Friday 17th November
The last day of my holiday has come. Time flies by so quickly but I do feel that I have had a proper break. Not once has work entered my mind since I have been here.
I got up at the late hour of 7.30 a.m. Breakfast was porridge and croissants at Pumpernickels. Peter entered the courtyard just as I was leaving. I told him that I would be back shortly, after collecting my reprints. The Kodak shop was still closed so I returned to Pumpernickels. We had a chat for fifteen minutes then said goodbye and went our separate ways. All good things come to an end; maybe we’ll meet up again someday.
The Kodak shop was now open. My reprints looked good although there were several that had been incorrectly reprinted. But at six rupees each there was no point complaining. The photos of the sunset over Namche Bazaar were brilliant. I will have to get them framed back at home. On the way to Mustang Guest House I bought a packet of biscuits and saw Brent. I returned the negatives to Paulo. We bade each other farewell with the promise that I will visit him if I am ever in Brazil.
At the Holy Lodge I packed for the last time, and then paid my bill. Outside, I hailed a taxi to take me to Tribhuvan International Airport, arriving there at 10.30 a.m. I was in the departure lounge in no time, but not before I had paid my embarkation tax of 600 rupees.
My remaining rupees went on a packet of crisps, a piece of walnut cake and several drinks. While having my elevenses, the BBC World Service came on television. The rugby union international between England and South Africa is being played at Twickenham tomorrow. I will be able to watch that at home. In the cricket England are 221-4 with Hick on 105 not out.
We boarded the aeroplane, and fastened our seat belts. The engines were running and the pilot steered the plane down the runway. Whilst awaiting our turn to take off it was announced that there would be a delay due to a technical hitch. The plane turned back and returned to its original position. We waited while the problem was sorted out.
It was another thirty minutes before we were airborne. We were on a charter flight. This meant that we were flying at a higher altitude than was the case on the Dhaka-Kathmandu flight. Consequently the views of the Himalaya were not as impressive. Nevertheless I took some photos so as to use up my film. The plane touched down in Dhaka at 3.40 p.m. local time. Dhaka is an hour behind Kathmandu. On disembarkation everyone went to the transit lounge and handed in their passports and tickets. They would be ready for collection later that evening before boarding the aircraft.
While waiting in the transit lounge, a Dutch guy told me that he would never fly with Biman again. He felt this way because he did not receive his luggage until four days after arriving in Kathmandu. That sounds like a typical Biman story! A British couple told me that the last time they were in Dhaka they had to wait 14-15 hours. They had managed to grab their luggage while in transit thus avoiding all the problems associated with Biman.
There was some activity at the other end of the lounge. The French group were being taken to a hotel in Dhaka for the next few hours before returning to the airport later on. Buses were put on to take us to the Durbani International Hotel. This was a nice surprise because I had expected to be stuck at the airport for the next ten hours. Someone informed me that if you are in transit for more than eight hours the airline has to take you to a hotel and provide a meal.
Dhaka is more modern than anticipated, much more so than Nepal. It does not seem very touristy. The road from the airport led straight to the hotel, about ten miles away. It was in surprisingly good condition. The road was dominated by a sea of rickshaws and tuk-tuks all jostling for space. Dusk was falling when we arrived at the hotel at about 5.30 p.m. Just another 24 hours to go before we arrive in Heathrow.
I got a room with Richard from Leicester. The room was hot and fusty so we put the air conditioning on. I am pleased to have seen a little bit of Bangladesh, albeit briefly. It is an unexpected bonus and I can tick it off my list!
Our meal was scheduled for 7.30 p.m. While waiting I talked to a group of Brits who had been trekking together. I had been on the same flight as them to Kathmandu. They had spent three weeks walking to Kanchenjung. Like everyone else they experienced problems with their luggage, and had to have it delivered to them. Fortunately they received it before starting their trek otherwise they would have had to hire all the necessary gear.
One of the group, Juliana, was formerly a teacher at Ovingdean school for the deaf in Kent. She knew of several teachers there who had once taught at Mary Hare, my old school. Ewen, a former pupil who I know of, had been taught by her. It’s a small world isn’t it?
Dinner was served at 7.30 p.m. For starters I had soup, followed by the main course, which was chicken and rice with cucumber. Dessert was yet more cake and there was tea or coffee to drink. Afterwards we returned to our rooms to collect our bags and then handed in our room keys at reception. In the hotel foyer everyone milled around waiting to leave. I started reading ‘Schindlers List’ by Thomas Keneally on which the film was based.
At 10 p.m. a minibus picked us up from the hotel and took us to the airport. On arrival, our passports and tickets were ready for collection. Departure was at 12.30 a.m. and it wasn’t long before we were up and away. It was announced that there would be stoppages at Dubai and Paris en route to London Heathrow.
As we flew to Dubai I had a meal, which was rather good and soon polished it off. For about three and a half hours I slept oblivious of everything. We landed in Dubai for refuelling at 3.30 a.m., which is 5.30 a.m. in Bangladeshi time. Flying west it is hard to keep track of all the different time zones you pass through. A coach transported us to the duty free goods lounge where we could stock up on anything we wanted. Dubai is supposed to be one of the best and cheapest places to purchase certain duty free goods. Some people bought cameras and the like, but I was not really in the shopping mood. However, I did try and buy some cheap rolls of Kodak camera film, but my Barclaycard wasn’t accepted. My credit limit had been exceeded. It was no great loss.
The plane left Dubai at 5.40 a.m. (Dubai time). I dozed for an hour. The aroma of breakfast being served woke me up. I watched the sunrise while eating breakfast. It was beautiful. ‘Apollo 13’, the in-flight movie then came on, but I carried on reading my book. When I got up to stretch my legs, I talked to an English guy who was standing in the aisle. He had stayed at KGH at the same time as me.
Another couple of hours passed then the flight attendents came round with dinner. Are they trying to fatten us up or what? Paris and the Eiffel Tower loomed into view. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. It was 8.45 a.m. when we landed. The door where the passengers board the aircraft was open. Some of us went out and stood at the top of the boarding steps to survey the view. Mind you, I was soon back in my seat because it was quite chilly out there.
While waiting to go to the toilet I talked to an English guy, now retired, who had previously worked in the animation department for the BBC. He had provided the voice for Morph in ‘Vision On’ with Tony Hart, a throwback to my childhood days.
The pilot informed us that the temperature was 2�C in London. As we flew over the English Channel at 11 a.m., both the coastline of France and the white cliffs of Dover were clearly visible. There were superb aerial views of London as we homed in on Heathrow.
The plane touched down on English soil at 11.30 a.m. Home at last!