropped down a notch in service
and aircraft quality, but the flight was only about three hours in length and
we landed without incident in Delhi.
Arriving at the international transfers desk at 3 AM local time we were
greeted by an employee with our names and baggage claim numbers, ensuring the
bags make the transfer. After clearing
security once again we headed for the Jet Airways shared lounge to spend 2 plus
hours waiting for the last flight into Kathmandu. It has now been 25 hours since the chauffeur
car arrived at the house to begin the trip.
While in the lounge Sean checked for his visa photos and
could not find them. We were already headed
to the gate for boarding and a check of the shops in the airport did not turn
up any visa photo places. Sean was
walking by an open door and saw a fellow using a computer printer and we talked
him into helping us. Patrick took a
picture of Sean with his iphone and mailed the photo to the fellow using the
printer who then printed out several various sized black and white photos on
plain paper. After a mad dash to the
airport gate we boarded buses which took us to the plane for the short flight
to Kathmandu. Breakfast on the plane was
forgettable. Landing in Kathmandu we
filled out the visa forms and when Sean presented the large black & white
photo and explained the situation, the officer just laughed and accepted the
piece of paper.
Our bags arrived intact and after Customs we exited the
airport, but no one from the company was around. A few phone calls later we found that traffic
had been heavy and he was still on his way.
After just a few minutes we were in the car and headed in heavy traffic
to the Hotel Shanker.
Our first impressions of Kathmandu were of a dusty, smoggy,
crowded and dirty city. Narrow streets,
often only partially paved, contained an incredible mix of dogs, the occasional
cow, bicycle rickshaws, motorcycles and taxis all competing for the same
stretch of road, with the pedestrians dodging everything and overlaid with a
cacophony of horns.
By 0915 local time we had turned into what looked like an
alley, but there instead was the Hotel Shanker, with landscaped front grounds,
a pool and an impressive entrance portico.
The room was clean, with twin beds and we had just time to get a quick
shower before we headed out on foot the few blocks to the Himalayan Glacier
Trekking office in the Thamel District. We were joined by Eduardo from Brazil
who had arrived a day earlier and led by one of the HGT guides. The narrow streets were crowded with shops
selling all kinds of trekking gear, food and souvenirs.
 |
| Sean at Hotel Shanker |
 |
| Typical street in Thamel District |
After a short meeting with Narayan Regmi, the managing
director for HGT, we were issued our trekking duffel bags and a nice synthetic
T-Shirt, given some packing tips and went over the schedule for the next
several days. Since the banks are closed
on Saturday we also exchanged some money to have local currency. We will be joined by two people from Canada
who arrive later tonight, so will have a group of five trekkers.
With the meeting completed, our guide for the morning showed
us where to get replacement visa photos, SIM cards and inexpensive cell phones
for use in Nepal. These phones only cost
about 5 rupees per minute (about 6
cents) rather than AT&T’s $1.99 per minute.
Sean and I headed back to the hotel for a much needed 2 hour
nap and a trial packing of the duffels.
We will be leaving more than we expected here in storage to meet the
total weight limits in the duffel of 15 kgs.
About 1630 we headed back on foot to the Thamel district to
buy bottled water for the next few days and Sean also purchased a Nokia cell
phone, which operates great. By 1800 it
was already mostly dark and we headed back to the hotel where we met up with
Eduardo for dinner in the hotel restaurant.
By 2030 both Sean and I hit the “wall” from jet lag and headed back to
the room for much needed sleep.
