More than thirty people were inside this collapsed hotel just up from my guesthouse.

April 15th, 2015. 11.56am. Earthquake. Pt.1

I was laying on the bed when it hit the guesthouse. Initially when the windows began to vibrate, I thought a large vehicle was rumbling past the building - but then I thought No, no large vehicle can fit up these narrow lanes. When the full force of the earthquake hit, the guesthouse began to buck violently and self-preservation kicked in like I hadn’t experienced before. I had to get out of the building.

Throwing the door open I yelled at the receptionist to run, but she sat paralyzed behind the desk. I made it down one flight of stairs, then fell down the second landing awkwardly on my knee. I looked up from where I’d fallen through the open door that led outside to see concrete and bricks falling into the lane - I didn’t have much of a choice, the building could collapse, I had to get out. Turning my head skyward to avoid falling debris I ran out of the building.

There was an open air beer garden about a hundred meters up the alley which would offer an area free of falling debris. Running down the lane it was obvious this was a major earthquake event with collapsed buildings and a lot of terrified people not knowing what to do - some screaming, some crying, some dazed into nothing.


Everywhere you looked everything looked wrong.

Tom was from California and this wasn't his first rodeo, he had turned a table up against a large tree in the beer garden and was making a list of things he needed as he was going to bug out of Kathmandu - batteries, water…The second earthquake hit and we dived under the table.

In the beer garden there was a group of Japanese women, some Aussies, a monk, staff, and some locals. The monk started crying when the second one hit, an Aussie could be heard saying “Fark me.”, the Japanese women seemed completely unaffected, and locals screamed in fear. Everything shook brutally again, we heard a building fall in the distance. Being terrorized and completely helpless like this was a pretty intense experience.

The second quake subsided and we came out from under the table to see clouds of red dust filling the sky around us - the Dharahara Tower built in 1832 that once stood proudly for so long had collapsed with two hundred people inside it, along with so many other buildings. It was now obvious we were in a pretty serious situation here - I needed to come up with a bit of a plan.

tbc

This was a Ghat, or sunken bricked opening in the ground with water at the bottom where people were washing their clothes and bathing. It was filled with the hotel that used to stand across the lane

April 15th, 2015. 11.56am. Earthquake. Pt.2

My first thought was that my guesthouse room door was wide open with my passport, laptop and personal effects there for the taking should any opportunist decide he wanted them. I headed back to my accommodation as aftershocks continued to roll through - I wondered if the guesthouse was still standing - did the receptionist get out?

The guesthouse was still there with a large crack running across its base at the foundations - the receptionist was perched on the step. A young English couple sat on opposite side of the street watching, they had been on the top floor when the earthquake hit. The guy was timing the period between the aftershocks and decided once they got out to a five minute interval, the two of them were going to make a dash up for their gear.

It’s not always the initial shake that brings buildings to the ground, the aftershocks playing their ultimate part after the original earthquake has affected the integrity of the structure to the degree the lessor ones finish off the job. So the English couple and myself were anxious that the guesthouse could fall at any time, particularly looking at that crack. A person's emotions or fear can become quite magnified I’ve come to learn in this type of situation.

The time came to bolt up to get our gear. With power out across the country, entering into the darkness of the building added to the stress and I leaped three stairs at a time to my room. My gear was all there and I haphazardly through it all into my bag and got back out onto the street. What now?

I was a bit indecisive about what to do, but I knew there was no way I spending a night inside a building in Kathmandu. I hooked up with the English couple and we decided to make our way to a football ground not far away and make a plan. I guess it was now about 3pm.



It wasn’t pleasant walking past a long wall that had collapsed on the shoe repairers, bracelet sellers, and other traders who had set up shop on the footpath. Or passing collapsed buildings you knew many people were buried under - I just shut it out.

Many people were in the streets making their way loaded with whatever personal items they could carry, and we set in rhythm with them. When we got to the football ground it was clear a lot of people had the same idea and a sea of humanity covered the oval - aftershocks just kept on coming through. Interestingly, I noticed the birds in the trees would take flight a good thirty seconds before a shake passed through - they had advance warning some how.

It was a long night laying on the ground. It rained, people were miserable, wet, many felt scared and hopeless. The more information that started trickling in from others made us all realize this was a major catastrophe. Thousands had gone to the airport to try and get out, but nothing was flying - we heard the army had taken over the airport and become violent with people. In an instant taxi fares increased ten times, bottle water went from 25 rupees to 200 in some cases as immoral profiteering assholes started to take advantage of the situation - every thing was closed..

No power, no water, no communication, no food, not going to sleep inside a building…I decided I’d go to the Australian embassy at first light the next day.

The Australian embassy was completely prepared for the disaster having enough tents, food rations, medical supplies, communications and equipment to sustain one hundred and fifty people for three months.

April 15th, 2015. 11.56am. Earthquake. Pt.3

The manicured grounds and gardens of the Australian embassy were in stark contrast to the dust and confusion outside - it was eerily calm and almost pretty. There were already a number of Australians gathered on the embassy grounds, they were erecting tents, laying bedding, sorting army rations, organizing washing facilities and disinfectants, administration tables and other facilities being put together. People continued to arrive. We had enough rations and supplies to support us for three months, the consular general informed us.

The Australian embassy was also taking in people from those countries who had no office in Kathmandu, as well as nationals who were turned away by their embassy. A French couple told us they were asked for their name and passport number at their consulate gate to be told there was nothing else that could be done for them - they were turned away. Eventually the Australian embassy stopped admitting foreign nationals and took Australians only as more than one hundred and forty people began living on the grounds.

Every morning and evening we were updated by the consular general as to whether the airport was operating, what airlines were flying, what the damage was in Kathmandu and Nepal…The embassy satellite communications were made available to us whenever we required allowing contact to family members - I could’t be anything than very impressed with how we were provided for.


Being inside the Australian embassy was a vastly different experience to what had occurred outside the gates.

An Australian climber was brought in one afternoon with a puncture lung and taken to hospital, a TV channel news crew flew in and spent a few days. There was a geologist with us who was an incredibly interesting guy happy to explain the finer points of tectonic plate shift and the physics of the earth - he was never without company. But living in such close confines with so many people began to test the patience of some of us and after a while we were all pretty hopefully to get out sooner than later.

It was two weeks living at the Australian embassy before many could move on. During this time we made regular trips to hospitals to give blood. We also bought tarps, water, rice, poles, cooking pots etc and put together shelter kits for the many Nepalese who were still living outside on vacant ground and football ovals. We played cards, took trips to the airport, read, slept, waited..

One morning the consular general informed us the Australian Air Force was sending a C130 to lift us out to Bangkok. I declined a seat as I was wanting to go to Pokhara, but that didn’t go as smoothly as I’d hoped.

tbc

Kathmandu airport was heaving with activity as aid began arriving from around the world.

April 15th, 2015. 11.56am. Earthquake. Pt.4

Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport could only service seven large aircraft on the ground, and with the amount of aid being flown in from around the globe, the sky above Kathmandu was crammed with aircraft in holding patterns waiting to land - many planes having to divert to Delhi to refuel such was the waiting times. Any free space around the airstrip was full of arriving search and rescue teams, pallets of relief supplies - two weeks after the earthquake the airport was heaving with activity.


International aid flights had priority, so we spent eight hours on the tarmac before we could fly.

I boarded my Yeti flight to Pokhara at around eight in the morning, and we were still waiting for clearance at 4pm as priority had been given to the international aid being flown in. After an hour It became hot in the Yeti Airlines small Fokker (?) so I asked the captain if we could wait outside on the tarmac to which he agreed. We had a crew change during the day and the plane hadn’t moved an inch.


Search and rescue teams were everywhere.

Finally we were allowed to fly and thirty minutes later I was in Pokhara which seemed a world away from what was happening in Kathmandu. Pokhara was less affected by the earthquake as it sits on bedrock, whereas the Kathmandu valley is alluvial soil and much more unstable making it more susceptible to liquefaction and the effects of tectonic plate shift.


Posters who are active on CEO and TOF contributed money to the relief.

I found a grassroots aid effort being run by some travelers and joined the endeavor by buying supplies, loading trucks, and raising money. At the time I was posting updates on TOF and a couple of members sent sums of money to me so as to contribute to the relief efforts. @violet and others were very generous with their contributions.

Soon after I arrived a 7.4 earthquake hit which was hard to believe after the many Nepal had already endured the last fortnight. For the next few weeks I slept very light and a packed bag always sat near the door.


The grassroots relief effort organized by travelers in Pokhara for villages in the surrounding mountains that were effected.

For a couple of years after Nepal's earthquake event if a large vehicle rattled a window as it went by, or the wind shook something to make it clatter or clang, I was instantly on high alert put into the fight or flight state of awareness - thankfully that's now subsided.

It was an awful time for the people of Nepal, and I remember speaking with a Nepalese person about the disaster at the time when he said, "The difference between you and me is, you can leave."

End

Heck of a story, well told as ever!

Thanks, KFH

A newspaper seller sorts his papers on the footpath early this morning.

The owner of the guesthouse I’m staying in helped me out today. I went into the Yeti Airlines office this morning to buy a ticket from Kathmandu to Pokhara to be told the airline doesn’t accept local currency from foreigners - we have to pay in $US. I don’t have $US so offered $AUD - nope, $US only. Fine, I’ll fly with your opposition and give them the $US106 fare, in rupees! Telling the guesthouse owner where I am how I thought this behavior doesn’t serve the image of the airline very well, he told he will book the fare for me. Added to that, he's a registered travel agent, so he will sell me the ticket for Yeti's wholesale price of $US80. Needless to say I’ll be staying at this guesthouse again in the future. Put that in your masala tea and drink it, Yeti Airlines!


Normally if you stop anywhere near a rickshaw driver you're going to be verbally molested - this guy just hung out the back of his ride and nodded.

I often consider what it is exactly about travel I enjoy so much. Yes I’m interested in certain aspects of the history of the place, the food, culture…,but overriding these commonplace reasons by considerable measure is the freedom afforded you by being on the road. There are no commitments, no responsibilities, no requirements of you in any way with the option to change your mind on the flip of a dime. Not having to consider anyone or anything other than your own whims is truly satisfying, and now two weeks into the trip having settled into the rhythm of the road, I’m as happy as a seagull with a chip. For me, the most fulfilling, rewarding, zen-like state of being I can achieve is this true sense of freedom I feel while wandering around Asia. The only demands placed upon me are those I choose to place upon myself - and that ain’t too many. I understand this true freedom is indeed a privilege and Im most fortunate to have been accidentally born where I was.



India looms in the not too distant future and that’s reason to get a bit excited. I’ve not travelled as much as some others, but of the places I have seen, India is without doubt both the most rewarding and challenging experience to be had. The country has such geographic diversity from tropical beaches and deserts, to the Himalaya. It also has a tremendously rich culture that’s worn loudly upon its sleeve, and it’s difficult for your senses to not be triggered to a whole new level as you navigate its landscape. It’s my experience you can’t go to India and not be affected in some way, and that’s a pretty good reason to go, I think. If one feels life has become somewhat predictable and banal, go to India, strap yourself in, hold on, enjoy the ride.

May your life be lived by maps, compasses, boats and planes, and not a clock.

my opinion of India ( been heading there since 1975)

You either love it or hate it, there is little middle ground

Alex wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 11:32 am

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:51 am my opinion of India ( been heading there since 1975)

You either love it or hate it, there is little middle ground

Yeah, and unfortunately, I'm in the haters camp.

India 's not everyone's cup of chai, for sure. I've met people who have arrived in the country to be completely overwhelmed by the experience and booked a flight out within days of their arrival.

I regularly need respite from the bedlam which invariably involves a couple of weeks on a quiet-ish beach like Kudle in Gokarna, or somewhere in the mountains.

Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 2:06 pm

Alex wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 11:32 am

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:51 am my opinion of India ( been heading there since 1975)

You either love it or hate it, there is little middle ground

Yeah, and unfortunately, I'm in the haters camp.

India 's not everyone's cup of chai, for sure. I've met people who have arrived in the country to be completely overwhelmed by the experience and booked a flight out within days of their arrival.

I regularly need respite from the bedlam which invariably involves a couple of weeks on a quiet-ish beach like Kudle in Gokarna, or somewhere in the mountains.

back in 75, i was robbed on a train in India and ended up living for 4 months in Delhi waiting to get permission to leave ( needed exit stamp)
I arranged with a hotel in Old delhi to stay for free , if i met the daily train from Amritsar and get them to visit the hotel>

What you say is 100% spot on, i'd say 20% were booking flights out within 3 days, higher if they had just flown in from a western country
Personally love the country< otherwise couldn't have cycled for months on end from Ktm to lands end; so much to see, experience and smell

My favorite city is Calcutta, could spend the whole day sitting on the Howrah bridge, watching humanity