Lal and I
had been booked on the 6.30 am Buddha Air flight for a view of the Himalayas
from the air. Baiju had done the flying round the last time he had been to
Kathmandu, and hence, ducked it this time. Knowing the congested route to the
airport via Koteswar we decided to leave the flat by 5 am, and we did. The
check in and security were informal events and we were through it soon. There
were not many at the airport for the early flights operated by three airlines,
Buddha, Yeti and Simvrit. Boarding would begin at 6.15 am, I was told at the
check in counter for flight 102. While waiting for the flight to be announced
flight 101 lit up on the board for 6.30 am. I went to the counter to check if
there had been a change. One of the airline personnel took our tickets and gave
me two others for flight 100, saying that it was a bigger aircraft. I reasoned
that as long as it was at 6.30 am it would not hurt. In a few minutes flight
101 started boarding and flight 100 was announced for 7.30 am. I lost my shirt
and created a fuss at the boarding point. Fortunately, a lady, who seemed like
the supervisor, arrived and asked the airline official who had exchanged my
tickets to eturn them to me. She said that the confusion was caused due to poor
patronage on one of their flights leading to clubbing of passengers for two
smaller aircrafts into a bigger one. I explained how we had scheduled many
activities based on the 6.30 am departure. She profusely apologized for what
had happened. Interestingly, after I had done my song and dance many other
passengers realised they had been ‘tricked’ on to a later flight and demanded
their original tickets back.
Finally the
flight took off after 30 minutes delay, which was attributed to the wait for
weather report from flight 101. Most of the 16 passengers who boarded the
flight expressed astonishment at the size of the aircraft. The plane has two
window seats and a narrow aisle. We were strapped in while instructions for the
flight were given. Candies were distributed and I helped myself to a few. The
take off afforded good views of the city. The airhostess and the co-pilot kept
explaining the peaks as we flew past them, first on the left and then on the
right. The Shisha Pangma at 8013 m, Gauri Shankar at 7134 m and Melungste at
7181 m were the earlier ones to be sighted. The views, I must admit, were not
as spectacular as I expected because the peaks were not clear of clouds and the
sky was not blue enough; talk about being demanding of Mother Nature! Then came
what we were all waiting for – Mt. Everest. She formed a cluster with Nuptse at
7855 m, Lhotse at 8516 m, Ama-Dablam at 6812 m and she herself towering at 8848
m. it was easy for the ao-pilot to point out Everest. It was as if she had worn
her crown for us – a silver cloud framed her peak. The 1 hour flight landed
back after 8 am after numerous opportunities to visit the cockpit and take
loads of pictures. Lal shot the entire experience on GoPro camera. While
deplaning the airhostess gave us each a certificate that said: I did not climb
Mount Everest…but touched it with my heart. I got the certificate filled in and
signed by the pilot.
I bought
eggs and bun from the provision store at the entrance to the flat. The attempt
to hard boil the eggs was not fully successful. However, it was a more
successful attempt than what my father had a few decades ago. I cannot
recollect a day when he stepped into the kitchen. That was my mother’s citadel
and he had no business in it. Once my mother had to leave for Kanjirapally in a
hurry as my grandfather had taken ill suddenly. While she had arranged with the
family next door for lunch and dinner, my father expressed confidence in
handling breakfast. My mother rang up the next day morning to find out how her
hubby had managed breakfast. What he told her was fodder for wisecracks for
many years; it still rings in my ears and that’s why it is being narrated now.
He discovered he had no idea of how to light up the gas burner; he abandoned
attempts to boil water after the whole house smelt of cooking gas. Not to be
outsmarted by a gas stove he did what only he could have done. He decided to
boil eggs in hot water collected from the water heater in his bathroom. The
eggs were left in the hot water long enough, he thought, for it to be hard
boiled. After about 20 minutes he shelled the eggs only to find them still raw.
He could not fathom where his recipe had faltered!
After
breakfast we decided to go to GoFord once again, for the yellow lamp lit up yet
again suggesting some malfunction. This time around they suggested it could be
because of fuel octane difference. When we drove out an hour later the problem
was solved, or so we were told. Anyway, we were assured that it is nothing
major warranting a full scale berthing of the car. I hope it stays that way
till we complete the journey, for the toughest leg starts tomorrow – 4 weeks
through Tibet/China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia.
The next
destination was the Pashupatinath temple, located on the banks of the Bagmati
River and steeped in legend. It is one of the most important Shiva temples in
the world and is a must visit pilgrim centre for Hindus. It is the place where
the ‘pasu’ (human condition) gets sublimated to ‘pati’ (divine condition). Till
recently non-Hindus could only observe the temple from the other bank of the
river. Today the temples are closed to them but they are welcome on the
premises. The premises hold a Sankaracharya temple; it is understood that the
Travancore kings played some role in the installation of priests here. Adi
Sankaracharya held aloft the belief that priests from various parts of India
would help unify the country through such cultural exchanges. The ‘Bhatts’,
temple priests, are all powerful, being accountable only to the King of Nepal!
I got a call
from Ram of Nepal Tours that the Chinese visa had been received. That was music
to our ears. We made haste to Thamel where the agency had its office. When I
saw the Group Visa I was overjoyed. The rest of the permissions, I was assured,
would be carried by the guide to the border where she would facilitate our
smooth entry into Tibet/China. A Group Visa is not stamped in the passport. It
is a separate document in duplicate; one has to be given to immigration
officials at the post of entry and the other at the post of departure. The
strict condition is that the members mentioned in the Group Visa have to enter
and depart the country together, except under exceptional medical conditions.
Thus, the final visa was done – now we have documents to cover us for the 25
countries left over in the journey.
I have heard
that extreme pain can cause hunger; we experienced something different after we
obtained the Chinese visa. The joy of holding the document in our hands made us
ravenously hungry. Moreover, it was close to 3 pm. Ram suggested the Cha Cha
Café. I trusted his selection for it was he who had suggested the Chikusa Café
a few days earlier. The added attraction was the free WiFi. We feasted on rice,
chicken and a plate of spaghetti with bacon. The coffee was marvelous. Mohan had
arranged and re-arranged meetings with the Indian Ambassador to Nepal; the
changes were brought about by changes in our schedule. This morning I had
requested Balbir Saini to reschedule the meeting for this evening due to the
departure from Nepal tomorrow. While at lunch Saini confirmed a 15 minute
meeting at 4.15 pm. He suggested that we be in time for the Ambassador had
other engagements after 4.30 pm. I did not want to be a minute late. Hence, I
hired a taxi to guide us from Thamel to the Embassy. Fortunately, it was not
very far from where we were in Thamel. We reached ahead of the appointed time;
information had been passed on to the gate whereby we gained access to the
Embassy premises. The car did attract a lot of attention at the gate.
We met Saini
who introduced us to Abhay Kumar, who is in charge of the Press, Information
and Cultural affairs. The ebullient poet-diplomat accompanied us to meet the
Ambassador, Ranjith Rae, who warmly welcomed us all. Over a cup of tea he
patiently enquired the details of the journey and suggested that we visit the
Buddhist caves en route to Kashgar. He also explained how Buddhism had
travelled to China via Pakistan and Afghanistan as also the route taken by Huen
Tsang. I suggested an annual friendship drive from Kanyakumari to Kathmandu,
which the Ambassador found interesting. We presented the Ambassador with a
commemorative coffee mug. After the meeting Abhay affixed green stickers on the
car to signify that we had completed another leg of the journey, Nepal. We spent
a lot of time with Abhay, who was shepherding the development of an anthem for
the planet. We have promised to pitch in too with visuals and ideas. He told us
that UNICEF will shortly run a competition to develop the Anthem. The one he
has done called the Earth Anthem has been translated into 8 languages and has
been rendered by a Nepalese artist. He presented us with an autographed CD and
a collection of his poems. He also promised to get us in touch with Embassies
of the countries we are going through.
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