Waiting for flight: Back to Surkhet from Jumla

Well it’s pretty excitement to visit Jumla, a heavenly place but the tedious thing is uncertainty of flight. When I tried to fly to Jumla, I went airport of Surkhet again and again. Many of the times, its flight postponed due to unavailability of passengers and bad weather. It’s really nice to visit Jumla but getting flight is really tedious. Going to airport and returning home- that seems to be regular awful activity.

Today I wake up early in the morning and check out immediately without any discount bargaining with hotel owner to catch the plane for Surkhet. With much more difficulty, I got the boarding pass and eagerly waited for the plane. Meanwhile I bought apples and put inside the bag. Everybody was there eagerly waiting for the plane with half hope because everyone knows the uncertainty of flight. Some are mumbling about not getting the flight. They were scolding the current political situation and some were accepting the fate.

Here weather is clean but we don’t know where the weather was gone wrong. Not a single plane is landing here in Jumla. Some people were full of apples in their baggage and some came with loads of apples to send down to Surkhet and Nepalgunj.

I am sitting on a bench in the shop nearby the airport with slight trace of hope of plane coming to Jumla. The shopkeeper is not telling anything to me. Occasionally the police guard at the gate of airport gives eye on me. Maybe he was thinking, ‘Why the hell is he here though flight is canceled.’ One or two people are here; rest went back to their hotel and home. I am just watching one pair of sparrows playing in front of me. Maybe they knew I am not going to hurt them. So they are not afraid of me. Sometimes they come nearby me and sometimes they go away. They are picking up their food spread in road. I am enjoying it. One sparrow found a piece of food which is large enough to kill its own appetite but it took it to its friend and shared it with the other. What a lovely relation they have, I am astonished.

The next day, I finally got the ticket with difficulty. People are around the ticket counter just like the group of bees around the honeycombs. It was so hotchpotch you can not even imagine the situation. People take money for the ticket but forget that they have already taken. You will get only boarding pass not the ticket. You will get the ticket only after frequent requests. I don’t know why there is no systematic way. It appears to be like riding a city bus.

Though it’s difficult to get the flight to Jumla and getting flight back to your home station, you have to visit Jumla. It is amazing. You will feel Jumla what really it is only after visiting this place.  You can get the mid level hotels here. You can enjoy apple brandy and sometimes grape brandy as well. Places to visit here are Jumla valley itself where Tila river is running down, Tatopani where you get the natural hot water, Karnali technical school, Pandugupha, Sinja valley and Birat palace. From Sinja, you can travel to Mugu to visit Rara Lake, the largest lake called ‘Nymph of heaven’.

On flight from Surkhet to Jumla, you will enjoy watching geographical terrains of Dailekh, Kalikot and Jumla and moreover you can see swirling pictures of Hema River, Tila River and Karnali River. They look really amazing.

See you Jumla next time.