I've never been on a flight that took off 30 mins before it's scheduled time before. Admittedly we didn't see it in it's best light just before the boarding of the last flight of the day, but Kathmandu airport at 11pm is a pretty wretched place, with it's almost complete lack of shops, facilities, or even passable toilets. Even the ever smiling Nepalis can't make up for the prison-like waiting areas (there are many you are directed between with precision) the best ones resembling oversized school toilets and the worst are like some kind of small lecture theatre in a WWII-era army barracks. An optimistic sign in lurid colours points you to the Cyber Cafe, which is easy to miss given the complete lack of computing, internet or cafe facilities. We found it hard to tell if the early departure was more down to the Qatar flight crew's or the Nepali ground crew's eagerness to get home asap. Apart from an bizarre incident 2 minutes before landing, with a stewardess doing a mercy-run to stop a Nepali teenager casually heading towards the lavatory, the flight passed without incident.
This overnight 17hr journey starting at 11pm consists of two 5 hour flights, broken up by a 7 hour stopover in Doha at 1am-8am local time. Hopefully it will be good practice for our 8pm-10am stopover in Johannesburg next week before a 12 hour flight to Buenos Aires. We have no accommodation for the stopover as the opening ceremony of the world cup the next day made it a popular choice. We will need ideas to while away 14 hours in an airport.
In Nairobi we are looking forward to a long-awaited stay at the home of my (Rich's) cousin Jonny and family before braving the notoriously unreliable overnight Nairobi-Mombasa train for a weekend beach break with them. We hear it takes around 14 hours, if it makes it at all.
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