Dubai to Kathmandu - can there be two more different cities?

Beginning our NGTOA Expedition with caviar and champagne!

Tuesday, February 20:                                                                Dubai to Nepal

We are off this morning on our flight to Kathmandu, Nepal.  We were in the second bus to the airport, which departed at 5:30 – wheelies down at 5:15.  We are flying from the new Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai – it’s located about 20 minutes west of the new Dubai Marina  and is being built to accommodate all the visitors that are coming to the World Expo 2020.  It’s named after Dubai’s current ruling king, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

Our Nat Geo group checking in - so easy when you're the only group!

Walked by this new display, which was right next to below:

The juxtaposition of the two seemed ironic

The airport is big and beautiful and spacious – we quickly checked in our luggage, received our boarding passes,  headed through security and upstairs to a lovely airport lounge to wait to board our plane. Once we boarded our  private jet, we settled into our seats of 13 A & B for half the trip.  I feel lucky that we’re on the left side of the plane, as we will get to look out as we fly along the Himalayan Mountains.  However, our seat is right over the wing – so seeing things is a little tricky.  As we boarded, we were welcomed by the pilot and the chef and the flight attendants. 

Our flight steward Jo welcoming us to the plane and the trip

Champagne at 8 AM - why not?

Happy travelers feeling pampered

Our flight stewardess offered us a glass of champagne (at 8 in the AM, why not?) and we settled in to look over our “loot” provided by National Geographic for the trip.  We received a large black cabin bag  – this will be very nice for future use.  We have Boze headsets, iPads (loaded for the on-plane lectures), audio tour listening guides, copies of Nat Geo and Nat Geo Traveler, a book about their upcoming expeditions, a Nat Geo cap, a toiletry kit, a blanket/duvet cover – perhaps some more items, I may be missing something.

Good morning and good bye to Dubai

A last view of the Dubai Marina and the Jumeirah Palm Island

The sun was up by the time we left, and I got to see the Palm Jumeirah island from the airplane – very exciting.  Could also see most other landmarks – Burj al Arab, Burj Khalifa, etc before the haze got too bad.  We’re crossing the Arabian Sea near the straits and flying over Iran, then Pakistan and finally India before arriving at Nepal.  Our flight is about 4 hours and we were scheduled for lunch and 2 lectures on the plane.

We were offered champagne and caviar as a pre-lunch – served in the same lovely style as NGTAW – 3 small pancakes, finely chopped chives, egg white and egg yolk, red onions.  A while later we were served lunch which was very tasty – spiced pumpkin soup and “marinated lobster salad” – lemon olive oil poached lobster with mango salad and sweet chili dressing.  I was pleased to turn down dessert, as I was quite full from all of above.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to have the lectures by Carroll or Jack, as the AV system wasn’t working (shades of 2015!)

Amazing lunch - thanks Chef Sarah!!

Views of the Himalayan Mountains

We did see the mountains as we flew in – very impressive.  The landing in Kathmandu was a little rugged – foothills of the Himalaya’s underneath us – and we passed over thousands of houses and building packed together, all seemingly unfinished or in various states of disarray.  I wondered how much of that was due to the 2015 earthquake.  Also, Carroll had mentioned that Kathmandu’s population was up to 4 million people (up from 275,000 when she moved there 20 yeard ago), so overcrowding is becoming a problem.  She says in some ways Nepal has become a poster child for the problems that face the world: overcrowding, pollution, climate change, etc. The contrast to the modernity of Dubai was something to contemplate.

Views of Kathmandu from the plane

After under 4 hours flight time, we arrived late into Kathmandu’s airport, as we were put on a holding pattern for almost an hour by air traffic control.  The good news about that is both sides of the plane were able to see the Himalayan Mountains a number of times as we went round and round.  Eszter warned us that the airport is rather crazy and we should just be “zen” about it until we get through customs and onto our buses to take us to our afternoon excursion.  We didn’t have to handle our luggage – Nat Geo team was taking care of that.

It was rather crazy – customs was somewhat slow – they hand write out a visa for your passport on the spot and stick it onto a page.  We passed through throngs of people as we made our way through the arrival halls, outside the main gate areas, out the front door and onto our busses, by about 2:30 PM.  Can't wait for what's next.