Colourful Kathmandu with MH and a bit of SQ

[ycp81]

Baktapur

Day 4: Foggy morning at Baktapur ancient city.
















Locals going about their daily life in the ancient city. Attraction for tourists, but home for Baktapur residents.

[ycp81]

The school is definitely not fake!




Back alleys








Living in Baktapur














The famous Baktapur-produced yoghurt!

[ycp81]

On the way to Nagarkot for Himalayan mountains view!





Mountains around the corner!




There they are!! Luckily the morning fog had lifted.
















Back to town.

[ycp81]

4 nights in Kathmandu and it was time to return to the modern and material world. The return flight was booked on MH to KUL, transferring to SQ back to SIN. As MH codeshares with SQ and MI on the KUL-SIN vv sector, I was able to hop onto the earlier SQ flight, avoiding a 3hrs transit stop in KUL. Taxi ride from the hotel was a real interesting affair, with the driver avoiding the jams by cutting through a local residence area, along a beaten track up and down a hill and finally popping out just beside the airport entrance!!

Lots of migrant workers waiting to enter the terminal building.




Before entering the terminal building, all passengers must present a copy of their ticket/e-ticket for verification, and have their luggage screened. Luckily, MH check-in area was situated at the part of the building where there were not much of a queue. 3 counters opened for check-in today, but only a short queue as I guess most of the passengers (again mainly nepalese migrant workers) had arrived much earlier and checked in prior. There was a contract staff processing check-in and a MH staff supervising at each counter.




Was directed to the Business Class counter for check-in. Even though it was 1.5hrs prior to departure, I was already number 124 in sequence! However, our request for emergency exit rows were granted again! Score number 2! Bags were tagged to SIN but boarding passes for the SQ sector could not be issued and could only by picked up at KL. Luckily today's flight operated as scheduled as the previous 2 flights were heavily delayed due to foggy weather.




Off through immigration, where again the local queue was much longer than foreigners' queue, and into the waiting lounge before security. All airline lounges and duty free shops are at this area. Nothing too interesting though.




Then it was through another long queue for security screening before allowing into the gate area.

Boring and sterile-looking Tribhuvan terminal building.




Boarding gates, which resembled bus gates.




Clear skies today! Our MH plane had just arrived not too long ago.




Rather busy noon!! Mainly flights with worker traffic departing for regional destinations.




One of the four Qatar Airways flights scheduled on that day arriving.




Rak Airways A320 departing for Ras al-Khaimah. First time I heard of this airline and destination.




Tara Air Dornier Do228




Rak Airways pushing back.

[ycp81]

View of tarmac with Himalayan mountains in the background.




21 January 2013
Malaysia Airlines
MH 171
Kathmandu (KTM) - Kuala Lumpur (KUL)
B737-800
9M-MLJ
Economy Class

Boarding started slightly late. Again, we were bussed to the aircraft as aerobridges are non-existant at this airport.




Upon alighting the bus, a queue was formed. A MH ground staff was directing passengers to the respective doors (front or rear) for boarding depending on the row numbers. This ensured a swift boarding process.




Aircraft today was the leased 9M-MLJ. Darn, no personal IFE today.




Royal Nepal B752 and Oman Air parked beside.




I was directed to the front door while some passengers were directed to the rear for boarding.




Entering the aircraft.




Fuselage seemed long at this angle!




Was welcomed aboard by 2 stewardesses at the door. Malaysian-published newspapers were available upon entry. Passed by the Business Class cabin with retro-looking seats. Only 2 out of 16 Business Class seats would be occupied today.




And into economy class, which was totally packed!!




Emex row again! Pillow, blanket and headsets on each seat, but no personal IFE available. Cabin was clean and well-maintained though. Unlike the previous flight, row 14 on this leased plane can be reclined! Perfect!




With the cabin crew's assistance to get everyone seated down, boarding was completed rather swiftly.

[ycp81]

Royal Nepal Airlines B752, with a plane departing.




Safety video played on the drop-down LCD screens.




Even though we were ready to go, the captain came on and gave the bad news that due to congestion in KTM, we would be expecting a delay of about 20min. Groans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyHbysJQ3As


Himalayas can be seen!




IndiGo A320 arrived.




However, we pushed back shortly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYpoy-pQlQk


View of Himalayas again.




Buddha Air ATR72 taking off.




Taxied to the runway holding point, where the wait started. We held there for about 15 minutes waiting for 4 planes to land!




The last of the 4 aircrafts that landed. TG's B772 from BKK.




45min after STD, we were finally on our way!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTLJ-EBmXn4


Right after takeoff, the aircraft made a 270 degrees left turn, overflying the city of Kathmandu while gaining altitude.




Over southern Kathmandu.




Beautiful Himalayas!




Another view.

[ycp81]

Overflying Tribhuvan Airport. Peak hour now! All aircraft lots, less for one, at the International apron were taken up! Time for airport expansion!




Climbing higher.




Himalayan mountains could be viewed from the left side of the plane. Again, seated at wrong side, but give me emex row anytime!




Post takeoff announcement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGPb3ZoPUH4


Over hills.






Zoom out through the left window.




The nice passenger seated at the A seat, on seeing me taking photos, beckoned me over to snap some photos through his window. Nice scenery...






About 10min into the flight, the pilot came on and announced that Mt Everest was on the left! Again, snapped a zoom-up shot!




Inflight entertainment on this flight was a Hindi movie played on the overhead screens. I do not care for the movie, which however kept most of the other migrant workers onboard occupied. No radio channels were available as well even though channel selector was available on the seat, much to my disappointment.




Service started with a peanuts and water/juice run. I had an orange juice.




This was followed shortly by lunch. As the load in Business Class was very low, the leading stewardess came down to assist in Economy as well. 5 crew in economy really made for very efficient service!

[ycp81]

Choices today were Chicken Briyani or Fish Curry with Rice. The tray came with a Chickpea and bean salad, warm bun with butter and dessert. I had an orange juice and white wine to go along. For a supposedly 5-stars airline, meal presentation was definitely much to be desired. What is with all the disposable plastic containers and cling-wraps?? No metal utensils used on this sector as well, unlike the incoming sector.




Chicken Briyani choice, which was rather tasty with huge chunks of meat under the rice. Rather spicy though.




Fish curry with rice, which was equally tasty and spicy as well. This appeared to be the more popular choice for the nepalese passengers. Guess seafood is not too readily available in Nepal.




Chickpeas and kidney beans salad for starter and Bread & Butter pudding for dessert.




Soft roll and Amul butter.




Chunky curry fish with rice.




Bread and butter pudding, which was quite nice as well.



Crew came round with 2 rounds of drinks before tray collection. However, no coffee/tea was offered during the meal service nor after during 2nd round of drinks or tray collection. Weird....

Cruising.




Visited the lavatory, which was rather basic on this leased aircraft.




However the standard amenities were still available.




View of the cabin. It was almost full in economy again!




Having nothing to keep myself entertained, I took a nap during the flight. Luckily the seat is comfortable, with lots of legroom and decent recline.

Nearing Malaysia, it started getting cloudy and a bit bumpy.

[ycp81]

After a comfortable but boring 4hrs of flying, the captain came on with the arrival announcement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyw_nuG_n2Y


Sunset.




Crew prepared aircraft for landing, followed with the landing announcement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plJ4n0Cnf6w


Nearing Kuala Lumpur.




Making a turn back to the airport.




Approaching KLIA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfYYn-EZjso


Landing in KLIA Rwy32L, about 15min behind schedule. Made up quite some time enroute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js-GfUcNe_M


Taxi to and parked at the main terminal.




Disembarking, with a blurred picture of normal seat rows. Legroom did not seemed that good.




Another comfortable flight on MH but it was lacking inflight entertainment. It is a lottery on whether you would get an aircraft with personal IFE as MH rotates both its leased and owned aircraft around on the regional routes. Catering is good but presentation is definitely not 5-star standard. Crew were friendly, but not particularly outstanding (think average SQ crew). All in, acceptable flights on MH.


Upon disembarkation, a MH ground staff was waiting for us with our connecting boarding passes. Interestingly, they were handwritten boarding passes on MH stock. We were informed to proceed to the boarding gate directly for our SQ flight. Unfortunately, we were assigned one of the worst seats on the aircraft, the middle seats right in the center of the 4-seater row. The MH staff explained that the seats were assigned by SQ and there was nothing she could do about it, and we have to approach the SQ staff at the gate for any changes. Here, I was also wondering how we would be allowed onboard with the hand-written boarding passes.





21 January 2013
Singapore Airlines
SQ 119
Kuala Lumpur (KUL) - Singapore (SIN)
A330-300
9V-STH
Economy Class

Took the train to the satellite terminal and proceeded to gate C3, where our A330 aircraft had already arrived. In fact, the aircraft had landed just after my KTM flight arrived. It has been quite a while since I last flew SQ on the KUL-SIN route, especially with the invasion of budget carriers.




At the gate, the SQ agents saw our hand-written boarding passes and moved us aside to the processing counter, where we were then issued with proper SQ boarding passes. Our bag tags were also checked to ensure that our luggage would make it onboard. I requested for a change of seats from the center seats and we were given window/aisle seats. It was only when the boarding pass was issued that I realized that it was the emex row again! Hat-trick!




9V-STH preparing for the short flight back to SIN. 3rd time that I would be flying her!




Flight appeared rather full, with mainly connecting passengers. Not many business travellers on this flight. All has defected to the budget carriers? Boarded, welcomed at the door and directed to my seat. Newspapers were available as well during boarding.

My seat with tons of legroom!




Magazine rack at the side.




Newspapers, inflight mags, safety card.

[ycp81]

40min to cover 294km.




SIN is literally a short hop away.




Boarding in progress. The middle seats remained empty. Guess nobody wants to fork out extra money for the seats on this short flight, unless they are free!




At the gate.




Pushed back on time and took off from Rwy 32R. No video as the stewardess was just seated in front of me. Made a quick visit to the lavatory after seatbelt signs were switched off. No amenities other than the mouthwash on this short flight.




Service started, with the crew offering a selection of coffee, tea, orange/apple juices or water. No nibbles on offer as usual. I had an apple juice, which came in a pre-packed container. Service was very efficient today.




Drinks cart reaching my row.




Very soon after, the pilot came on and descend commenced. Trash were cleared and we soon approached Singapore. Surprisingly, not much of a hold tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SIIIMiH084


Landed on schedule on Rwy 02L and had a short taxi to T3 for disembarkation. Our front-row seats while waiting to disembark. If only the flight is longer...




Mid-cabin.




9V-STH with its distinctive grey nosecone.




Short and efficient sector on SQ but would appreciate some nibbles (aka MH peanuts) during the flight. This thus concludes my very long Kathmandu trip report. Hope you have enjoyed it!! Comments are very much welcomed!


Next month, I would be doing a 11-days USA trip to New York, Buffalo, Las Vegas and Frisco, on a mix of SQ, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America and Jetblue, in a mix of economy and business classes! Watch out for it!

[CarbonMan]

This must be one of the most pic-filled TRs I've seen! Thanks, ycp81! Makes me want to go for a photographic expedition there.