Sleeping like a pretzel

There’s something refreshingly straightforward with AirAsia’s approach to travel. You want to get to Kathmandu? No problem, we can do that (all the time remembering that part of the approach is not to have any actual booking staff or, heaven forbid, travel agents involved). So…flight looked at once to check availability, you go back to look again and check the seating, “OMG” the price has gone up..panic…or alternatively clear your cookies so they don’t know it’s you looking again and more likely to book..hey presto the price has reduced, damn clever. (and thank you to my much sneakier than I daughter for that hint).

You can of course pay extra for seats with actual leg room or away from the galley or toilets. Any unsold premium flatbed seats also get sold off at the last minute. Magic.

Flight leaving at 12.45am, way after my bedtime. No premium upgrade for us on this leg…sleep looking like a distant memory…b ut wait there’s hope..we have three seats option booked as a backup…looking good.

If you’ve ever sat eating a juicy steak in a den of ravenous wolves (sounds like every meal time  at our house with our poor maltreated starving hounds gazing at food from their respective couches) you’ll know the feeling of sitting in a vacant row of three seats while all around are trying to get themselves settled into seats designed for thin midgets. Blocking out the loud comments about how difficult it was to get comfortable, how much someone else’s back hurt and just how lucky some people were…not to mention having to use rubber bullets and a sharp stick to keep marauders at bay…I settled down for a quiet sleep.

Seats are not designed to be slept in. Full stop.In an almost foetal position I could curl up in the allotted space although there was the ever present risk of either my feet or head overhanging and being hit by passing trolleys or people…possibly deliberately. Added to my comfort was my pillow had a slow leak…so I’m curled up like some z shaped chrysalis with its head at a really weird angle and probably making even more strange sounds (absolutely not snoring). At least I wasn’t worried by the service being intrusive.

Garden of Dreams -Kathmandu

Thamel Eco Resort -home!