Killing the day in Kathmandu
Without an alarm, we woke after 0700 but slowly readied ourselves for breakfast at 0845 at a nearby café.
Straight after breakfast, the shops were open for us to get our last-minute shopping items. We both managed to find everything that we wanted at satisfactory prices.
Santosh, the manager of the hiking outfit we used, wanted to take us out for lunch. We ended up at the very nice café next door that I had never noticed and had a burger while we chatted. He wanted to know how everything had gone and feedback on the itinerary, guide, accommodation etc.
I learnt that a helicopter evacuation if things had gone wrong would have cost about USD1500.
We had considered taking a taxi to Bodhnath where we could sit on a rooftop café to watch the world go by, so that we could kill some time before our midnight flight. Time seemed to be passing quicky and when we realised that there was an entry fee into Bodhnath (and coupled with the taxi fares), we gave up on the idea.
We had an easy afternoon in bed until readying ourselves around 1700 for a pick-up by Boo’s supplier (of workers), Mr Shalik. He had given us a pick-up time but “pre-poned” it to 1800 before arriving at 1845 due to rush-hour traffic.
Mr Shalik took us in his tiny car (wife crashed the big car) to a lovely Korean restaurant and we had a glimpse of life outside Thamel in the evening. The meals were delicious but I was wary of getting smelly from the Korean BBQ before a midnight flight. His lovely dentist wife and nephew joined us before we left for the airport at 2100.
Departing Kathmandu
Entering the airport around 2120, we were screened and patted down. The queue at check-in for the 0010 flight was already long and took about 55 mins. Document checks for Nepalis and there were lots of large suitcases.
Immigration was swift and just after that point I was intercepted by a lounge assistant offering me Priority Pass access to her lounge. I think there are two lounges here and they’re competing for business.