The Great Nepal Baggage Caper!

Heather finds the Infinity point in the relaxing Garden of Dreams in the heart of Kathmandu

View Out from the Art Gallery in the Garden of Dreams

I was finally reunited with my wife after a month and a half apart outside the bustling Kathmandu airport; and I was finally reunited with my Mac Pac backpack after 8 days in transit! I last caught a glimpse of where it needed to go as I was made an extremely short connection using my sharp elbows. The Korean Air Boeing 747-400 plane sat in a taunting stance in its bay as we taxied to the gate in our Alaskan Air plane. I knew that I had a chance but my bag... no way!

After hopping to the international terminal on foot and making a few ill advised turns I made it to the Korean Air ticket counter and they frantically called down to the gate that I was coming... and one of the ticketing agents escorted me, running in high heels I thought it would be no problem to break into a run with a full pack and rolling carry-on, but I soon found myself flat on my face, as Jenyfer would say "I ate it!". The high-heeled agent squinted at me, and then said: "Now we walk". And so we did and I made it on the plane with time to spare, very motivated to see my baby!

Hari, our taxi driver from Pokhara to Kathmandu and back again

Now I've made it to Pokhara, Nepal. Heather met me at the airport in Kathmandu, I was surprised not to see her waiting for me outside with a card that read "Mr. Merewood", but she got stuck in a 4hr traffic jam just a little outside of Kathmandu. So my delay for a visa, customs, waiting for and then filing a delayed-baggage-claim, and then exchanging money was nearly perfect timing. I only had to wait and endure 30 minutes of folks trying get me to take their taxi or go to their hotel... culture shock was to commence with the hectic driving as we left with our driver Hari who was going to transport us from Kathmadu, to Bandipur, and then all the way to Pokhara.

To ask a Nepali a question is an interesting exercise as they want to answer in a positive way. So when asking about luggage that most definitely will be delayed until the next Korean Air flight that only comes twice a week you get answers such as" It will be on the Thai Airways flight and it will arrive tomorrow at 1:00pm", and then when that deadline passes you are told that it might be Monday morning, and when the morning passes you are offered hope that it will arrive in the afternoon. So, immediately I adopted an approach of enjoying Heather's company and all that the middle hills of Nepal had to offer, and diligently made backup plans with people who know what is possible. Ganga, the proprietor of Sacred Valley Inn in Kathmandu not content with just giving me a positive answer told me some options for having my bags catch up with me in Pokhara. They involved either a tourist bus or private jeep after someone went to the Kathmandu airport with a copy of my passport and missing baggage claim to pick it up.

With the clothes on my back, my baby as my constant companion, and Hari as our intrepid driver we made it to Bandipur as night fell. The countryside framed tightly in the windows of the our mini taxi moving at 40 km/h a montage of color, vistas, and exhaust mixed with dust that permeates everything. At Bandipur we checked into one of the pricier places called Old Bandipur Inn, built around the turn of the 20th century it's charm ranged from it's extremely short door entrances, ornate wood carving, and of course the balcony with a view of the Annapurnas in the morning.

Our Room in the Old Inn Bandipur

Chickens going to the butcher

A Village Elder prepares a blessing for Heather from a paste made from natural dyes

Spiders abound on our trek to Nepal's largest cave- Siddha Cave

An Old Man Waits waits near a temple below Bandipur

View of the Annapurnas from our room at the Old Inn

Traditional dress and modern are displayed here in this high stakes dice game capture

Siddha Cave Art

An Old Man reuses a bit of cardboard and fashions it with his mini scythe

We arrived in Pokhara and many more adventures have occurred since: parahawking, tandem paragliding, Nepali Highland Games, a beginning paragliding pilot course for Sean. All of these adventures will be brought to light in this blog at some point, but right now my days are filled to the brim with paragliding, Heather and the the happenings of this Nepali community. Please be patient with me as I update you.