Beautiful ... Mountain Views

View from a farm ...



Returning to India ... View from the airport



Lovely mountains at dusk...



Rolling hills leading to the majestic mountains :-)

 

Only in Nepal ...

... do you see a traffic policeman, and another cop armed with a rifle helping push a broken-down minibus away from the traffic on a narrow road. Ok, maybe you can see this elsewhere too ... Whoever can, helps! Right? And, whoever can't, takes a picture :-/

 

I got you, babe!

Here's the toughest lookin' babe in the world ... yup, that's right. Babe lookin' @ toughest

This is my newest niece ... she's just 2 months old, so she won't mind me violating her sense of privacy, and releasing her identity on the internets...



Oh wait, did you do a doodoo ? Fine, fine ... won't reveal your identity. But I'll still say this -- baby in a tent!!

 

Zoom zoom ...

Aren't you thoroughly impressed, and moreover, overwhelmed by the zooming capability in my simple point-n-click Canon ? Well, don't be. I didn't really zoom in on these houses from all the way up in the hills ...



But hey, here's a glimpse of ... (can't be bothered to type it out ... you know what it is!!)

 

Drivin' up to the top... ok, nearly the top!

This is a pretty cool ride to be driving up the winding roads up along the hills. Going round, and round, and round, and round ...



Until someone decides to feel queasy :-S ... and we gotta turn back! Yup, this is me .. backing that thang up.



But hey, while we're up here, I might as well take a couple of nice pictures ... of the view ... from the top :p



Yup, that's Kathmandu ... looking quite serene from way up here.

 

Day out wid da cuzs

Hey, what makes you think that this should be without incident? Yes, that's right! For some reason -- I fail to recall which exactly -- there was widespread revolting going on in Kathmandu this morning. In the usual fashion. Yup, burn those tyres on the streets!!



Had to drive around in circles in one section of KTM looking for a way out ... into another section. But those fires died, and no one seemed to think to recreate them. And I was free to begin my day out wid da cuzs ... There's me, lookin' quite contented, if I may say so myself.



Oh right, we went to this place near Budhanilkantha called Park Village Resort. It's up there right next to the surrounding hills on the Northern side of Kathmandu valley. While the view was very nice, there is much to be said about the timeliness and quality of their [food &] service.

 

Bhai tika...

Yup, the grand finale of Tihar ... Bhai Tika , and yes, that's me in da orange ... me be representin' Bangalore ;-) ... oh, and it also goes well wid da garland !!



And lookie @ all da goodies I get ... ok ok, I lie ... not all of these are mine :-/

But still, the entire NW section is mine, yeah baby ... So, just fyi the dealio is: I get dem goodies from my sis/cuz, and I gots to give her $$$s or other gifts. Kinda like a barter system ... but lookie at all da tings I get !!!

 

Happy Tihar, Diwali, Deepawali!

Went home for Tihar... It's also called Diwali / Deepawali ... means: Festival of Lights. Good stuff! Check out my cuzn's creation -- a pretty funky rangoli art.



And there are groups of people that go to houses to play deusi and bhailo ... basically, they sing and dance, or perform otherwise, and in general make for a good time :-) ... oh, you're supposed to pay them for their efforts .. in cash, or goodly Tihar foods.

Here's an up & coming rock band ...



And some good ol' fashioned folk dancerz

BLR driving directions ...

yayy buckleski, love yer howfarisitometer

This is my daily route to work: http://tinyurl.com/gzs3u




And yikes, lookie at the return trip: http://tinyurl.com/kzda2

Veni, vidi, Bangalore!

Knock knock?
- Who's there?

Ben.
- Ben, who?

Bengalore which is shut down for the day ... there's a Bandh, a state-wide strike!

.
.
.

Which means, there're no cabs at the airport. Oh, woe unto me! No friggin' cabs, and I'm stuck at the airport in this new, strange place. Oh wait, there's this strange feeling of deja vu all over again ... Not too long ago I was in a similar (if reversed) predicament...

• <=18AUG06: Increasing shortage of petrol in Kathmandu, and correspondingly increasing lines at the petrol pumps...
• 18AUG06: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC, govt. regulated) decides on an instant increase in petrol prices by 25% ... Rs. 67 --> Rs. 83
• 19AUG06: Revolts in Kathmandu -- another Bandh -- tyres burning everywhere, bricks & rocks strewn about on city streets, no street traffic is safe!
• 20AUG06: City-wide revolts continue. But hey, I'm going to fly to Delhi today. Yayy, me!

Obviously, I'm not going to drive / be driven to the airport. The public isn't going to look lightly at people driving around when they're all so upset w/ the petrol prices. Ok, I'm gonna ride to the airport then ... yup, ride a bicycle.



Someone's gotta bring the bike back, so he's gonna sit in the back ... yayy, double-loading, like in the good ol' daze. Oh right, and I'm balancing my small suitcase on the handle-bars ... neat, eh? Should be a circus acrobat or something!!

So, I set off ... oh, I so shoulda taken pix! After 10-15mins, I see a cab, did some negotiating -- he wanted Rs 1,000, but settled for Rs 800 for a one-way ride to the airport. Phew, boy, am I glad I don't have to bike all the way to the aiport!


We hit the streets ... erm ... it's starting to get a bit scary now ... there are very, very few vehicles on the road. People are walking all over the streets ... a lot of them are staring at the cab, and me. Crap!! I just lay low, and not look out the window. The driver's got the blinkers on .. and he's going as fast as he can. Still I can hear a few guys yelling out in our direction: तँलाई आज taxi चड््नु परेको ? And I agree with them, did I really need to be in a cab that day ?? Anyway, we made it to the airport that day w/o incident, the driver going as fast as he could navigating around groups of people on the street, avoiding all the major roads, going through all possible alleyways, stopping and asking every so often if there were groups of protesters ahead... Wow, glad to have made it to the airport alive ... and, really dumb of me to venture out on a day like that!!

In da plane .. plane #5

Phew, another plane. This one's not gonna be that long either ... DEL-BLR is about 2:30hrs, and the flight is almost empty... good news for me -- I can stretch out on an entire row of seats :)

Stewardess brings around some drinks... one looks like pineapple juice, mmm. It's called French Lime ... hey, this is very nice! Lime juice w/ masala, yummy. Spicy veggie food early in the A.M. ... ah, so is life in India. Better start getting used to it...

Sleepless in Delhi

Ok, this is the first airport where I'm actually expected to stay in transit overnight. Been thru' Indira Gandhi International Airport recently, so I sorta knew what to do, and where to go. Got my bag OK, and sat down at one of those chairs to try catch some Zzzs. Alas, not so comfortable.

Hmm, so there's an actual transit lounge w/ decent leather couches (sorry, no pix). Hurrah for my pillow. I ♥ my pillow!! Took the inter-terminal bus to the domestic terminal... quite a ride, driving a packed bus through the airport, racing against a taxiing jetplane :)

Uneventful wait in the Jet airways terminal at the domestic airport ... Bangalore, here I come!

In da plane .. plane #4

I got my ba-ags, I can wear my clo-othes, No more travelin' clothes, RNAC got my sh*t back!!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the bags in question are now safe and sound in my own custody. Ok, bags are back, I'm all set to travel to BLR, phew. Day #2 of dashain, lookin' all fancy schmancy, and gelled up too ... yup, i'm a gellin', like a felon (or a villain, you pick). A few more places to visit, a whole lotta more food to eat, and makin' my way back to the airport.

Actually, me in da plane KTM-DEL right now... the ariel view of KTM city at night is spectacular, like before. Too bad my camera can't capture this image properly.

Here's something that you'll find totally unbelievable, NOT!!! ... this flight too is delayed.. but this time, it works out in my favour ... well, somewhat. It did mean that I could spend more time in KTM... but then, it sux for me in DEL, coz I probably don't have sufficient time to go out to visit R&S&SM&DM ... instead, I'll be shuttlin' meself between the DEL domestic and international terminals, and sittin' there all night, and flyin' out to BLR early in the AM. Yup, life is beautiful .. oh wait, make that unfair!! Peace out .. no more updates from me until after I get to BLR.

Dashain aayo, mero baggage aayena

Ok, it's already Monday in KTM, yayy, happy dashain ... dashain aayo, khaaula piula .. oh wait, that's actually in reference to eating a whole lotta khasi boka which I definitely don't do! But whatever, it's tradition, and fun. Here's an aspect of the dark side, hehe... Here's dem poor बोकाहरु :

 

And here's poor me, with dashain टीका & जमरा

 

Oh, and this is a wonderful view of the Kashtamandap mandir ... I spent many an afternoon in my younger days looking out from my rooftop at this mandir and all the people walking around...

 

Ok, so no more about dashain up in here ... I believe that as we grow older, there's an ever-increasing opportunity for more social interactions with family members & relatives, close or not... and this is a Good Thing (TM). I love this opportunity that dashain affords ... iz really kewl to meet and get to know people better. Oh, and the food, Oh lawd, have ye some mercy! This is some mighty good (wholesome too ... umm ... whole lotta kerbz) food that people really want you to eat, hehe.

Another update on my bags: another RNAC flight has come in from BKK... arrived pretty late again. Can't get thru' to the airport. can't find out if me bags iz here. We try tomorrow.

A.L.S.S.

Oh oh, Sunday ... sweet Sunday, oh beautiful Sunday, what a day, Sunday. I had a busy-ness meeting with ALSS downtown this afternoon. It went quite well, I'm inclined to believe. Here's to more such cordial interactions in the future, and perhaps a partnership of either of a variety of possible levels, lol!

My bags are still nowhere to be found ... and still, no one knows where it is, I mean no one! We just called the RNAC station manager for BKK, hopefully he'll have an update, and hence my bags in KTM before I have to leave for BLR on Tuesday ...

Kathmandon't have my bags!

Oh will the nightmare never end??? RNAC have lost my bags, yup, both of them! Now, all my worldly possessions are probably sitting in a baggage container somewhere in the new BKK airport. There's a whole bunch of other folks that were on the same flights as me (SFO-TPE-BKK-KTM) and they too are missing all their bags. Just my luck ... and worst of all, no one knows where the bags are. I suspect it's a combination of the fact that BKK has a new airport (and they're still working out all the huge kinks in the system), and that the RNAC flight arrived 16 hrs late ... in the process, them bags got lost!

Oh well, I guess it's time to paint the Kathmandu town red in my traveling clothes :p

In da plane .. plane #3

I guess things are getting better now, we're flying back... the airport will have opened by the time we get to KTM ... and overall, instead of leaving at 1:30pm, we're flying out the next morning at 5am... wow, I thought I was past the days of ~17hr layovers like I had in Taipei last month... dammit, had another, and unexpected 16hrs in BKK :( I fell no remorse in saying that we were royally screwed by RNAC tonight :o)

Here's the food ... guess what we're eating at 6-7 in the AM ??? Lunch from the day before!! Damn this delayed flight!!



Here's my ode to RNAC:

dear, beloved airline R.N.A.C,
I was stuck in BKK, and you let me be.
I've been flying you for so many years,
And today, you've made so many (not me, me-no-cry),
... shed so many tears.
I swear to God (not, really) I will come aboard your planes no more,
Oh wait, actually, I'm booked on your flight Monday to Bangalore!!!

Ok, this woulda, coulda, shoulda been my last RNAC meal:



Ok, some fun stuff on the plane ... I guess there's no time like the current time (~6am) for Vat 69 whiskey for some disgruntled passengers:





I'm somewhat tempted for some good old 'russian water' myself, however, I've already lost all of my friday-ktm time, and as soon as I reach KTM, I gotta do what I came here to do... mingle, hehe.

I'm a start my minglin' right here, no time to waste, eh? I walked up to the galley to ask for a second cuppa joe... hey, I needs my caffeine! How else am I going to stay up all day in KTM after that horrendous flight + transit + flight + looooooong transit + flight :) So, I suspected that I had seen the air hostess somewhere (yup, RNAC has air hostesses), and asked her thus. She had no clue... I couldn't blame her, I mean, look at me, hehe. I told her who I was (ooh, don't that just sound so cool) and she did recognise me ... in fact, she was on our flight back from Delhi last month! So, there I was ... talkin' to her and another air hostess about our situation, about the situation in KTM, etc ... poor things, it must be quite hard for them to deal with these disgruntled pax :-/

This is me really happy and excited to be going home... yup, this is my happy face:


Ok, I hadda freshen up, and bid goodbye to the RNAC loo too:



So, with my third cup of coffee, I felt pretty confident that I could handle another day of wake up and stay up ... guess I gotta be more realistic about being confident of my own confidence levels .. oh wait, that makes my head spin... anyways, I go back to my seat for a little rest ..., and promptly fell asleep... Woke up in the nick of time though ... look at these beautiful pictures of my beautiful homeland:

डाँडा काँडाहरु








काठमाडौंको घर हरु




 

And yes, touchdown!!! Honey, I'm hoooooooooooooooooooooooome

Goodbye, RNAC, goodbye !!

 

Nightmare in Bangkok ...

Whoa, there's someone holding up a sign for my connecting flight -- am I gonna get expedited processing thru' to my other plane, yippee :) Hmm, ok, we gotta wait for the 8 other ppl who're also making the same connection as myself. Waiting, waiting, waiting. I learn that our connecting flight has been delayed. So, this is somewhat good... it means that Bangkok Airport + China Airlines aren't likely to misplace my luggage. Oh hey, this airport looks nice ... there's a gold temple upstairs... sweet!!



We're all here .. or, more like, all the pax are outta da plane, and there's no one else coming on our connecting flight. Ok, off we go... large group of Nepaliz trundling through the airport.

Ok, to cut a long painful story short, our plane hasn't left Nepal yet!?!?! I know... unbelievable! It'll get here later on tonight... apparently around 1am... hey, it's 1pm right now. I'm supposed to stay here in BKK for 12 hrs ?!?!? Continuing with the shortened story: they had promised a paid hotel stay earlier, but ended up not offering it ... sux! And, this is a new airport terminal building ... they opened it *yesterday* ... just my luck. Worst of all, I can't get online ... nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo *gasp* oooooooooooooooooooooooooo *gasp* *gasp* oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Ok ok, it's no big deal, I can handle this. I'll take it like a man. I can handle no Internet! I was born handling no Internet!!! End of shortened story: some other ppl who've been here since last night know of this lounge area about 1/2 mile away... we trundle across, and I sleep for a while. Thank goodness for my pillow!



I wake up, and type this blog ... offline, in VIM, yeah VIM :)

Ok, here're some interesting things I saw in BKK

A buddhist monk making full use of a muslim prayer room ... all is fair in sleep and war :p



Another view of the Gold temple!! Instead of spending so much on aesthetics, the Thai airport authorities shoulda focused on setting up telephones & Internet access, no ??




A statue ... btw, there's loads and loads more in the airport! Very beautiful ... and I can't help but notice the Buddhist religious figures' similarities with Hindu ones :-/ Their names are also similar ... get this: the new airport is called Suvarnabhumi ... "auspicious ground" in Nepali!!



Guess what? My stay in BKK just reduced my KTM stay by a whole 12.5% :'(

Peace out, I'm hoping that nothing eventful will happen on the RNAC flight back to KTM. It's 7pm now, and flight's presumably @ midnight. Gettin to KTM ~3am.. sux, don't I know it!

.
.
.

Oh wait, did I say 3am. I musta been drunk, or high, or both!!! A lotta sh*t happened, and eventually the THAI airport staff told us that they've finally received confirmation that our plane had left Kathmandu, bound for Bangkok. They heard this ~10pm, so, I'm assuming the plane will arrive ~2am, and be ready to leave around ~3am, getting us to KTM ~5am. We coped with the passing time with extreme agitation. The plane arrived.



.
.
.

It takes forever, and we're still not allowed to board. Apparently, the airport tower in Kathmandu is shut down for the night, yup, I said it, friggin shut down for the night. What sorta idiot shuts down the airport after sending a plane out that they know is going to return straight away! So, it's almost 4am, and there's still talks about waiting for the 6am KTM re-opening time for the airport. It wasn't clear whether we were shooting to arrive in KTM for the opening, or whether we're gonna stay put in BKK until then, and only then actually head for KTM. This is friggin' unbelievable... but then again, I guess many things were.

I have no idea what's going on at home ... I guess they've figured that the plane was grounded for a few hours, and it's departure for BKK was delayed by 12hrs. I hope they've also found out that the plane won't return till Saturday morning. So, did I say that my cellphone didn't work in BKK ? It's all an unlikely sequence of extremely unfortunate events, hehe ... I had scheduled my VZW cellphone service to be suspended for the 3m I'm in BLR. Guess what? The suspension started approximately the same time I first found out that we were going to be stuck in BKK for a while... friggin Thailand has 007 as their access code for making international calls. WTF!!! Why can't they be consistent with the rest of the world and use + or 00 ... or atleast 011 like the US. Btw, I didn't find out it was 007 until later, much later. So, I couldn't call KTM .. and at some point, it became midnight, and hence Friday in California, and my phone stopped working!! Yep, ded phone .. D-E-D ded! Only thing it's useful for right now is to take pix and bluetooth them over to my laptop. Oh sh*t, just realised how much photo uploading is gonna suck over dialup in KTM ... yikes!!

So yeah, I couldn't call anywhere the entire day. Surprisingly there's an Internet/Phone booth at the departure gate, and the thing simply doesn't wanna accept my mastercard... yup, they should make a mastercard commercial from this ... "flying to BKK, 20hrs, delayed @ BKK, 17hrs, staring @ worthless Internet booth that doesn't accept MasterC@rd, 2hrs ... oh wait, that was meant to be priceless!!!" However, some folks had managed to scrounge up a few bahts here and there, and were able to make very short calls to home .. I inherited like 3-4 baht which was good enough for a coupla mins of Internet access... thank goodness for the GMail shortcut this booth had, thank goodness for mailing lists ... I had no money to call home, but I sho' 'nuff did have enough time to send email to a relevant group of people asking them to call home on my behalf, and pass on my msgs, hehe...