There’s icebergs floating down there. Somewhere between Greenland (unfitting name) and Canada, the sea looks incredibly cold. I’ve spent a fair bit of the flight with looking out the window and thinking about going to a country I was never much interested in. Thinking about how it came to that. Retracing my steps, it started in spring 2015. Back then I was deeply unhappy with my (work-)life and was looking for ways out.

Left Reykjavik some 2.5h late. Flying over Greenland was stunning. Had some minor issues at immigration but at 20:00 I was on the bus into the city.

Iceland looks pretty cool from above. Barren but interesting. WowAir hasn’t been wow so far. Flight to Reykjavik was ok, but the connection to Montreal is already 90 minutes late. More “meh” than “wow”. I still don’t know why exactly I’m going to Canada. But I don’t have another place I’d rather go. So might as well. Spoiled me.

Bygdøy, Vigeland Park and Sognsvann Lake.

Having travelled some 200,000km in the air, it does take something to surprise me aboard an airplane. Norwegian did just that last Friday, when they delivered free and working wifi at cruising altitude. It’s not like they allow video streaming or anything else that would require bandwidth, but it works nicely for a chat above the clouds. Pre-flight, security in Hamburg had taken ridiculousness to another level. I was taken aside for a pat-down after not having taken off my money belt in that new scanner thing.

Kathmandu’s international airport has been described with many words. Efficiency, speed or cleanliness are never among them. My flight is scheduled for 7:40 and I wanted to be at the airport at least two hours prior to that. Asking at my guest house about transportation, the first guy told me the airport wouldn’t open before 6:00. Another source said it would be open around the clock. The airport’s website didn’t make any statement at all.

The old lady horks forcefully and then spits a ball of phlegm unerringly into the gutter a few steps away. It is one of the many sights and sounds I had to get used to in Nepal, the country of mountains and endless dust. Life in Nepal is not comfortable, it is a developing country. And even among those, it ranks low. Electricity is only available for a few hours each day, and mains water supply comes once a week for half an hour.

It’s harvest season in Nepal. Some go for grains… while others prey on the gullible. Monsoon is approaching, time to pack my bags.

Impressions from an afternoon walk in an area that is mixed agricultural and early industrial.