Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Arrival

Made the flight from NYC without incident. Well, the totally unexpected upgrade from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu was somewhat of an incident, but definitely not in the negative sense... Etihad Airways rocks!

I've already met some interesting people. On the shuttle from Brooke's flat in nyc, I met the driver ... Juan from Paraguay. I think the first Paraguaian (?) I've met. Then, we picked up an Austrailian couple. The woman is a best-selling cookbook author there, and had been in NYC to find a publisher for an American version of her book. She had been overweight since she was a little girl. Then, 16 years ago, she saw a photo of her 230-lb self in a bathing suit and knew she had to lose weight. She gave up dieting and focused on modifying her cooking instead. It worked very well, and her friends asked for those modified recipes and ... and, voilĂ . Looking at her, one would never guess she ever weighed that much! Her name is Annette Sym, and her website is http://www.symplytoogood.com. I fully expect to see her show on the Food Network.

I met another interesting couple boarding the flight from nyc. They were heading to Kathmandu to visit their daughter, a field director for MĂ©decins du Monde, a French group which starts and maintains clinics in remote, underserved areas. I'm hoping to catch up with her and offer photo services during the limited free time I'll have.

The Himalayan mountains sharply rise above the clouds.

First view of Katmandu...

Arriving in Kat was pretty perfunctory. Visa was purchased, luggage collected, then out into the sea of relatives, drivers, and tour group guides jostling signs, jockeying for the most visible positions. There were a lot of signs for assorted Everest groups. [Really, that has to be one of the most crowded peaks on the planet].

Unfortunately, the "Alabaster" sign attached to the Korean girl wasn't to be found. Unlike Cairo, the taxi drivers here seem polite and non-molesting. A couple of drivers waiting for an Everest group offered to call my ride for me, but considering I didn't know her name, nor have a number ... well, I realized I seemed quite under-informed.

Had I not eventually found Joanne, my back-up plan was to go to the guy holding the 'Hyatt' sign ... chill until Anna returned the next day, then reach her on skype. As it was, once the crowds thinned out, the small Korean girl with the coveted 'Alabaster' placard appeared, looking more anxious than I felt. All was well with the world. (Okay. All was well after we trudged up the 80 steps to Anna's flat with 150lbs of baggage.) The large rooftop terrace just outside the door has made every one of those steps worthwhile.

Kathmandu lies in the midst of the mountains.

Anna's flat is in a building much like this one next door.

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