WEATHER: A beautiful 28C
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: The stunning view of the Himalaya’s
from the air
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Can’t think of a single thing
WORD OF THE DAY: Reunion
We were off to do our scenic flight this morning of the
Himalaya’s. This was the closest I was
going to get to Mt Everest, so I was pretty excited about this morning’s
adventure. I didn’t even care that I had
to be up at 5am for a 5.30am departure.
Jess woke up with the alarm at 5am and was going to get up to say
goodbye when I left, as she would be gone by the time we got back from our
flight, but I am terrible at goodbyes, so I left a note for her and quietly left
the room without waking her.
There wasn’t much traffic on the roads at 5.30am and
after a 20 minute drive we made it to the airport. Nepal’s only international airport also has a
domestic terminal located next door. The airport began as Gauchar
Airport, named after the area of Kathmandu where it was situated. The formal
beginning of aviation in Nepal occurred in 1949 with the landing of a lone,
four-seater, Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft,
carrying the Indian ambassador. The first charter flight took place between
Gaucher and Calcutta, in a Himalayan Aviation Dakota on 20 February 1950 and
it looks like the airport hasn’t been touched since. We pulled into a car park, and Padma who was
with us, walked us as far as he was allowed to go to the terminal
entrance. There was an exodus of
tourists all coming for the scenic flight, no kidding there must have been 300
of us. Padma wasn’t allowed into the
terminal, so he waved us goodbye and he would be waiting for us when we got
back and we showed our passports and tickets, went through a security screening
and then we were at the check-in counters. We were flying Buddha Airlines, located the
check-in counter and made our way there.
We had only waited not even a minute and a staff member asked if we had
paid the departure tax-which we hadn’t-so we went to another counter not far
from check-in and we paid the 200 rupees (2.50AUD), headed back to the Buddha
Air counter and continued to check-in.
We showed our passports and tickets again (the travel agent in me kicked
in) and even though it looked like an organized chaos behind the counter, they
all seemed to have a job to do and after 10 minutes we had our boarding passes. I did the only fare thing and turned all the
boarding passes face down and got everyone to select one for their seat. Apparently the right side of the plane (the
opposite side to the captain) gets a better view on the return leg.
So with
our seats organized, we passed through one last security screen and were now in
the departure lounge. There were 4 other
airlines also operating the Everest Scenic flights, so we found what gate that
Buddha Air left from, found some seats and waited for our call. The departure boards were displaying all the
flights for the day, so every 10 minutes we could see our flight number come up
on the screen which was 100. The roll
out call then started for the flights at 6.45am and they were calling 102, 103,
300 and we were starting to get antsy that we had missed our call. We checked twice and got the hand up and a
wait, its coming comment. Well we hadn’t
missed the flight and another 10 minutes later and our flight was finally
called-no PA announcement, they were just shouting out the flight numbers as
people all milled around the gate wondering what was happening. I used my flying experience, and was walking
around the crowd looking at all their boarding passes to see if there were
other 100 flight number people and there were, so we just had to be patient and
we took seats and waited.
While we were sitting there, on the back of our boarding
pass was all the airports in Nepal and their 3 letter codes. That posed the question on how many airports
are there in the world? Being in the
travel industry, every airport in the world that operates a controlled/managed/reported
airstrip has a 3 letter code. John and I
were trying to work it out (at 6.30am) and multiplying the numbers to get all
the possible combinations of the codes it came to 119,000-so it had to be less
than that, but we both thought it would be close. What happens when all the 3 letter codes are
used up? Well I Google’d it and there is no single authority that maintains records or certifies the existence of
airfields or airports in the
world but the total number of airports in
the world is
estimated to be over 50,000 including 14,858 in the United States
alone. We were both not even
close!!! That was out interesting stat
for the day.
I was little edgy with the flight. Only 4 weeks prior, 27th September,
a plane heading for the Everest region crashed on the outskirts of Nepal's
capital, killing all 19 people on board including seven British tourists. Sixteen passengers and three crew were on
board the twin-propeller Dornier. In
May, 15 people were killed when a plane crashed trying to land at an airport in
the north of the country. In September 2011, 19 people were killed when a
Buddha Air plane crashed during a flight to view Mount Everest. Well we were flying Buddha Air, but like the
roads in Nepal, when your time is up it is up and there is no use worrying
about the things that you can’t change, live life-so I banished that thought as
finally our flight was called and we boarded the busses that were to drive us
to the plane. Buddha Air started
operations in October 1997 with a brand new Beech 1900D. The name of the airline
is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Buddha' meaning enlightened preferably a
title used for the much revered Siddharta
Gautama. Buddha Air is unique in flying only new aircraft that are
delivered from the factory. The average age of the aircraft are 4 years.
Flights operate every day throughout the year, although
the best viewing season is from September through May. We were in the right season. It was foggy this morning and I hoped that
this wouldn’t affect the view, which I know once you rise above the clouds that
it is a whole different world up there.
The seat that I was left with after the draw was on the left of the
plane (apparently the wrong side) but it was all done fair and square and by
the end of the flight I actually didn’t mind that side which I will go into
later. There was a line of planes and
busses dropping people off, it really was a mass production and that was just
the Buddha Air planes, there were also 3 other companies that were also loading
passengers. We boarded the plane and it didn’t
look anything like I thought it would and I mean it was nicer than what I expected. Individual window seats are
guaranteed to everyone. I was seated just behind the back of the wing. The plane's wings were above the
windows, so they don't block the view of the mountains as such but they’re
still part of your view. So I would call that an obstructed view, but I was lucky that I
had two windows in my row, so I was able to look backwards out of the 2nd
window to take non-obstructed view photos.
Every second row had the 2 window configuration so I was happy with the
seat. I think the 4 rows in front would
have not have been so lucky and then once over the wing great viewing seats
again. So once we all got seated, we were
offered a mint and waited for around 15 minutes for permission to take off and
then we soared into the sky for our scenic flight.
Travel to the top of the world's largest mountain range was
exciting and as we cleared the fog and what seemed a little smog the weather
cleared a little but seemed a little hazy.
As we leveled out at 21,000ft the air Hostees came down the aisle and
handed out little maps of the Himalayan Mountain Range and the contours of the
mountains and their names. They actually
slipped the maps under the clip that hold the food tray so that you could keep
your hands free and easily look at the map for reference. So with me sitting on the left we go the
views for the first 30 minutes of the flight.
I felt a little bad for the others in the on the right side of the plane
but then I knew their time would come and I made the most of my view. I was snapping like crazy and I am so glad
that I had a great zoom on my camera.
There were some people with the small 3 optical zoom cameras and really
wonder what type of photos they were going to get with them. One of my best buys of my whole trip was my
camera. It is the largest camera I have
had and it isn’t as fancy as having changeable lenses or anything but it has a
24 optical zoom and it takes magic photos all for the low cost of 360AUD. Best purchase ever and combined with my ‘drinking’
camera-aka small 8 optical camera they have done me proud over the last 20
months.
As we got the first view, the people sitting on the other
side we taken up 2 at a time to the cockpit and given a bird’s eye view from
the front. The Hostees were very helpful
in pointing out what we were seeing and organizing the cockpit visits, to make
sure everyone got an equal look as we got views over Mount Everest, Lhotse, and
Makalu, Kanchenjunga and the Tibetan plateau.
We also got great views of the natural serenity, beautiful mountain
valleys, large open clear skies, and lush flora and fauna of the valley and of
course mountains poking out of the clouds covered in snow of all levels. I just couldn’t stop taking photos. It was breathtaking and to think that people
climb these suckers is awe inspiring and I know that I will never do that ever
in my life as I am not that kind of person, but people go through a lot to
scale these ranges and it is actually hard to believe to a non-trekker. To set the record straight you don’t go
"over" Mt. Everest and you don't go "around" Mt. Everest.
You fly along the range of the Himalayas that includes Mt. Everest and Everest
was the turning point of the flight and then our side said goodbye and the
right side picked up the view. We were a
lot closer once we had turned around and I was very lucky as the lady in the
row across from me also had the 2 window configuration, so while she used one
window I was able to get some better photos on our way back to Kathmandu. So even though our view wasn’t so great on
the way out, I did get the best of both worlds and consider myself lucky. So to clear it all up the mountains are in
the distance and you really are not near them, but if you have a decent camera
you can get some great photos. The highlight
for me was the visit to the cockpit. I
think I have travelled on so many planes and so used to seeing just a 90 degree
view, so to enter the cockpit and see what a 180 degree view looks like was
AMAZING. It was like a different world
up there. We got about a minute in there-if
that-looking over the shoulders of the 2 pilots and I had to tell them that
they had one of the best jobs in the world seeing a view like that every day!!!!
Once we had all had a turn we were able
to go in for a second visit if we wanted.
It was well policed by the Hostees which was good and everyone was happy
camper-situations like that can get out of control and I guess they know that. You
don’t want to have a barney/fight at 21,000ft in the air.
We arrived back to the domestic airport at 8.30am and we
were all pretty happy with our experience.
As we de-planed we were all given a certificate that said ‘I did not
climb Mt Everest but I touched it with my heart’. Yes that will do and the closest I will
get. There was a bus waiting for us when
we arrived and we were transferred back to the terminal. The great thing was we didn’t have to go back
through the terminal we were driven down the side of the building and just
exited through a secure gate/fence where Padma was waiting for us with his
infectious smile. It was only 8.45am and
we had been up for nearly 4 hours already!
The traffic wasn’t too bad heading back to Thamel and we were dropped at
the Kathmandu Guest House where Intrepid have an office and we were able to pay
for the flight using our credit cards with a 4% surcharge. When we got to the office, the accountant
person wasn’t there, and we were starving, so we told them that we would be
back and went and got some breakfast at a hotel across from where we were
staying. The girls had eaten there a few
weeks ago and said they had the best banana pancakes and that sounded great to
the 6 of us who were famished.
After breakfast we headed back to the Intrepid office,
paid the 185USD for the flight and then we had free time. The tour was officially over. I said goodbye to Ruby, Aaron, Leena and
Sam. John and I arranged to meet for
dinner at 7pm that night and I was to make contact with Kate to see if she was
available for dinner. Kate and I had
touched base a few weeks ago once we found out that we were going to be in
Nepal at the same time. She was climbing
Everest Base Camp with her dad raising money and awareness for breast cancer which
took her mum a few years ago. We didn’t think
that we would get a chance to see each other but I randomly messaged her
yesterday and she was in Kathmandu!!! It
would be great to see her.
So after my goodbyes I went to an awesome book shop
called Pilgrims. This place is amazing
and you could spend hours in there. They
have thousands of books of all categories.
So I had a look in there as I was interested in finding some books on
Buddhism to bring home with me. The
section was massive, so I decided to leave it for another day during the week
when I wasn’t so tired and after checking out a few more shops I made my way
back to the hotel at 12.30pm. The power
was off – surprise, surprise-NOT and there was a note left from Jess and now I
had a room to myself for the next 4 nights and it was a great feeling. I blogged till my computer went flat and then
the power came back on and I was able to upload a post and start to load
photos. I heard back from Kate and we
arranged to meet at the Kathmandu Guest House as a point of reference and then
find somewhere to eat from there at 7.10pm after I had met John downstairs at
7pm. Awesome and I love it when a plan
comes together.
It was nice to have a shower, don a skirt and head out
for a nice dinner with friends. It was great
to see Kate again and John took us to a Mexican place where the guys went last
night for a few drinks after dinner. You
get a free cocktail when you ordered a main meal-how could you go wrong with
that and we sat there and chatted for a few hours, another 2 rounds of drinks
and then headed home. Kate was there for
another week, so with a hug and a thanks, we arranged to meet up again for
dinner before I left on Thursday.
John still had another full day tomorrow before his
flight left tomorrow night, so we decided to head out to Patan, as we heard
that was worth a visit and arranged to meet for breakfast at 9am and then go
from there. I had a great day and thanks
again to everyone on my trip for making my last tour a good one.
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