Postcard: Kathmandu, Nepal

KATHMANDU, Nepal–Greetings from Kathmandu, where the Himalayas are sadly obscured by a thick layer of smog and haze, which has settled in over the valley. The city, shadowed by the stark mountain range, is high enough itself (4500 feet) to make walking a mile from my hotel to Thamel market a cardio workout.

Though, I don’t know if my blood pressure rose more from the exercise or the crosswalks with seemingly no right-of-way laws (and a steady stream of aggressive moped drivers). I crossed every street in the wake of someone who had been in the city for more than 8 hours.

Thamel mainly offered shops hocking hiking gear, wool products, knives, and handicrafts. The occasional bodega showcasing raw chicken legs on very non-refrigerated surfaces gave me pause. I wasn’t about to buy even cooked street meat.

I enjoyed lunch with another pilot at the Nepalaya Rooftop Restaurant, where we both ordered sizzle skillets. The dishes came out crackling like Chili’s fajita entrees, but sadly Nepali restaurants don’t usually offer unlimited strawberry lemonade in a frosted mug.

From the restaurant, we gazed out over the city’s packed, uneven rooftops, adorned with plants and clotheslines drying colorful attire. We could make out the faint outline of the nearby mountains, just a slightly darker shade of haze rising like a line graph beyond the skyline.

Not until we reached about 15,000 feet on our departure the following day did the clear, snow-capped peaks become fully visible. As we turned west toward New Delhi, I still wasn’t sure if I’d even seen Mt. Everest.