{"id":498,"date":"2013-02-19T00:25:23","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T16:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.joel.net.au\/?p=498"},"modified":"2026-10-13T00:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:54:10","slug":"dog-man-can-but-cat-man-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/day.lat\/lon\/2013\/02\/19\/dog-man-can-but-cat-man-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog man can but cat man do"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Colourful Buddhist Prayer Flags Draped Around a Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Had to get up early to catch my flight to Kathmandu. Not that the plane was leaving that early, but getting to the gate always takes hours. At the last moment, I realised I was probably a bit short on Thai Baht for a taxi from my hotel, so I decided to hoof it to the nearest Skytrain to see if I could get to the airport by public transport. Even though I had to hike a bit with all my luggage and make 3 train transfers, it worked out pretty smoothly in the end. <\/p>\n

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Colourful Flags Above a Busy Street in Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pack I’m using has been lying dormant since my last big trip, but I really appreciate its versatility and flexibility. It is canvas, which is a bit heavy for hiking, but durable enough for baggage handlers. The shoulder straps tuck away behind a zipper flap so they don’t get caught in airport luggage machinery, but when you need them for hiking distances and jockeying between trains, they’re nice to have.<\/p>\n

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Panoramic View of Kathmandu’s Colourful Urban Rooftops with the Himalayan Foothills in the Distance, Nepal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just a short flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu. Relatively speaking, anyway: 4 hours. The plane was deserted. A 777 with 9 seats across and only one other person in my row! Not exactly peak season for visiting Nepal. The flight in was quite spectacular because it flies over flat India, and you notice the hills starting to climb as you cross into Nepal. Soon enough, you are flying just above some pretty spectacular mountains as the plane starts to descend. Of course you think, “Where are they going to land this thing with this terrain?” but then the hills level off as you enter the Kathmandu valley, and you can see the big flat runway on the plain. <\/p>\n

Flight from Bangkok into Kathmandu<\/strong>
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Map of the route \u201cDog man can but cat man do\u201d: 2,341,768 m, 2,619 m of climbing and 1,130 m of descent, elevation between 8 m and 2,293 m, time 03:35:42. It starts at 13.69025, 100.74381 and ends at 27.69878, 85.35799 (latitude, longitude).<\/p>