Lost paradise - Kathmandu city

There was a time when Kathmandu was the place to visit for the long weekend. The shopping was fantastic, the weather great and of course there was gambling for the gambling-starved Indian.

Visiting Kathmandu after a decade is a let down. The city has filth all over. There are beggars at every tourist spot. Children hound you for money at every step.

The shops have nothing which is not available in any Indian metro. All shops accept Indian currency, but only Rs 100 notes - neither Rs500, Rs 1000 or the smaller currency. The change is returned in Nepali currency and candy.

There is just one mall - the Bhat Bhateini. Nothing special here. The only thing one could contemplate shopping is the crockery, of which there is a great variety. But it isn't cheap. Though how you could carry it home is another issue. The mall also has chocolates sold at a bargain.

The other place you could see for shopping is Thamel. Its choc-o-bloc full of shops selling the usual touristy stuff - silver jewelery, tees, shawls, paintings, etc. Bargain at all times - there's no such thing as fixed prices.

The casino at Yak & Yeti was the biggest disappointment. The only reason people seem to have come here is to see the cheapie entertainment. There's a girl, who looks like a guy, surrounded by guys, who look like girls. Everyone is wearing clothes to a minimum. The gyrate ( not dance) to popular Bollywood music. Look like some bar-girls imported from Mumbai. To top it there are groups of Punjabi lalas throwing Rs 100 notes at the dancers. Bad scene.

Travelling in the city is very difficult. The public transport looks scary with small mini-buses filled to capacity. The cabs drive a hard bargain. It it is raining, everything comes to a standstill.

Advice: Carry an umbrella with you at all times.

Patan: The buildings are chipped and are falling apart. The streets have garbage all over. The cash counter selling tickets for entrance to the monuments never have change, so be prepared to forgo the Rs 5 change. Not a pleasant experience.

Kathmandu is a paradise lost.

Airport Watch - Kathmandu - Basic

Tribhuvan Airport, Kathmandu at Nepal is a basic airport. It fulfills its task - letting passengers arrive and take off - that's it. Large improvement since the last time I was here a couple of years back. Its cleaner. Toilets seem cleaner, and immigration more efficient. In general staff seem more professional.

There are just 2 duty free shops selling everything at exorbitent inflated prices. The other 2 duty free shops selling alcohol are closed. They still have the closure notices dated June 08 giving no reason for closure or when they would reopen.

The baggage takes endless time to come.

The touts outside can be pretty annoying. You will be astounded at the mob of people shouting and trying to take your bag to a cab. Just be firm in saying 'No'.

The VIP lounge is comfortable with a TV telecasting all Indian channels. No special facilities - just drinking water but comfortable chairs.

Rating for Kathmandu Airport: 4/10

Airport Watch - Indira Gandhi, Delhi - Still one of worst

Delhi airport ranks among the world's worst airports. Believe me the time spent at the airport is no pleasure.

The airport is currently undergoing a major refurbishment which I thought that things would get worse before they got any better. Sure the construction material is no longer in place, but there seems no earth shattering change. Its old wine in new bottle. The airport is still crowded, the staff still sullen and keep shouting to each other across, though the toilets have changed for the better. They're reasonably clean now

Airport Code : DEL

Airport Name : Indira Gandhi International

GMT Offset : +5.5

Longitude : 77° 5” E

Latitude : 28° 34’ 10” N

Country Code: 91

Telephone: (011) 2566 1000 (Terminal 1) or (011) 2560 2000 (Terminal 2)

Duty Free Shopping: Just 2 Duty free shops with perfumes and alcohol, alcohol and more alcohol. Indians must be the most 'thirsty' people. Nothing more. The floor tiles are broken in one shop, so be careful in your heels. One of the shops is bang in the centre of the airport.

Airport facilities: Toilets are OK, though located in a corner.

Chairs are decently comfortable, but you can't sleep in one if you wanted. There's no sleeping room. No carpeting.

Drinking water: is to be searched.

Signs - few.

First aid - goodness knows where.

Food and Drink - A couple of scattered counters. Just basic sandwiches.

Luggage Trolleys - Free and plentiful.

Pay Phones - A number of Airtel paid phones.

Internet Access - One Counter with 1 laptop

Money and communications: Banks, bureau de change facilities, a post office.

Luggage: There is a left-luggage facility at the premium car park area near Terminal 2 and the standard car park opposite Terminal 1.

Its a bare airport - no landscaping, no beauty. And just nothing to do if you got time to kill.

Advice: Carry a novel.

Transfer between Terminals: Free shuttle running 24 hours

Rating: 3/10 Still the worst

Bangaram Island

Bangaram is an uninhabited island. It is 1-1/2 hr boat ride from Agatti Island. The boats are from another century - a basic boat, without shelter. So start off as early as possible - definitely by 5:30 or max by 6am as it becomes very hot by the time you reach Bangaram. Also since the motor is run on diesel, the fumes can get very overwhelming. The boat man will also be catching your lunch simultaneously. The fish caught are so beautiful that you actually feel sad that they are going to land up on your dining table.

Advice : Sit in front of the boat, as far away as you can from the motor.

The moment you reach the island - you gape at the immense virgin beauty of the island. If you've lived in Mumbai or any other metro city in India, overrun by a sea of humanity, you will surely appreciate the serenity and the raw beauty.

The colours - every shade of green , blue and some other colours which you never even knew existed just overwhelm your senses.


There are huts on the island, but were probably built to keep your luggage or your slippers. This is one place where you will be ALL the time on the beach. Then you go through the same routine of sleeping in the hammock, tanning, swimming in the lagoon, eating the fresh catch, and again swimming in the cleanest waters where you look down and spot all those yellow stripped, blue fish swimming between your legs. Guys, one could get used to this place!

After lunch, we took a boat ride on a glass bottomed boat to see the corals. As the water is abs clear and no factories to kill the corals, there's an abundance of all species of the corals. The view is just breathtaking. The sun is hot and beats down your head, but we never noticed it.


Advice: Carry an umbrella with you all the time.



Bangaram has a helipad. No idea who would be using it but it makes up for a good walk.

Soon it 5pm and time to go back. If you want to stay overnight here, you need to tell the authorities in advance as they get all meals from Agatti. The ride back is rough. The sea was rougher that the morning, and water splashes down your head like a downpour. The handy umbrella comes in use again.

Going to Bangaram is one of the most memorable trips of a lifetime. You start and end with broad smiles. Its a definite for any one if your work is getting to you and you don't want to pay a dime to the doc.

Agatti - Where to stay

Agatti does not have hotels galore. There is the the Agatti Resort where you have to make reservations a year in advance. You simply cannot walk into the island and hunt a hotel, if such a thing was even remotely possible. Travelling to the island closes for tourists between mid April to mid Sept.

The Agatti Resort, a 3 min walk from the airport consists of 20 cottages (A/C, Deluxe & Non A/C). Each hut faces the spotlessly clean palm fringed sandy beach. You could leave your footwear behind in the room for the entire holiday. If only I lived here, think of the small fortune I could save.
The resort's restaurant is the only place where one can have a decent meal. In simple terms that would mean a sandwich. The island has no restaurants where you can sit and dine, except for a few take-aways which have a very limited choice. And if you made the mistake of landing up in the month of Ramazan, your food choices become even more limited. Then you think, what the heck - you never came here for the food anyways!
Advice: Carry your Maggi noodles and packed ready to eat foods.

The other option of staying is the PWD guest house. You need to be a Govt of India employee to book here. The rooms here are clean but spartan. Only two rooms have A/C, so if somebody is already staying here, you tend to land up with the non A/C rooms. The in-house cook will cook your meals for you whatever is available. Don't expect to get any bread here if the only baker on the island has gone off to mainland to visit relatives.

These two places have the most gorgeous jetty in front where you can walk in the morning, afternoon, eve and see the sun set. Both these resorts face the west side of the island which is the calmer side of the sea as this is the lagoon side. The east coast has the wild ferocious sea.

The past time here is going to be hammock relaxing, lying on the sand, staring at the view, fishing, photographing, tanning yourself or the more difficult task of trying to hunt for the place you forgot your slippers - definitely not eating. One thing - there's only goat milk available here. That solves the mystery of the flight attendant getting milk in his luggage.

Airport watch - Agatti (Out of the world)

Agatti, 459 km from Cochin, is the only island in the Lakshadweep Islands with an airport having direct flights from Cochin.

Whatever you have read on the net does not prepare you for the out of the world experience. At the Cochin airport, when I saw the flight attendent take 2 packets of milk in his hand luggage, that made me very wary and suspicious! Why would anyone want to take MILK to his home town (the guy belonged to Agatti)?

The aircraft is small, one where you walk up 7 steps a ladder into the aircraft holding on to the side support tightly. Inside, you gape at the seating - its two persons a row seperated by the centre aisle and the craft isn't even full. There's no door for the pilot's cabin. If you're sitting on the front row, you can extend your hand and swipe the pilot's sandwich. The girls giggle and whisper snide hijack jokes.

After flying for about 40min. on turquoise blue sea, suddenly you see a slipper shaped island. Its Agatti. The aircraft comes down on probably the shortest runway in the world.
When you come out of the aircraft, the first thing that you notice that this is the most unusual airport. Look left - its the east coast, look right - its the west coast. Look straight - its the end. The next thing you notice- your cell phone has no signal.
The runway is just 1min walk from the 'arrival lounge'. Lounge is a figurative word - its actually a thatched hut with 2 rooms - one is the arrival lounge and the other is the departure lounge.
It takes just 5 min for you to complete the formalities - you can actually see the guy carry your luggage in.
Walk out of the door, look around and you realize you've stepped into paradise.
My Rating for the Agatti Airport: 9.5/10 (Only because I NEVER give 10. Location, location is the key.)

Airport watch - Hyderabad (Love it)

Built at a cost of Rs 2,478 crore, the new swanky airport at Shamsabad, Hyderabad is impressive. Probably since its built from scratch. The first impression you get as you enter is its breadth-taking impressive modern glass and steel facade. The next thing that stikes you is the cleanliness. You see with disbelief the yellow clad staff polishing everything in sight even in the middle of the night.

Why, this could be Doha or even Dubai! Its as modern as any international airport in the world. The ground staff is very courteous and are only too keen to do their jobs, which is an unnerving but pleasant departure from the staff of the Delhi airport. The moment you land, one of them tries to give you a trolley or a ride on one of the electric trolleys if you have a a toddler and even if you don't.

Your baggage is ready even before you land up at the conveyor belt. It has the best baggage disposal method I've seen. The baggage comes from a underground conveyor system, and then is pushed out from the centre to land on the moving belt - no human hands involved.

The shops in the aiport are not yet fully occupied, but those that are are useful and manned by friendly, courteous staff. Dabur has a large Wellness shop selling all utility items in the basement selling .

The road leading to the airport is not yet fully complete. Be careful of crazy wrong lane bike driving guys trying to criss cross the highway. A 12 Km flyover is being constructed to overcome the traffic congestion. The 5 km road around the airport is asthetically landscaped.

Everything is great, except the distance - which is 40 Kms from the city. You need at least 45min to reach the airport if there is no traffic and 1.5 hrs if travelling in peak time.

Rating for Hyderabad Airport: 9/10 (That too because of the distance from the city)