All flights are delay due Lukla weather. Not only is this a grammatical nightmare, it’s a traveler’s nightmare. The STOL runway at the Tenzing-Hillary Airport is notoriously dangerous. Any issue with wind, fog or rain and traveling to or from this airport becomes impossible. Visibility is very important when landing on the side of a mountain above 9,000 feet.
So my Himalayan life will be put on hold for a few days until the weather improves. The Kathmandu Airport is an insane place. A little time to explore the city is okay with me. Visiting places like Swayambhunath, Bouddhanath, and Pashupatinath reveal the beauty and cultural history or Nepal. But places of great beauty are surrounded by places of great poverty and garbage.
The streets are crowded and dirty. The dust and smog are overwhelming, and day and night the smell of burning trash fills the air. Kathmandu is not perfect, but I love this city. Despite these issues the people I’ve met are hard-working and wear smiles on their faces. When you step outside of the tourist and religious areas you soon find the real beauty of the city.
Simply watching the traffic go by is quality entertainment. There are always a variety of vehicles and machines going by. The blasting horns and the boys hanging out of local buses shouting out destinations blend into a cacophonous mix which plays throughout the day. Early morning and evening the best place to be is on a rooftop. Pollution and smog make it difficult to breathe, but sure makes for a pretty sunrise.
The city life is not for me. It’s been fun visiting and seeing the trash and filthy streets of Kathmandu, but the sky is clear and I’m ready to move to the mountains and my new home. For the next two months I will be living out a fantasy. Welcome to the Himalaya.
climb with crowley 