"oh my GOD, Al..." exclaimed Lise as the plane banked south east and we got our first unambiguous view of the gargantuan wall of snow-capped mountains on the horizon to the north of Kathmandu, "I thought they were SKY!"
I am aware, of course, that as insights go, "gosh, those Himalayas - they're quite big, aren't they?" lacks a certain something, but as the unmistakable profile of Ama Dablam towered on the horizon, I was struck - and slightly perturbed - by the thought "that's only about 6850m, which means that somewhere out there is another one that's two whole kilometres higher than THAT..."
Emerging dazed and bleary-eyed from the tranquil bureaucracy of the airport immigration & customs, you are suddenly plunged into a kaleidoscopic chaos of smiling, nodding faces waving name cards at you, offering you taxis, hotels, treks, but even amongst all that I thought the guy wanting a tip for pushing our trolley 20m was a bit much - we thought he was a customs official.
Finding our contact - Yolamber - in a sea of faces and name cards, we forced our way across the road and into his car, and were driven through an onslaught of motorbikes, cycles and horn-tooting cars from all directions through the hectic dusty streets to Thamel.
Yolamber assured us that we would be safe from pickpockets and any other kind of violent crime, but did suggest that we should be back inside by ten, as "night is the time when evil wakes up". I listened intently for any sign of the almost obligatory thunderclaps, howling wolves or diminished organ chords that surely should have followed a sentence like that, but none were forthcoming.
Tomorrow is sightseeing around Kathmandu, I'll post more then.
1 comment:
Al - didn't know you had such a way with words. You've got me snorting into my tea on day 1 of your blog. Sounds like an adventure and can sense your excitement!
Saash x
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