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Chapter 3 - continued...
A battered old jeep arrived in a cloud of dust. Two grungy looking passengers hopped out and the Jeep took off in the same direction it came. They both had large bulgy backpack slung over their shoulders. Both were dressed in old worn denim, pants, shirts and jackets. On their feet, they had snake skinned boots. Baseball caps were pulled down low to cover their faces. At least 3 days worth of beard covered their chins. I hope they at least used deodorant. I can’t imagine an enclosed space like a plane cabin with three smelly hombres!
Yanci announces we are finally ready to board. He offers to throw my bags in the cargo hold and I reluctantly allow him to toss them in. The other two guys just shake their heads and hold on to the bags tightly. What’s up with that? Makes me wish we had some sort of security clearance here in the boonies.
The two settle in the first set of seats. I guess that leaves me to sit upwind of the smell. Wunderbar! Yanci tells me to go up and sit in the co-pilot’s seat. I asked why and he shrugged his shoulders.
“I guess I like company on long hauls.”
This doesn’t make any sense to me, but who am I to argue the point. Long haul? Not that much. I figure about four hours give or take. I take the seat and settle in for what ever may happen. This part of the trip has been just plain weird. I strap in and Yanci fires up the engines. He seems to know what he is doing. He puts on his head set and motions for me to do the same.
We rumble down the dirt runway, kicking up a cloud of dust. In minutes we are airborne and banking hard for our course to Kathmandu. I feel better now at least I’m finally on my way.
We don’t hear a peep from the other two. Yanci, on the other hand, is a real chatter box. Yanci obviously enjoys sports, especially soccer. He follows all the teams religiously and can name each player on every world class team! He is looking forward to this year’s World Cup which is being held in Japan in December. He is almost as excited about the prospect of having a seat down at center field level as I am of finding the yeti! But I won’t share those sentiments with him.
Apparently, Yanci was an air force test pilot before he decided to free lance. He just couldn’t resist showing off a few of his talents! He flew the small jet into large loops and ended flying upside down. Flying at close to 600 miles per hour upside down is not my idea of fun! One of the guys in the back tossed his cookies on his snake skinned boots. Yanci swore under his breath and reached under his seat for a dirty rag which he tossed over his shoulder to the poor hapless guy. I didn’t toss mine but I felt like it.
The rest of the flight was tranquil. No more aerobatics were performed. The air in the cabin was becoming a little fetid by the time we prepared to land at the International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. After a slightly bumpy landing I am ready to meet my guide for the next part of this trip.
To be continued...
