After 16 days trekking in the remote north eastern mountains of Nepal, sleeping in tents and experiencing rain, snow and freezing nights - we were all sharing our fantasies of hot showers as we headed towards a hotel in Kathmandu, but first the short flight from Chandragadi Airport.

We arrive early for our 2:15pm flight, there’s a 50/50 mix of western tourists returning to Kathmandu and local Nepalese travellers in the airport building, and it’s getting busier for the afternoon departures.
Luggage is piling up in the spaces between the bare metal rows of seats which offer little comfort, whilst the rotating ceiling fans ineffectively move the stale, warm air around the large, open departure hall.

That’s about the sum total of this airport, a large open hall, double height and with the seats facing two desks, one for Buddha Air and one for our flight operator, Yeti Airlines. There’s no large screens for travellers to gather around, no refreshment or gift shops (there’s a couple of stalls outside), and just a couple of doors, one giving a view to the silent runway beyond and one currently heavily gated but seemingly leading to some toilets!

As we sit and wait an elderly Nepalese lady stares at us, barely hiding her fascination at this group of foreign travellers and their chat about the surroundings.

The small TV screen behind the Buddha Air departure desk displays a message “delayed due to weather at destination airport” and, mysteriously, “sequence delay - revised”.
The TV screen behind the Yeti Airlines desk is blank, offering no updates about our flight.

We’re told our flight is delayed to 4pm and we try to get comfortable. After three weeks we’ve come to anticipate that Nepal doesn’t necessarily prioritise good time keeping. There’s no wifi signal in the building, and the signal for the ‘tourist’ SIM cards some of our party purchased in Kathmandu remains weak and so we’re accustomed to feeling out of touch, the lack of flight information now just seems reasonable.

Suddenly a Buddha Air flight is announced and travellers around us jump to their feet, there’s confusion for a moment but only as an elderly passenger is ushered to the front of the queue. Half the waiting travellers file through the previously gated exit, the “ladies” and “gents” signs above it still confusing.

Our flight is now due “about 5pm” and there’s some concern that we’ll be sleeping here - our aircraft is apparently between Pokhara and Kathmandu, it’s not yet cancelled but seems like a long way away.
Buddha Air are still listing flights until 8pm so there’s plenty of time if our plane arrives.

The building is filling up now as more locals arrive in anticipation of the later flights, more luggage is piled wherever there’s space.

There’s still no activity at the Yeti Airlines desk, where “You come first” and the screen remains blank. It’s now 3:30pm and we should be arriving at our Kathmandu hotel and jumping in that hot shower.

Another Buddha Air Flight is called but there’s absolutely no indication the previous one has departed. The screen still displays “15:10 - Revised, Sequence Delay”. The Yeti Airlines screen remains blank.

Suddenly progress!
Our guide calls us forward and we head to the departure gate. At the same time there's a thoroughly undecipherable tannoy message, followed by a minute of what might be music, or feedback, it’s not at all clear.
We queue for security and are called forward one-by-one. The incongruous ladies and gents sign suddenly made clear as we’re split into separate lines to be searched. Despite having a mobile phone, wallet and camera battery in my pocket, the guard is more interested in the empty sweet wrappers in my other. We all pass through unchallenged and enter a facsimile of the previous room.

But this one has a “Sky Cafe”, and windows out to the airfield beyond.
Not that there's anything to see, the Buddha airline passages called through earlier are still here.

Our plane has left Kathmandu we’re told, hopefully it's heading in the right direction and we won't be sleeping here.

Finally the Buddha passengers make their way to an aircraft that’s just pulled up alongside the building. Nepalese passengers, young families as well as elderly couples line the window to watch the takeoff.

I head to the toilet in this new hall, although the smell very nearly deflects me from the door, an extractor fan buzzes uselessly overhead and a prominent sign above the urinal in front states “No Spitting”. The man next to me hacks up a gob full of spit and deposits it with maximum volume in the bowl next to me.

We had lunch in a cafe on the way to the airport but it seems hours ago and so we empty the Sky Cafe’s shelves of crisps, if only to distract us from further delay.
It's 4:30 PM and there's a spark of excitement as our bags are spotted being transported out to where we hope our aircraft will shortly appear. And from the descending gloom a pin-prick of light appears, growing into a brightly painted Yeti Airline aircraft that lands and taxis in front of us. There's an audible cheer and almost immediately fellow passengers begin to queue to board, we sit and enjoy our crisps.

This hall is now filling up too, children are crying and the volume is increasing. There's an electrician working in the ceiling fixing new cables, his drilling adding to the unwelcome din. At 5pm we’re called for our flight, the gleaming twin engine aircraft having been pulled up alongside the building and despite it still being refuelled and loaded with luggage, we simply walk out to it to board.

Clearly the crew are aware of the delay and our keenness to get to Kathmandu, the loading is swift and we're soon rolling along the runway and lifting into the murky sky for our 45 minute flight.

10 minutes in and suddenly the delay, frustration and desperation for a hot shower are long forgotten.

As we rise above the clouds, to our right hand side, Kanchenjunga, our elusive quarry for the last three weeks is putting on quite a show, lit by the late afternoon sun. She's displaying her full majesty, a wall of snow-clad rock reaching far above us even now. The distinctive profile of Jannu stands proud alongside, bidding us a dramatic farewell.
As the sheer scale of the Kanchenjunga range eventually trails behind us, Everest and her surrounding peaks grab our attention. Bathed in the pink sunset, like a Turner watercolour, the scene is breathtaking viewed from the small aircraft windows. We’re mesmerised for 20 minutes as our aircraft seems to travel at a snails pace, until the sun finally sets and the aircraft turns for Kathmandu.

But of course, the day’s ending cannot be straightforward and the 45 minute flight becomes 1 hour 15 minutes as we circle high above the Nepalese capital waiting to land. We catch glimpses of the city below us, lit up, a picture of neon lights and car headlights as we finally touch down.
Our passage through the airport is swift, but just as we feel we're on the fast track to the hotel, we hit the infamous Kathmandu rush hour.

We finally arrive at our hotel at 8:00 PM, nine hours since we arrived at Chandragadi airport and four hours later than we expected. We decide dinner will take priority so there’s just time to drop off bags and head across the road to the restaurant.

Finally, at 11pm I step into a hot shower for the first time in 3 weeks, the memory of this afternoon’s delay washing away with the soap suds streaming down the plug hole but the images of snow capped mountains and stunning scenery, whether glimpsed from an aircraft or trekking amongst them will last much, much longer.