Wednesday, October 27th …..

We arrived in Singapore last night at about 11.35, half an hour early. By midnight, we were booking into the Transit Hotel, ready for a good night’s sleep. It’s now 6.15am and we’re feeling refreshed and ready for the next leg of our journey, to Kathmandu.

Session 2 - Well, the shower, shave and shampoo are out of the way, breakfast is completed and we are now on Silkair Flight MI 412 to Kathmandu. The last ninety minutes might have been the longest part of our holiday. The security check took forever, then we had to fill out a form for entry to Nepal, then line up to board. Everything seemed to take an age. It’s a full plane and everybody has taken the carry-on option. My backpack is under the seat in front but, luckily, we have a spare seat in our row.

Unfortunately, we are on the left side of the plane (or port, if you’re a purist) so we won’t have the possibility of seeing Everest as we cross into Nepal in about four hours time. One of the other members of our party is going to have an extra camera to deal with if the weather is clear. I’ve already taken a couple of pictures off the port side as we left Singapore but the cloud cover is pretty thick and there’s not much to see. The flight path is up the east coast of Malaysia but the weather is expected to be pretty cloudy most of the way. Forecast for Kathmandu is warm and sunny. Beaut!

We’ve now met up with the group leaders, Ann and Steve from Perth, as well as Sue and Martin from Canberra, Trish from Wollongong (would you believe), Beth from Queensland and Dianne and Rhonda. The last two are from Canberra as well but are traveling via Thailand and will meet up with us in Kathmandu.

Everything seems to be on track and anticipation is growing.

Session 3 - We’ve been flying about three hours now and seem to be crossing over Myanmar. There’s evidence of pretty serious flooding and I’ve tried to get a photograph or two. I noticed in today’s Straits Times that Singapore has offered $25000 to help neighbouring countries deal with the effects of the rains which were brought by recent typhoons. It doesn’t seem like a lot when you see the magnitude of the disaster. These countries are struggling to get their economies together and the regular natural calamities certainly don’t help.

Since we were served lunch, there’s been a constant stream of people waiting to use one of the two toilets. Clearly many of them haven’t flown before because they forget (or don’t know how) to lock the door and then can’t work out how to get out again. I waited for a lull but, when I saw some people coming for their second visit, I thought I had better take my place.

The stream of people back and forth gives you a chance to check them out. There’s the usual mix you see on Asian planes but this time also there are two Buddhist nuns riding down the back – red/orange clothing and closely cropped hair seems to be a giveaway.
Marilyn has just pointed out a fellow whose T-shirt says: ‘Eat Well, Get Fit, Die Anyway!’ Not a bad philosophy.

We’re only an hour away from our ETA and the cloud has cleared quite a lot. With a bit of luck, we’ll see the spectacular Himalayas.

The pilot has just announced that we’re just passing over Bangladesh and will be starting our descent to Kathmandu. Looking down, I’m surprised at the neat and orderly arrangement of fields. We get the impression from media reports that Bagladersh lives in perpetual crisis but the rural areas look pretty good. The snow caps of the Himalayas are starting to appear and Marilyn has given our camera to Martin who is sitting on the right side of the plane and a few rows in front of us. Unfortunately, he is sitting over the wing so any shots will be obscured. Still, Photoshop will help to remedy any problems.

Session 4 – The views of the mountains were spectacular as expected but the approach to Kathmandu was even more fantastic. I wish I had my camera when we came in low over rice fields with the Himalayas on our left. I’m hoping to get some shots when we fly out on November 10th and I won’t give my camera to anyone.

Tonight, we’re having dinner at a rooftop restaurant which are very common in Kathmandu. The weather is mild and the atmosphere is great, marred only by the persistent honking car and motorbike horns. It’s encouraged here. I even saw one truck with a sign on the back: ‘Please honk’.

Can’t wait until tomorrow.