On top of the world in Kathmandu

I was sorry to read about the unrest in Kathmandu this week. As a kid in the UK during the 1950s I used to daydream about far away places with strange-sounding names. One of those places was Kathmandu.

- Roger Crutchley

It sounded mystical and exotic with a Shangri-La aura about it. Just a glance at the atlas was enough to confirm its credentials. It looked like an exciting place perched on the edge of the formidable Himalayas. The 1953 expedition to Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay added to the appeal of Nepal. The summit had arguably been the last place on Earth untouched by mankind.

The best thing about the expedition was that a couple of months later all us kids got the afternoon off school to go to the cinema and watch the film, Conquest of Everest. Hillary and Tenzing became legitimate schoolboy heroes — anyone who could get us an afternoon off school deserved such an accolade.

Little did I know that 16 years later I would be sitting in the back of an open truck for the nine-hour ride from the Indian border at Birganj to Kathmandu. That journey in itself was a revelation with wonderful panoramas as we approached the Himalayan foothills. I can still picture the hillsides covered in colourful rhododendrons, the national flower of Nepal.

The week or so in Kathmandu was the most pleasant period of our three-month overland trip from London. It was all the more remarkable considering we were almost broke. Having the majestic backdrop of the Himalayas helped of course. It definitely made you feel that you were somewhere special. We were on top of the world.

Flower power