Security

Security is an illusiona! Apparently so upon entering the Kathmandu airport. First you have the landing. It is known to be one of the hardest, most dangerous, landings in the world. Just last season we were on approach and I could see the landing strip 50 feet below. One set of the white, warning landing signs painted on the runway flashed by. Soon the second then the 3rd and last. Hmmmm, at the time I was thinking "we are still 50 feet off the ground. The last white warning sign is a signal that the pilot has only a few seconds to set down. I remember tightening my grip, seatbelt, and placing a pillow on my lap. The gray landing strip being eaten away by distance. Not much runway left.
A loud blast and shudddering breaks the idle, lone world, of each passenger. There are shrieks and the woman next to me grabs my arm. Everyone grips their armrest. The pilot had given the lumbering plane full throttle and a sharp, rising, banking turn. We had over shot the runway. Prior to 1992 this sort of thing happened probably once a day. Not because of pilot error but because of the Hindus reverence for cows. The cow has all right of way in Nepal. You see them in the middle of streets and in the middle of the runway of the Kahtmandu Airport. It was the job of 2 to 3 people to clear the runway of livestock in the early day. Because there was no fences at the time cows would be grazing and packs of dogs would be playing in the middle of the landing path as the pilots were approaching, the runway keepers off to lunch or morning tea. The cows remained motionless, chewing their cudd, as the pilot gave full throttle to avert the inpending collision.
Our landing yesterday was uneventful. The doors open and we exit down stairs to the outside below the plane. At the bottom of the steps a bus is waiting. The ground crew packs the bus. Bus doors close and the 3rd world clutch of the old bus lurches us forward. The driver turns 180 digrees, drives 40 feet, stops and opens the doors. Thats right it would have been faster to walk. I look back to the stairs at the bottom of the plane. Another bus has pulled up and loading has begun. Passengers who try to walk the 40 feet are stopped by tight security. A sharp "you must get on bus" follows. Rolling their eyes in disbelief passengers unwillingly board, the driver turns, drives the 40 feet, and opens the door. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Inside the airport security is another matter. Security systems are present but their operators absent. After going through customs formalities I walk down an escalator that has not worked in years. Near the bottom I notice a tuft of wires poking out in kaos. Now I am approaching the first security check post. Like the escalator the conveyer belt that pushes baggage through the xray machine has not worked in years. Like any other airport there is a viewing monitor and the typical walk through metal detector. Viewing the situation I laugh and wish I had a video camera. Unlike any airport there was no one at the monitor and no one on the other side of the metal detector to stop you when the alarm sounds and the red light flashes. Passengers are pushing their baggage through, a round woman half way inside the xray machine grunts. When it was my turn I skip the xray, walk through the metal detector, passengers behind follow. Last season at this post there were 2 old Nepali gentleman behind the monitor. They both had cups of tea and were engaged in jovial talk. Not once did they look at the monitor and when the red lights flashed and the bell rang on the metal detector they wave us through not missing a beat to sip their tea. Welcome to Kathmandu and our 29th season. Hope you follow us over the next 18 days through the Himalaya.