I just walked through the narrow streets of Kathmandu heading to my favorite breakfast restaurant. All the shops were closed, the garage door entrances locked tight. I turned right on the main street walking through the damp air and was disappointed to find the restaurant closed due to the Holi Festival. I ducked into an alley, a shortcut back to the hotel, only to find the gate padlocked. Back around to the road again and I was blocked. A large Toyota tourist van and a Tata pickup truck filled with 5-gallon empty water jugs were side by side completely filling the road. There was no space for me to squeeze past, in fact, as the van inched along guided on all sides by commands and the tap, tap, tapping on the back window, it cleared the truck with literally an inch or less to spare! With the traffic gone, I continued. A young woman was using the side mirror of a motorcycle to groom herself. An old man dressed in traditional blousy trousers, wearing plastic shoes that were nearly falling off his feet, a topi on his greying head, was leaning against a wall. He spit vigorously and cleared his throat loudly.
In a hour or so I will go to the domestic airport to take a Buddah Air flight to Bhadrapur, a tiny speck of an airport in Eastern Nepal, near the border of India. The 45 minute flight is one I have experienced many times but I always find it interesting because the pilot follows the Himalayan Mountains, a majestic sight, and the passengers get an up close view of the mountains, including Everest.