Diesel and Cigarettes

I'm pretty tired.  30 hours of uncomfortable flights
and transits really took its toll on me.  I tried to
get some shut-eye at Abu Dhabi airport, but even at
3a.m., the airport is packed and busy with several
travellers in transit.  

And the exotic destinations out from there -
Islamabad, Beirut, Cairo, Kuwait City ... I feel like
I've barely scratched the surface out here.

It wasn't all just sitting and waiting though.  The
first flight was particularly enjoyable as I sat
besides a 65 year-old Polish woman who will be doing
the 19-day Annapurna circuit trek around the Himalayas
in three years.  The second flight was spent learning
Nepali from another traveller.

And the third flight.  Wow.    

Captain's Message:  "For those of you on the left side
of the plane, you have an excellent view of the
Himalayas.  For those of you on the right side of the
plane, you have an excellent view of the people on the
left side of the plane looking at the Himalayas."

Get a window 'A' seat if you ever come.

The Himalayas are enormous - they seem almost level
with the plane.  The descent into Kathmandu Valley is
equally spectacular.    Villages and pretty terraced
fields dot the mountains.

The airport is humble - pretty old and basic.  Air
temperature is good.  The Himalayas, however, have
disappeared behind the thick blanket of smog hovering
over Kathmandu.  I can literally see it moving.  

I'm out of the airport, and I instantly smell the
all-too-familiar scent of diesel and cigarettes. 
Touts surround me on all sides.  Cars honk and fight
each other.  Traffic is chaos.  

I'm really in another world.

Jesse