After a 4:45 a.m. iPhone alarm wake-up, we were delivered to the Delhi airport three hours early for our flight to Nepal. Early? No, we needed nearly the full three hours to go through checks, scans, pat downs and other inspections. We must have shown our passports eight times. But once on the airplane we had a smooth flight out of the smog and haze of Delhi—into the smog and haze of Kathmandu. We did get our first glimpses of the Himalayas (above the haze) in route.
Our lodging in Kathmandu, The Dwarika’s Hotel, is quite special, carefully built and expanded over the last several decades to use centuries old wood (carved and uncarved) that otherwise would have been used as firewood. The founder of the hotel, Dwarika Das Shrestha, believed that Nepal must preserve its heritage and its culture and chose to start with its physical heritage. Our fifth (top) floor room is quite nice, other than the shower, which is weak and erratic in its flow.
Once settled in, we were taken to observe funeral pyres along Kathmandu’s Bagmati River. Hindus bring their deceased family members for cremation at the point on the banks of the river near the Hindu Shrine at Pashupatinath Temple. There were close to a dozen bodies being prepared for or in the process of being cremated while we were there. Friends and family members were on one side of the river and tourists like ourselves on the other.
Dinner that first night was on our own. As a change of pace Frances and I opted to patronize the hotel’s Japanese restaurant. For simplicity we ordered a prix fixe meal. Apparently it’s not just American restaurants that serve more than one can consume.
Once again, we had an early morning wake-up, with a first breakfast at 6:00. It was off to the airport for our trip to view the Himalayas, on Buddha Air. (Hima - Snow, Aliya - House (of) for the curious)
Only our tour group was on the chartered airplane, so after take-off the 18 of us could move to any of the 72 or so seats. I had trouble keeping my iPhone from focusing on the window glass, but I got great views and a good picture or two.