It was so warm in the night that I stripped down to my underwear. Up at 6:30am for breakfast after packing our kitbags that were taken off to the airport just a hundred yards down the road. Told that the flight would be at 8:30am whilst having breakfast, this became 9:15 then around 10:00. We made our way down to the airport and were given our boarding passes and sat down to wait on the grass by the side of the aeroplane taxiing area.
Planes arrived thick and fast from Yeti, Lumbini, Ghorka and Royal Nepal Airlines but
no sign of Skyline Airways - our plane. Planes came and went, a couple helicopters
also came and went. Eventually we were told that the Skyline Airways plane had gone somewhere else from
Kathmandu. At around midday went for some food and then the plane arrived. We were
rapidly herded aboard, the plane took off immediately and 30 minutes later we were in
Kathmandu.
On the plane was the son of the owner of the Ama Dablam Lodge at Sanasa. I knew that he was going back to boarding school At Kathmandu but had no idea that he would be on the same plane as us. I gave him my last book "Dear Zoo" one that had been a favourite of my own children. The boy looked about 5 years old but his English was good enough to be able to read the book out loud. There was low cloud over the Himalaya and so the views were nowhere near as good as when I flew in. A short bus ride from the airport and I was back in the luxury of the Royal Singi Hotel. After a hot shower I went over to the Thamel area in a taxi (100Rp). Ordered some special tee shirts from one of the many embroidery shops in the area, I had decided to get my son a design with extra wording "Reading Festival 1999" on the front and the names of the bands that performed there, i.e., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Silverchair and Terrorvision. He went to that festival and I was sure that a fake tee shirt would be the ideal present for him. Had a full meal at the Rum Doodle Restaurant - Tuna salad, followed by a Rum Doodle steak and finished off with Apple Pie. I managed to stash away a menu as a souvenir. The walls of the bar are covered in coasters the shape of a yerti footprint, mostly signed by climbing expeditions. The back wall of the bar wascovered in Everest summiteer signatures, don't miss this place if you get to Kathmandu. Got involved in a rickshaw race back to the hotel after picking up a few souvenirs, for once a late night, to sleep at just after midnight.