Helicopters take reluctant passengers across the Nepal border - Photo: Hoang Viet
You said there are only two ways: one is to go a short distance and have to walk through a landslide for more than 2 hours, the other is to hire two helicopters to take us straight from the border to Kathmandu.
Dilemma
That afternoon, the group had to quickly discuss. Returning was not possible because the Tibet Permit (a travel permit that tourists must apply for when traveling to Tibet) did not allow for changes to the itinerary, meaning the group was forced to leave Tibet on the 9th day and could not return the same way.
Continuing on by road is not good either because of the cumbersome luggage (all kinds of warm clothes, warm pants, warm scarves, everyone carries 4-5kg to fight the cold on the Tibetan plateau) and walking for 2-3 hours through the landslide-prone mountain pass is not possible.
Nepalese children in Kodari - Photo: Hoang Viet
Everyone decided to go by helicopter even though they didn't know how much it would cost, and their money for the trip was almost gone. VISA cards wouldn't work here. After asking two French girls sitting next to them in the restaurant, they were told it would cost 300 USD each, and the whole group was a bit scared.
Luckily, we called the Nepalese guide we had contacted earlier. After a while of back and forth, he agreed on a price of 200 USD/person, but we still tried to pay more. We told him to try to find 2 more people to agree to go together to split the cost.
The next morning, in a state of anxiety, the group lined up one by one to go through Customs.
Field airport on top of Kodari hill - Photo: CTV
When we got there… we couldn’t find our tour guide anywhere. We called him but he was still not there. There were only a few dozen “brokers” waiting, calling to offer us a taxi ride back to… Kathmandu. One of them was very eager to carry the group’s luggage, saying he “knew” his tour guide.
Being unfamiliar with the place, the group refused and forced him to call the other guide. After more than a dozen calls, the guide named Ram finally picked up.
It turned out that Ram had to stay at Kathmandu airport to handle the flight procedures, and this friend was really a "broker", but Ram told the whole group to follow him, he would take them to the helicopter area without charging a penny.
After quickly and easily completing customs procedures at the immigration "room", still surprised by the bustling scene in the border town of Kodari, the group was loaded onto a pickup truck with their luggage untied.
The car bounced over a potholed road, shot up a 45-degree slope, and finally came to a halt in a remote mountain village.
Everyone still didn't understand anything and couldn't see the helicopter, then saw their luggage being quickly carried away by the villagers. The 8 children ran after them and saw that their luggage had been brought to an elementary school on the top of the hill.
Taking a photo with the handsome pilot - Photo: Contributor
It turns out that when the road collapsed, the Nepalese army quickly set up a makeshift airport right in the elementary school yard. Now the whole group breathed a sigh of relief, waiting for the helicopter to "pick them up" and took the opportunity to play and take pictures with the students and people here.
After a morning filled with so many emotions of anxiety, confusion, and panic... only then did everyone have time to gradually feel the beauty of the mountains and forests, of the simple people on the border; of the Nepalese children with big round eyes, smiling shyly when meeting "foreigners" for the first time.
"Unintentional" helicopter trip across the border
The helicopter was nowhere to be seen, but the loud rumble of its engine could be heard from afar, then a tiny dot appeared between two steep cliffs in the distance. In just a few minutes, the helicopter appeared before our eyes.
The group had not yet finished their excitement with their cameras taking pictures when they had to cover their eyes and run away because the helicopter made a cloud of dust fly all over the school yard when it landed. Immediately after that, the first group of us was taken to the helicopter, the Nepalese "broker" exchanged something with the pilot and then "invited" two other Nepalese friends to come along. Later, we found out that these two friends were from the village here, asking to "hitch a ride" on the helicopter to Kathmandu to speed up.
Flying across the border by helicopter - Photo: CTV
The entire helicopter ride took only a few minutes, and everyone still had not gotten over the indescribable feeling of joy, shock, and fear when they found themselves sitting very high above the ground in a tiny plane, and below them was a green patch of fields and streams.
The helicopter took us through different altitudes, through high cliffs, and in the distance we could see the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas looming through the clouds. The beautiful and constantly changing scenery made everyone forget their initial fear and the annoying buzzing noise of the engine.
After more than 30 minutes of flying, passing through a high cliff, the Kathmandu valley appeared brilliantly before us. Nature is truly amazing when, amidst the mountains and hills (occupying more than 80% of the country's area), Nepal has been gifted with a lush green valley like Kathmandu.
Beautiful view of Nepal border from helicopter - Photo: CTV
For generations, this place has been chosen by Nepalese kings as their capital, and even when the capital was moved, it was always around the same places in this valley. That is why Kathmandu later had the very nice name "valley of kings".
The helicopter landed at Tribuhvan Airport (also the name of a Nepalese king) to our regret. Everyone wished they could stay longer to admire the colorful beauty of this country, from the green of the fields and gardens to the hot orange of the houses and temple architecture of Kathmandu or the haunting white of the 9 snow-capped mountains in the Himalayas...
Nepal gave us a strange welcome…
