Exodus

Beijing was doing its very best to look appealing on the day I left. The sky was clear in a way only possible if you shut down factories for months and limit traffic severely. Heavy rains, some winds and the onset of autumn also helped. Beijing looked stunning: Mountains filling the horizon to the north and north-west, trees making an extra effort to be green before autumn sinks its teeth into their leaves and strips them bare. If only Beijing could be like this consistently, it might become a more attractive place to live...

I had a brief stop-over in Hong Kong with the family. I love that city! In what other world-class city can you enjoy a lovely beach in the morning, followed by a little al fresco Thai-food, only to head off to the airport shortly after? Having spent a few days visiting good friends, I moved on via Bangkok. The flight to Kathmandu from Bangkok was full, and I guess it's an auspicious sign that the new prime minister of Nepal was on the same plane as I. He came across as a pleasant man, impeccably behaved - as behooves a statesman.

The drawback was of course the complete shutdown of traffic to and from the airport in Kathmandu. So after clearing all hurdles on the way out, including the incessant requests for taking a taxi somewhere, there was no one there to meet me! My roaming SIM-card proved unable to work in Nepal so I was also incommunicado. Great - not! I was surrounded by eager taxi-touts, all clamoring for my business.

What to do? Here's why I love this part of the world: A man asked if I was waiting for someone, and after a little chatting offered me to use his phone. This I did and all logistical problems were clarified and settled. All I had to do was wait. I have waited in many airports after arrival, and never have I received this level of help from an "innocent bystander".

In the meantime, I stood back from the crowd and took in the view. Surely, there is no airport with more majestic surroundings. Kathmandu rests in a valley, and I could see snow-capped peaks in the distance. As a lover of nature, my heart melts when I see this - and it happens to me every time... I'm such a sucker for a little natural grandeur.

I was soon collected and taken to see our temporary home. After that it was office, meet new colleagues and all that. In the evening we had Korean bbq on a rooftop in Tamel, which was extremely nice and it's a place I will definetely revisit. After that, we called it a night and I headed off to Yak&Yeti Hotel where I tossed and turned for hours before sleeping. Those Himalaya-images in my mind were haunting me...