Kathmandu: The dateline of this blog tells it all. I am still in the capital city of Nepal. I was supposed to be in Lukla, eastern region, today. But who can ignore the bad weather? Pilots? No. They too love their lives. Passengers too love their lives. I also wish to live a few years more to see the amazing things happening right now in Nepal.
Anyway, I wake up at 5:30 in the morning, a recent record of sort, and reached at the main gate of Tribhuvan International Airport (also national airport) at 6:30. Sharad Babu Shrestha, Nepal chief of READ, was waiting for me at the gate. (This gives a clue about my Lukla trip. The organization is sponsoring my Lukla odyssey.) We together went to the domestic terminal and then the game of waiting began.
I met two American ladies (Dr. Allison Wren and Suzie Cordero), both associated with READ, and talked with one of them about a few topics like Nepali and American politics. Countless announcements from the airport office about the flight schedules that I heard throughout the morning are still echoing in my head. Most of them were about flights being delayed or, as you can guess from my case, cancelled for the day.
Our Yeti Airlines flight was cancelled after we waited for about 6 hours. Hungry I was like a feeble jackal. But that biscuit and tea helped me a lot. That kept me alive. I think I should rush to the canteen for some things to eat.
Now a few words on READ. This is a campaign launched by Dr. Antonia Neubauer, an American with the aim of “building literacy and communities through libraries.” “She has been traveling back and forth to Nepal since 1983,” states READ Nepal’s web site. This organization establishes libraries in remote parts of Nepal with community involvement. Learn more about the campaign in READ Nepal Page.
By the way, I will again go to the airport tomorrow morning hoping to take a flight and land at Lukla Airport.
Dinesh Wagle on Nepali Society 