Nepal Airlines, A Tale of Woe, Pokhara, Nepal, June 2014

Nepal Airlines, a tale of woe, perhaps a blessing in disguise....

A paper ticket handwritten at the airline office, now that's pretty unusual in this modern era of air travel where everything is computerised and tickets are DIY (do it yourself) - except in Nepal!  My intention is to fly to Jomsom and return after a few days of relaxation in crisp mountain air. All smiles at the Nepal Airlines office in Pokhara where the staff are keen to get to work on my request, all 5 of them.

Two prices for seats on planes within Nepal - white skinned tourists have to pay considerably more than folk from Asian nations. This blatant pricing discrimination, down to the government by all accounts, is not limited to air travel either. Having said all that, it's off season and the kind folk here at the airline office hastily apply a discount as I frown at the official tourists price, about $110. Possibly the most expensive flight per passenger mile as it's only a 20 minute hop upto Jomsom. So, at $70 and with a Nepal Airlines paper ticket in hand, all set for a 6am departure on Monday - that's if the weather improves. It's been low clouds and rain for several days now as the rainy season approaches, not uncommon this time of year but hopefully there's is still a week or 2 left before it all turns into a monsoon proper.

300 rupees for the taxi to Pokhara Airport at 4.45am Monday.  Dawn breaks into low clouds and mist rolling off the, lake rising into the hills and obscuring visibility towards the mountains and Jomsom, When a plane crashes in Nepal it's usually down to the pilots loosing their way in clouds and coming to grief on a remote hillside so it's not without trepidation and slight disappointment that today there won't be any of those dramatic mountain views. Actually there won't be any views at all - my ticket is cancelled. The same guy who sold me the ticket has turned up, takes it and gives me back the same cash I used for the purchase on Thursday! He says it's the weather, looks quite flyable to me but of course Jomsom may be socked in!  Oh, I can take a flight with Tara for $40 extra, which actually brings the price back up to the discriminatory tourist fare. So why would I be offered a seat on another plane that appears to be going to Jomsom in spite of the weather? Well, not usually one for conspiracy theories but I suspect some dubious transactions somewhere along the line!

So there you have it - Napal Airlines pulled the plug despite those flights going ahead after all as I stomp away from the airport towards the bus stand and a 10p ride back to lakeside. Mixed emotions abound, it was a cheap flight on a plane not owned by Nepal Airlines, and why is that? The last of their planes they had based at Pokhara crashed a few months ago hence an already bad reputation made worse. I wouldn't have seen much of the mountains anyway, one reason for taking this flight so let's chalk this one up as a blessing in disguise.
 

A Very Wet Saturday, Pokhara, Nepal, June 2014

Its a Very Wet Saturday....

Yep,  today is turning into one of those stay at home days as the rainy season gets underway. So, in the absence of a wander around town here are a few photos taken from the house balcony....

As those rain clouds envelop the hills time to bolt for cover, yes I can feel the first few spots already.

 

Getting Married Nepali Style, Pokhara, Nepal, June 2014

Walk along any street in Pokhara and sooner or later you'll come across a wedding reception - right on the pavement....

Clearly not a lavish affair but has all the gaiety that would be expected within the Indian sub-continent. So here's a peak at another facet of Nepali life...

 

Friends, Pokhara, Nepal, June 2014

 Making friends in a developing nation can be a rewarding experience but could also be an expensive one. Make friends by all means but have an open mind, a thick skin and an escape route!

Tourist naivety when travelling in a developing country is often a hard hitting and expensive experience. Locals are ingenious when it comes to finding ways of extracting money from a white skinned visitor. Everything from business offers to buying property or exporting jewellery, a scruffy individual sidles up and engages in conversation - pleasantries to start with then the financial impact hits and it's time to make excuses and leave. The conversation will always begin along the same lines, usually it's a relative living or studying in London, how expensive it is and blah, blah, blah, yes I know where this conversation is heading! So, make this kind of friend with a completely open mind and make sure there is a good escape route - exercise caution!

Making friends as a long term tourist though is different, at least at the start. The dynamic is completely different but the end game may very well be the same in the eyes of the recipients. So, let's take my experience in getting to know a Nepali family and the tribulations as well as the negative issues.

I came across the Pandeys back in January during my first visit to Nepal. Having escaped the madness, mayhem and dirt of Kathmandu, Pokhara looked a nice place to settle in for a while. The Pandeys own a cafe to which I became a regular fixture and hence became good friends with the family getting involved with some aspects of their lives. The school run, trips to the cinema, walks around the lake and of course shopping. A few handfuls of candy around here barley breaks the 10p barrier! Having a white tourist hang around was a novelty for them,

Take two, my second visit to Pokhara in April with a view to staying several weeks. All smiles as I rolled up at the Pandeys place. A few days settling in and the relationship dynamic indicates subtle changes. The boy has obviously been primed to explore how far I might be willing to part with my cash. First, can I pay the school fee because business is bad. Next, a few days later "will I pay for father to go to London", seems he wants out! Next, Mr. P suggests I buy his building for $6000 and employ him to run the cafe. Unfortunately his persuasive arguments against the evidence of a low tourist turnout don't in the long term stack up. And then there is Amrit's dentists account, a result of his insatiable appetite for all things sugar.

 All this not totally unexpected but has changed the relationship slightly. I won't be paying Mr. Pandeys air fare to London nor will I be forking out for medical bills. Equally I won't be buying any property but I will pay the school fee. ￡21 for 1 month which is a respectable gesture. So there you have it - life continues as a daily struggle for the Pandeys while I shall continue to spend money with them as a tourist. Embarking upon a financial bailout now will just lead to more expectations in the future, expectations I might not be able to fulfil.

That Elusive Post Office, Pokhara, Nepal, May 2014

The saga... It's taken thus far 2 days traipsing around town looking for this post office. Post is a concept little understood by the locals and so after following up various false leads day 2 ends in failure.

Determined to track down this post office, Mr. P. receives a mild interrogation. He points me back to Mahindrapool insisting it's there - and I'm insisting it's not. A phone call, a frantic exchange from Mr. P to someone who should know. Turns out the downtown post office is closed for good, but on the bright side another post office exists about half way between Lakeside and the tourist bus park. Well, that remains to be seen of course, but this sounds like the strongest lead yet! Mr P. sketches out a map, looks simple enough.

So, from Lakeside heading towards the airport. At the first major junction turn left according to this map. Soheed Chowk is the place and is where to find official government buildings. Big queues at the passport and identity office, very old school with a shabby interior and clerks buried in stacks of paperwork as irate locals vie for attention - but it's still not the post office! Showing the map to a policeman in the hope of narrowing things down a little further.

Success, here is the post office, down an obscure lane. A high walled compound protected with coils of barbed wire and a high wrought iron gate, more like a jail than a post office! If ever looking on the outside can give a false impression of what might be on the inside then this is it! A pretty nice building by Nepali standards. A heavy wood panel door ornately decorated leads on into a dark, dusty corridor. Looking for some obvious sign of where to purchase stamps, even post the postcards but it's not obvious at all. On the left a small room, very austere in appearance and containing 2 bodies. Yes, they are alive as one licks on stamps and fills in a register while the other fidgets by the window. Both are totally uninterested by my presence so I leave them in their far away world and proceed to take a look around. The place is deathly quiet, not a soul around. Wandering unhindered, another very old school building, shabby and dingy, little evidence of a postal industry here. No computerised counters, no queuing - it really is just me desperately looking for a place to buy 12 stamps.

Back to the beginning, that first room on the left by the entrance. Again the occupants seemed somewhat disinterested that there is a potential customer loitering. But eventually after some prompting the stamp licker points to the man at the window. Ok, so back outside to purchase 12 stamps from a gap in the window. 35 rupees for a stamp to England which is 20 days away - I guess part of the journey is by Donkey! A small post box sits just below the window and with no other options, 12 postcards to England are slipped into the tin container. And whether they actually get to England, well, I'm just a little dubious about that - maybe they'll turn up in 35 years time!