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Kathmandu,Monday January 10, 2000 Paush 26th, 2056.
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Unsafe connecting flights
As an
American volunteer teacher working in Nepal for the last two years, I haven’t had
much chance (or money) to act as a tourist, but recently had two bad experiences
that don’t bode well for Nepal’s ability to attract tourists.
On a
trip to the Kathmandu Valley with a group of my Palpa village students, we went to
Bhaktapur’s Durbar Square on a Monday afternoon. My students walked right in, but I
was forced to pay Rs 300. Being a volunteer, a resident, and a Nepali speaker made no
difference. But that was all right. I approve of letting Nepalis in for free and charging
tourists a lot. However, once inside we discovered that all but one of the temples were
closed (and that one was inaccessible to me, a non-Hindu). Worse, the famous art gallery
charged Rs 300 even when everything is closed. The agent said, “We don’t give
any guarantee.” I don’t want a guarantee, just fair warning. Gouging tourists is
fine, but don’t cheat them.
The
second incident was worse. My 68-year-old mother had come from the US on a short one-week
visit. We wanted to stay at Bardiya National Park, and needed to fly from Bhairahawa to
Kathmandu and then quickly to Nepalgunj. Originally there seemed no problem; we had an
hour-and-forty-minute interval in Kathmandu between our Necon Air flights. When I picked
up the tickets just three days before, I discovered that the gap had shrunk to only 50
minutes. I asked at the Necon Air airport counter if that would be a problem. “Oh, no
sir; if the Bhairahawa flight delayed all the others will be, too.”
The
Bhairahawa flight was indeed delayed, by an hour and a half. I asked four different Necon
Air staff members, from ticket agents to hostesses, if there would be a problem, and to
please call Kathmandu to let them know we’d be late. “Oh, no problem, sir; your
Nepalgunj flight will be late, too.” Guess what? The Nepalgunj plane was indeed still
on the ground when we made it to Kathmandu, but check-in was finished, and they’d
given our seats to two other people. (“Oh, but sir, you didn’t let us know you’d
be late.”) We never made it to Bardiya.
As
air travel becomes increasingly prevalent in Nepal, more and more people will be catching
connecting flights. Airlines must make provision for checking on connecting passengers.
I
have nothing but respect for Nepal and its people. But attracting tourists requires an
emphasis on customer service and fair treatment that -- at least in my limited experience
-- is sorely lacking.
Chip Barnett,
Bhairahawa |
