KATHMANDU HERE WE COME -- OUR NEPAL JOURNEY

We had been thinking of touring Nepal for a very long time, but it is said, "Man proposes and God disposes," so we couldn’t go to Nepal till miraculously and suddenly, our Muktinath tour materialised in April 2023.

We were told that a tour to Muktinath was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with its own elements of danger and uncertainty, and my usual practical and cautious heart responded quite erratically in response to the challenging gauntlets thrown at me. I agreed to the tour and booked our tickets through a travel agency.

Much to our chagrin, we came to realise during the course of our tour that the local travel agency in Nepal was more accustomed to organising huge Everest Base camps than sedate tours for travel-anxious but budget-conscious senior citizens like us. 

For me, Nepal personified the land of Gurkhas, Nepalis, the ever-smiling, gentle people who used to  work as sentries for our apartment buildings, and of course the beautiful Ms Manisha Koirala.

Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas and parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India in the south, east and west, separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor and from Bhutan by Sikkim.

Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains and subalpine forested hills; for many people, the main attraction of that country is its possession of eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth.

Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language. 

Kathmandu, the largest city, is the nation's capital, and Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal.

The Nepalese Armed Forces are the fifth largest in South Asia and are noted for their valiant Gurkha history, particularly during the world wars, when they remained undefeated by invaders.

We started for Kathmandu on 5th April, which was a Wednesday. Our Vistara flight to Delhi was at 7 am, so we had to start at home early .

We had to check in our luggage which would hopefully greet us at Kathmandu airport; its weight had significantly increased as we had packed woollens to withstand the cold weather in Jomsom in Nepal. It gave me sadistic pleasure and delicious anticipation to pack the woollens in the sweltering heat of Hyderabad, He! He!

Regarding currency, Nepal is one of the countries where our rupee has more value than theirs; our 100 rupees equals 160 Nepali rupees, and we found that our 200 rupees are accepted all over the country, so it is better we keep a lot of small change in the form of 50 Rs, 100, and 200 rupee notes.

It was the first time we were travelling by Vistara Airlines, which is a joint venture of Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA), and our experience was very good. Our seats had ample leg space, and a hot breakfast with tea and coffee was served. The crew was very caring. Within no time, we reached the Delhi airport 

In Delhi, we had a layover till 2 pm, but we still had to finish the process of immigration.

Only an Indian passport and voter ID are valid for Indian nationals travelling by air between India and Nepal, and other documents like Aadhaar, PAN card, and driving license are not accepted 

We approached the counter, where we were asked to produce our vaccination certificates and passports;  we proceeded for the security check and finally reached our gate after meandering through the brightly decked-up duty-free shops. I always wonder if a day would come when I would also nonchalantly shop for branded items and pay for them without any qualms, but alas, my middle-class cautious mentality would not permit it, I think!

Our Haldiram's snacks bought in Hyderabad served as an appetiser as we were getting lunch on the flight to Kathmandu. I also observe that during journeys, be it flights or trains, one tends to be hungrier and also use the washroom more than one normally does, maybe just in case!

Finally, we were called for boarding the flight to Kathmandu, and though the journey was only 1 hour 45 minutes, we were served a full meal course and drinks, and even alcohol was served, which is very unlikely these days for a short trip like ours. There was free wifi to watch movies and play games.

To get a view of the Himalayas, we have to book a window seat on the left side while going to Kathmandu and on the right side while returning to India.

As not all of us can be mountaineers, it is indeed awesome to watch from the aircraft the mighty mountains, some clothed in snow and some bare. Here and there we could see a few houses surrounded by small fields; I wondered as to how the inhabitants there managed any medical emergency.

Mount Everest, at 29,029 feet, is the tallest mountain in the world and is also known as Sagarmatha in Nepali and Chomo Lungma (Goddess Mother of the World) in Tibetan.

The fourth-highest mountain in the world at 27,940 feet, Lhotse is located on the border between Tibet and the Nepalese Khumbu. 

A part of the Everest massif, Nuptse stands at 25,791 feet and is located in the Khumbu region of Nepal.

Known for its distinctive shape, Ama Dablam is a mountain located in the eastern Himalayas in Nepal. It stands at 22,349 feet and is often referred to as the "Matterhorn of the Himalayas."

Located on the border between Tibet (China) and Nepal, Cho Oyu stands at 26,864 feet. It is the sixth-highest mountain in the world and is a popular peak for mountaineering expeditions 

At 27,838 feet, Makalu is the fifth-highest mountain in the world and is located on the border between Nepal and Tibet; it is known for its steep slopes and challenging climbing routes.

While we were busy admiring the Himalayan range, the harried air hostesses hardly had time to serve lunch to all and pack up before we reached the Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, where we set our watch for the local time 15 minutes ahead of Indian time

The airport was originally named Gauchaur Airport, after the area of Kathmandu where it was situated. In Nepali, "Gauchaur" refers to a place where cows graze.

Tribhuvan International Airport Kathmandu is located about 5 kilometres from the Kathmandu city center, and has one international terminal and a separate domestic terminal.

Within no time, our flight had reached the runway, and we got down. I searched for the hills and could only see the clouds decorating the blue skies; there was a Nepal Airlines shuttle bus waiting to take us to the arrival terminal.

As soon as we entered the lobby, we were greeted and welcomed to Nepal by a large statue of Buddha; we formed queues and got our vaccination certificates ready. 

We then went to the immigration checkpoint, where we had separate booths for Nepalis and tourists. We presented our passports and travel documents and were cleared quite smoothly and quickly, with our passports getting arrival stamping done.

We then went down an escalator to the TSA checkpoint to get our hand luggage screened. There was a lot of chaos there; finally, we gathered all our bags, and we waited for our checked-in luggage pieces, which luckily came quite fast.

For me, checking in my luggage in airports is quite a sentimental experience each time I travel, from the minute I get them weighed with bated breath to see if they are overweight and see them bidding a reluctant goodbye to me and forlornly ride along the luggage belt chute to join other bags, till I see them back at my destination on the conveyor belt with a welcoming sigh! 

We then went through the green channel and saw many money exchange counters, SIM card counters, and liquor shops; we found the airport modern and maintained spick and span.

The ground floor, where the exit was, could be accessed by lifts or an inclined escalator, which was causing quite a lot of problems for some people due to the trolleys refusing to stop and their owners having to precipitously rush down the escalator behind them.

We came out of the airport and phoned our tour contact person, who came to receive and guided us to our car. We had to request the driver to put on the AC, as it was very hot and dusty.

The Kathmandu city roads were quite busy, and on our way, about 1 kilometre from the airport, we passed the Pashupatinath Temple. I asked our local operator, who was speaking quite good Hindi if he would be showing us that temple in the evening after we checked into the hotel as per our itinerary; the only answer I got was "Aap Chinta mat karo," meaning "you don’t worry," which indeed sent me into a panic because till then our trip was going on smoothly, alas! Little did I know what was in store for us in the next days.