Kathmandu, Nepal
October 26, 2017

Dear Family & Friends:

Picking up where Lisa left off, I missed my October 23, 9:30 am departure  by 12 hours. So, here I am at LAX at 6:30 pm on October 23, and my flight doesn’t leave until 1 am on October 24. What to do for 6 hours? I’m tired and hungry, so I order some chips and salsa and a glass of wine at a restaurant near the gate and try to pass the time. As the hours pass, I’m getting more bored and even more tired. I sit myself down in a waiting area near the gate and decide to catch a short nap before boarding time.  Do you see where this is going?

I’m jolted awake at 1:10 am and sprint to the gate. Too late, as the jetway has already pulled away from the plane. The  ticket agent informs me that I will have to return to the main terminal and rebook my flight.    She also informs me  that my bags have been pulled from the plane. She perk-walks me back to the terminal, past the shuttered restaurants, shops and stores. The terminal is deserted. A lone agent at the Cathy Pacific ticket counter (the same agent that rebooked me on the 1 am flight) books me on the 9:30 am flight on October 24, which is the same flight I missed the day before. She didn’t have the heart to charge me the $200 change fee. “Don’t miss this flight” she intones, because “all flights to Hong Kong and Kathmandu are now full.” I slept alone in the terminal lying on my bags.

Here’s the good news; I arrived in Hong Kong at 4 pm on October 25, just in time to make the  5:30 pm flight to Kathmandu. In the end, my 2nd mistake didn’t cost me precious time to get to Kathmandu. Also, on the flight to Hong Kong, I sat next to a Pastor at a major Church in Orange County, California, and he said a prayer for me when we landed. So, now I have that on my side

I arrived in Kathmandu at 10 pm on October 25, and I was in bed at the Yak & Yeti at 11 pm. More good news to show the “times-they-are-a-changing”:the hotel upgraded me to a suite at no additional charge and without me asking. Thanks Pastor Douglass.

I have a very busy day today and will report on that in the next post.

I love you guys,

Bill

Arrival in KTM

Arrival in KTM

Hotel room-Yak & Yeti

Hotel room-Yak & Yeti