Time to go home …

There had been no need to set an alarm for this morning as the ringing of a temple bell woke me soon after five. We were up at six and got ready quickly, so we were downstairs with our bags by 6.25. Pritik was also early, waiting for us at the door. He and the hotel’s security man helped carry our bags to a van waiting a short distance away on the edge of the Durbar Square (presumably this is where yesterday’s incompetent driver should have dropped us off).

The journey to the airport was relatively quick as, although many people were already up and about, the traffic hadn’t yet built to its full manic level. We were dropped off at international departures, said goodbye to Pritik with warm thanks and of course a good tip, then queued to pass through the initial security check, where they were screening bags and boarding passes to enter the airport. It was at this point that I realised that our hotel room key was still in my pocket, where I had tucked it for safety while carrying my bags down the steep hotel stairs. The security guard hadn’t asked for it and because Pritik was already there we had simply left without a formal checkout of any kind.

Perhaps surprisingly in all our years of travelling, this was only the second time we’ve left a hotel without handing in our key. The first was a B&B in Wyoming and we were easily able to post the key to them. This time it was more complicated as we were about to leave the country! I went to the information desk and asked if they could call the hotel, thinking that I could leave the key at the desk for them to collect. But the phone number they found online didn’t work. In the end I simply left the key at the desk, telling them I would email the hotel as soon as I could get online after dropping off our bags and passing through security.

However it wasn’t that easy, as bizarrely you can only register for WiFi at a Nepalese airport if you have a Nepalese phone number! Instead I texted Ayush at Royal Mountain Tours to ask him to let the hotel know. He replied promptly to say he would do so, and would also collect the key from the airport himself and return it to them. I was naturally very grateful!

We then had a long wait to board, and once on board another long wait before take-off, due to air traffic congestion. Eventually we were airborne and I couldn’t resist taking a few more photos of the Himalayas as we passed.

We were served a meal soon after take-off. Although we were only six rows from the front of the economy cabin, there was no choice left by the time the flight attendant reached us, which struck me as poor service from an apparently award-winning airline. Luckily the chicken with rice on offer was tasty – well above average for airline food.

The five hour flight passed quite quickly. I watched a film (The Last Bus, very good), read a bit and wrote blog drafts. Having taken off so late we were naturally also late landing in Doha, but not so much so that we were at risk of missing our connection. We even had time to get online and catch up with a few messages. The airport was full of displays promoting the forthcoming (and somewhat controversial) World Cup.

Our plane to London at Doha Airport

That second flight took off on time. And the pilot seemed to find some extra speed as right from the start we were seeing a predicted arrival in London around fifty minutes early. Just the same, the hours passed rather slowly despite another decent meal. We were treated however to a lovely sunset, protracted considerably by the fact that we were flying west.

And we did indeed land early and found Heathrow's Terminal Four remarkably quiet. We were soon through passport control, picked up our bags and headed for the Tube. I have said many times before how grateful we are on these occasions to live so near to the airport. Around eighty minutes after touching down we were unlocking our front door to find all well at home - the end of another great trip.