Saying Good Bye usually is a sad feeling.. Same to us while we board the flight from Cochin to Pune..The four days we spend with our family was truly special. But at the corner of our mind we knew we were going for a special trip the next day. As the time passed by that thought filled our mind and we became more thrilled. We reached Pune and waited for the next morning..This time I made sure that everything was planned in "advance" so that we dont want to encounter the surprises and anxious moments of the Nelliyampathy trip.At exactly 4.00 am the cab came, around 45 minutes earlier than we were expecting.We got ready and rushed to the cab after asking the good God to keep us company. We were a little worried about the foggy mornings in Delhi which could lead to the cancellation/ delay of our Delhi flight but luckily flight was on time and we reached smoothly at Delhi.
That was the first time I was seeing the world's eighth largest passenger terminal - Terminal 3. Truly magnificient and grand.. Checkin counters were fully crowded. We stayed at the back of a relatively small queue at the counter for the Kathmandu flights. After doing the formalities at the checking and immigration counter we reached the lounge. We were having the same enthusiasm and energy of the school kids who goes for a one day trip to near by zoo or museum. We wandered around, window shopped, passed comments about the beautiful guys and gals.. we were enjoying and savouring each moment..Finally the call came to board the flight to Kathmandu. We rushed to the gate number 14b which was the fartherst from the lounge - around 20-25 minutes walk.
Inside the flight, we can easily understand most are tourists eagerly waiting to enjoy the "Himalayan Nation". Unfortunately we didnt get the window seats.So our plans to take close snaps as we fly near Himalayas got a beating. Neverthless we relished the side view of the snow clad mountains through the limited space we got because of the person sitting on the window seat who was taking video of the mountains. Finally the flight landed and we started to walk to the exit and suddenly i sensed some thing was missing and could soon realised it was my wallet which had all the foreign currencies and all the cards. My whole body went cold but I was sure that I had my wallet with me in the flight because only from that wallet I took the money to buy the snacks. I came back and checked the seats we were sitting but I didnt find and i looked around for the person sitting next to us. He was missing. I was in a shock what next to do and I heard some one asking me in malayalam what happened and when I told him what happened he advised me to report the matter immediately to the crew. I did as I was told and they also started searching but without vain. My blankness in the head became more and more profound. Then the ground staff of the airways started searching and suddenly when one of them took the seat cushion out my wallet flew and landed to the next seat. It was one of the most relieving moment I ever had in my life. We thanked the God and everyone there and landed at the Thribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu.
After collecting the baggage, we reached outside the airport to get the first glimpse of our destination - Kathmandu. We were received by the driver from Shankar Hotel. It was not so cold but temperature would be around 10 degree and we drove through the narrow streets for approximately 15-20 minutes. In the hotel, we were received by Mr. Prabhu whom we had discussed our travel plans. He gave an overview about the activities planned for us and we were handed over the key of room 301. Room was well maintained and neat. After resting for some time we planned to walk to the near by market place called Thamel. It was a very crowded place with many streets and lots of shops from where we can buy all kinds of traditional Nepalase items. But we need a bit of bargaining power. After roaming around for couple of hours and buying some stuff we thought of going back. After dinner, we watched TV for some time and quickly fell asleep.
Next day morning we got a call from the reception that our driver and guide was waiting for us. We quickly got ready, had breakfast and started the sight seeing trip. The first destination was Pashupathinath temple. Our guide was explaining the various specialities of the temple, its customs and architectural significances. We were more interested in taking some snaps. After that we were taken to two Budhist temples and monastries. There our guide told about the concept of Budhism, how the temples are constructed in accordance with the principles of Budhism. After hearing that I understood to reach "Nirvana" is not easy. Then we travelled to a place called Patang. Patang had some old temples and many old buildings. The story goes like this...There was a king who was so powerful and controlled major parts of Nepal even though Nepal like India was a group of small kingdoms. This king had three sons. As "power" is the most wanted but dangerous item in this world..this lead to the fighting between three siblings. So king decided to divide his kingdom in to three...Kathmandu, Patang and Bhaktapur. In Patan we had our lunch. Lunch was special because it was the first time Chithra was not able to eat a chicken dish. We were planning to have traditional Nepali lunch but since it was almost like the traditional north Indian cuisine we tried a chinese variety and ordered Chicken bamboostuff. Luckily I ordered some fried rice. After this we returned back and after some time spending in the hotel room we again went to Thamel for a walk. It was so crowded because of the new year celebrations. All the pubs and restaurants were full. There were loud music across the streets. We continued our shopping and had dinner from one of the restaurants there.
Next morning, our target was Nagarkut. It was a hilly area and around 1.5 hrs drive from out Hotel. On the way we went to Bhaktapur. Compared to the other two this was more grander and well maintained. It is one of the world heritage sites. After enjoying the durbari square for some time we started for Nagarkut. On the way we also bought some traditional Pakkwadas. It was approximately 45 minutes drive from there. The roads are narrow and there are not much protection on the sides. Since it was saturday and new year day there was lot of rush.. mostly bikers. After having dinner, we walked to a spot from where we could see the Majestic Himalayas and if luck permits we could see the beautiful sunset. It was a bit cold there..May be around 1-2 degree. We could see the tip of some rocky himalayan mountains covered with snow. I wished if I could go there and made up my mind that one day I will go to the snow clad mountains. Since it was foggy, we were told we could not see the sunset. So we descended the mountains. It was only around 5 but it was too dark and by the time it became 6 it was almost like 9-10 in Kerala and I realised there was accute electricity shortage because in the villages most of the houses doesnt have electricity.
We reached the hotel contempt and happy. Everything went beautiful and we will be leaving the next day. We slept early. Next day morning, we packed the bags and even though the flight was at 3pm we reached the airport at around 11 am. We reached the checkin counter and showed the tickets to the gentleman sitting in the counter. He punched the keyboard many times and looked uncomfortable. Finally he turned his head to us and said our name is not in the system. I was a bit bothered but hoped it must be another technical glitch. I asked him to check again. He called his superior and verified again. Then he showed us one of my "Costly" mistakes. Instead of Jan 02, 2011, i had reserved the ticket for Oct 02,2011. I could feel some thing in my stomach but I didnt showed that to Chithra. I acted as I was a bit shocked but still in control. Then I actually regained the control. I asked them about the next flight. But the answer was not so positive. There were three flights to Delhi but all the three are full. So I needed to stay in Kathmandu for one more day. But I was not having enough currency to take a room and book the flights for tomorrow. So there were three things I need to do. First find an ATM, then book the tickets for next day if tickets are available, then find a hotel to stay. When I was standing in the airport, I saw people chekcing in to an Indian Airlines flight. Even though I was told by the other flight operators that all the Delhi flights were full, I thought of asking the IA people directly. I asked them for tickets and they told it is available but..the flight is to Varanasi. Now I have to take another decision whether to take the Varanasi flight and hope there is a flight from Varanasi to Delhi so that I can catch my Delhi to Pune flight or I stay in Kathmandu and book all the flights for next day. I thought of taking a chance. I made up my mind to get the tickets to Varanasi. Now it is the other problem, I dont have currency with me. I searched for an ATM but it is not accepting any of my or Chithra's card. Time was running out because if i didnt get cash then I wont be able to buy the tickets for Varanasi. I had also another dilemma. If I go out I will not be able to get in to the airport as I was not having a valid ticket. But I decided to go out and take chance. We went out and tried the ATMs we saw but none was working then I asked Chithra to stay near an ATM and I went in search of other ATMs from which I can get money from my any of the cards. Finally I got cash from one of the ATMs. I ran quickly to get the ticket. By that time Chithra also managed to get money from one of the ATMs. Now the security guard was not allowing us to enter inside. I told him my problem. He allowed me to enter and he told Chithra should wait outside. Only after showing the ticket she will be allowed to enter. I entered and saw a big line waiting for the security check. I directly went to the security offficer and told I need to buy a ticket and the flight is about to fly. He allowed me to go through and I went to the checkin counter and bought two tickets. That was the first time in which I was buying tickets from the checking counter. Then I ran back and showed the tickets to the security person and then Chithra was allowed to enter. We ran to the immigration counter and again we saw a big queue. I went to the front of the queue and told my problem to one of the gentleman standing there. He quickly agreed and I reached at the front of the queue. I can see through the glass window that people boarding the flight and we are still waiting for the immigration clearance. We reached the immigration officer and he gave a smile and checked the passports. His smile became a bit wide and he brought another paper and started reading a name. We were a bit surprised but we were also worried about our flight. He started saying that he happened to see a Keralite guy with a long name and he was trying to read that name to us. What a contrast of emotions!! We ran to the final security check and then to the boarding gate. Almost everyone had boarded. We boarded the flight last.
We were not knowing what was going to happen next but we were ready to face whatever it is going to happen. We were served some snacks. After around 40 minutes we landed at Varanasi. We saw a spice jet flight but was not sure where it is flying to. It was a newly built airport. Later I came to know it was inaugurated only 1 month back. We waited at the immigration counter and we were looking for the next flight to Delhi. We heard the announcement of last boarding call of a flight to Delhi. The immigration counter line was moving at a snails pace. Finally we came out only to be hear that that was the last flight to Delhi from Varansi that day. I was really hoping everything would be alright if I could catch a flight to Delhi but then I realised our adventure would be continued for one more day. I checked with the various flights for tickets to Pune next day and finally I reserved my tickets in Spice Jet.. the flight which we saw while landing from Kathmandu. Now it is the start of another adventure..I asked for nearby hotels and understood that there is only one hotel near by since the Varanasi city is almost 20-25 kilometeres away from the aiport. I looked for the prepaid taxi counter only to find that they were closed since the last flight also was departed. Finally I managed to get a taxi and reached the hotel which was near by - Sanjay Hotels. I asked for the rooms in reception.Luckily it was available but since their swiping machine was having some problems have to pay the amount in cash. But we had very little Indian currency. We gave him the cash and with the remaining cash settled the taxi driver. Now we had only around 200 rupees and the worst is there are no ATMs near by. We were told the only near by ATM is in the airport. We reached the room. It was a good room but was not maintained properly. It became too dark suddenly. I was a bit scared but didnt show it. It was really colde outside and since we cannot afford a full dinner we bought a pack of Kurkure. We watched TV for some time. It was really a tiring journey..so Chithra fell asleep pretty soon but I was not so comfortable with that place mainly because it was a lonely hotel with not much guests. I continued watching TV. Then the worst thing happened. Power went off.. My heart beat level increased. I coud hear some people talking outside. Finally the power came and after some time I also fell asleep.
Next morning, I got up and found that it was too cold and foggy. The maximum visibility is only 10 feet. We had Tea in the morning but didnt take breakfast as we dont want to take the risk of fully running out of money. We were planning to go early to the airport, take money and have our brunch. We packed the bags by 11 and chekd out the hotel. We reached aiport by 11.30 even though our flight was at 4.15pm. To our utter despair, there was no ATM in airport also. Now we were feeling hungry. Since no money to have lunch we bought couple of puffs and considered it as our lunch. We waited there impatiently for the flight. Finally the time came we boarded the flight and reached Delhi. There we ate food after more than 1 day. Even though the flight to Pune was delayed by 2 hours we were least bothered because it was a minor chapter when compared to what we came across. We reached Pune by 1 am.
It was really an unforgettable experience. As I said before it was one of the "costliest" mistake. Hope I dont do the same mistake next time .. atleast to Bangalore this week..
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