yesterday baba and i went to koteshwor, on the 'rooftop' of a 4-floor sunrise restaurant to check how much of a vantage point it would be for plane watching. we watched one jet landing and two taking off as sunset slowly gave way to darkness...
we started out a bit late from home and headed east towards the airport...
... past a cassia tree in bloom in babar mahal...
... past haphazard traffic, wires and jay walkers...
over the bagmati bridge from where we could see dark rain laden monsoon clouds
... past various banners and billboards of schools with weird names.. the ass was right.. all those names were not made up....glacier international and pentagon...
... or texas...
... or mega... or pacific...
... and past billboards of different sorts... ones about the 'university of freshology'! and the other one promoting a concert in namche!
... then sarararara.. on a bit of japani highway...
... and a japani traffic junction...
... as we waited at the red light.. a buddha air atr came in to land...
... the view from the rooftop (actually a huge billboard blocks view to the south of this scene!) the highway curving its way east towards the bridge over the manohara river and eastwards towards bhaktapur...
... clear view of kot...
... nice overview of the runway...
... and of the apron...
... and to the west from the two bhanjyangs... sunsety monsoon clouds...
... the veggie and meat market in koteshwore alongside the ring road...
... and directly opposite it, beyond the runway.. a view of the old basti, the newer homes, and upcoming multi-storey apartment blocks near pepsi cola...
.. the best and most interesting view , of course is the view of the traffic junction.. very near to the point where kathmandu, lalitpur and bhaktapur meet...
it's a hubbub.. a place for youngsters to meet and share notes...
.. a place to sell your wares.. clothes...
... selling the fruits of the season.. mangoes...
.. or fresh corn roasted on the cob...
... and other trinkets.. as the group of youngsters get more animated in their guffgaff...
and then a guy in red shirt and dragging a piebald goat appears on the scene...
...he does not seem to be in a hurry to get anywhere... as he seemed content watching the world go by...
.. then he gets more comfortable.. having tied the goat to the railing...
... and then he meets an acquaintance... more guff gaff
.. meanwhile the traffic rolls on between the three cities...
... then a greentailed jet starts rolling back in the apron...
... it waited quite a while on the taxiway.. waiting for another plane?? sure enough... a bright speck to the south past metal pipes and grills holding the billboard in place ..
... the jet approaches closer...
... and then this short clip as the gulf air plane appears from behind the billboard and lands at tribhuvan international airport... and then after the half minute mark my camera shakes a lot... sorry about that...
.. so our verdict.. great place to see landings.. planes are too far up during take offs.. but if you love watching people as much as planes.. and not minding having some sekuwa and tass on the side.. then surely a place to drop by on days with maximum jet flights... enjoy the runway lights...
we started out a bit late from home and headed east towards the airport...
.. so our verdict.. great place to see landings.. planes are too far up during take offs.. but if you love watching people as much as planes.. and not minding having some sekuwa and tass on the side.. then surely a place to drop by on days with maximum jet flights... enjoy the runway lights...
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