It is another beautiful morning
and I enjoy my breakfast in the garden of the Nirvana Garden hotel. Now I have
to pack my things and head for the airport. I have plenty of time as my flight
to Mumbai (via Calcutta) is scheduled for 4.05pm this afternoon. This morning –
as so often – we don’t have electricity, but this power cut is the longest so
far – over 4 hours! Around 1pm I hire a cab and we drive towards the airport.
The streets are even more crowed as usual and there is a huge traffic jam – no
wonder, as the Prime Minister travels from the airport to the city with his
staff and as all major roads are closed just for them! Finally we find our way
through the chaos and it’s also interesting to spot out and experience
Kathmandu’s side streets. There is for instance a group celebrating their guru
in one street (Bhaghwan was not the only one) and a bit later we pass an area
with Hindu temples at the banks of Kathmandu’s dirty Bagmati river where
people that passed away are just cremated as we drive by.
Typical side street traffic chaos in Kathmandu:
'Holy cow' in street of Kathmandu:
The atmosphere at the airport is quite hectic and chaotic. Somehow I find my way through the pretty useless security checks and baggage inspections. All departure gates are completely overcrowded and people sit on the floors everywhere. After some time I notice that the climate has changed: It started to rain and now we are hit by a huge thunderstorm. This storm delays all flights – and at the end our flight to Calcutta is cancelled! So back to the departure gate again, collecting our luggage and entering a bus that drives us to the Everest Hotel. The hotel isn’t too bad and in an upscale district close to the airport, but the policy of Air India that “double occupancy” only is allowed and that I should share a room with a complete stranger makes me angry. Together with a lady from Spain and two travelers form India and Switzerland we insist that we get single rooms. After long discussions we finally receive our keys for a single room each. It’s now dark outside and I decide to go up to the bar to benefit from the free WiFi there and to inform my family, the hotel in Mumbai and my SAP / PYXERA colleagues about the flight cancellation. Around 8pm we receive dinner and for the first time in Nepal I am disappointed – the food is less than mediocre and way below Thamel House or the usually great food that was offered to us in the Himalayan lodges. It’s somehow funny – at the best hotel in Nepal I get the most disappointing food …
Chaos at Kathmandu airport: Typical side street traffic chaos in Kathmandu:
'Holy cow' in street of Kathmandu:
The atmosphere at the airport is quite hectic and chaotic. Somehow I find my way through the pretty useless security checks and baggage inspections. All departure gates are completely overcrowded and people sit on the floors everywhere. After some time I notice that the climate has changed: It started to rain and now we are hit by a huge thunderstorm. This storm delays all flights – and at the end our flight to Calcutta is cancelled! So back to the departure gate again, collecting our luggage and entering a bus that drives us to the Everest Hotel. The hotel isn’t too bad and in an upscale district close to the airport, but the policy of Air India that “double occupancy” only is allowed and that I should share a room with a complete stranger makes me angry. Together with a lady from Spain and two travelers form India and Switzerland we insist that we get single rooms. After long discussions we finally receive our keys for a single room each. It’s now dark outside and I decide to go up to the bar to benefit from the free WiFi there and to inform my family, the hotel in Mumbai and my SAP / PYXERA colleagues about the flight cancellation. Around 8pm we receive dinner and for the first time in Nepal I am disappointed – the food is less than mediocre and way below Thamel House or the usually great food that was offered to us in the Himalayan lodges. It’s somehow funny – at the best hotel in Nepal I get the most disappointing food …
Later and back in my room I
force me to regard this ‘lost day’ from a positive angle: I still can’t get the
Germanwings airplane disaster out of my head. And the latest news is even more
shocking: Looks as if the co-pilot of the aircraft wanted to destroy the plane;
killing all 150 people on board. I can’t believe what I am reading. Ok – my
flight was cancelled and I am now still in Kathmandu and not in Mumbai. But I
am safe and the hotel is quite convenient. It’s probably better than taking any
risk. Now let’s simply hope that I will fly uneventfully to Mumbai
tomorrow.
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