Prelude
Tampa to London to Kathmandu

So where to start?

The Tampa airport, couple of hours waiting to go as evening settled in.

There would be a total eclipse of the moon visible to my lover Susan as she drove home. I managed to catch a glimpse of it but the only place from which it could be seen was behind a service desk, and they wouldn't let me stand there and watch. The sunset was the red rubber ball variety, which reminded me of some other airport sunsets. And the following day, I had déjà vu walking in the Modern Tate Gallery with Rob, seeing that sun again in an exhibit where weather is created.

Flew from Tampa to London, arriving the morning of November 9.

Rob met me at Gatwick Airport and it was great to see him again. I had met Rob and Kay on the Inca Trail a couple of years before. At that time, they were in their seventh month of an around the world journey. A month or two afterward, they were touring Canada and the US in a rented camper van, and they stopped by for a visit. One evening over Thai food and Italian wine, I asked them, whereas they had been nearly everywhere I had ever wanted to go, to which destination would they like to return. One place they agreed on was Nepal. And two summers later, Rob called from England to say he was going in the autumn, and would I like to come along with he and his adult son Andy. Fortunately, everything worked out and I was able to say yes.

Rob and Kay were moving to Scotland December 1 but at that time still lived in a house in London, and it turned out to be a few blocks from the Thames and an easy walk to the major tourist sites, and good walking weather. In the morning I walked with Rob, and the coolest thing was this art installation at the Modern Tate Gallery, where it creates clouds, weather while you watch. Then in the afternoon his wife Kay and I rode some busses and walked some more, and we happened by the Tate on our way back and some art students had us pose for photos they were taking. We became a part of the London art scene.

The next day and we were off on Gulf Air, flying from Heathrow, changing planes with a brief layover in the Abu Dhabi airport, landing in Kathmandu on November 11.

Nepal

this travelogue is part of the subside travelzine
about bookshelf links contact submit