Flight Of Fancy

The Yeti Airways flight from Kathmandu to the small town of Meguali in southern Nepal was not where I expected to find love. But as they say, these things happen when you least expect it. As soon as we saw each other we knew. The smile she gave me was different to the ones she gave the other passengers. It was in her eyes. This smile wasn't just her standard "I've seen a million of you arsehole tourists but this is my job" façade smile, her eyes genuinely lit up when she saw me. And mine did too! I was amazed. The way we looked at each other it was like every decision we'd made in our lifetimes up until then was leading to that moment. We'd finally found each other.


Since she was young she knew she wanted to be an air hostess. She was aware that it was one genuine opportunity for her to be able to travel. The situation in Nepal with the civil war has limited the prospects of the country's citizens. The thought of being able to get away from all the troubles greatly appealed to her. She hoped that after gaining some experience with the small local carrier she could hopefully progress to Nepal's international airline. However, as Nepal Airlines flights were limited (and reputation poor), she secretly held hops of being able to join the flight staff of India's Jet Airways. For a Nepali, India is the dominant cultural influence and the allure of its big cities and bigger opportunities had intrigued her from an early age. As well has the access to her dreams of Bombay and Delhi, she was aware that Jet were expanding their international services and the prospect of seeing London or Paris, places she had only ever read about in school, truly excited her.

It wasn't that she wanted to abandon her family. The thought greatly saddened her. But she had a yearning for new experiences that couldn't be quenched. Her father knew that the small village she grew up in wouldn't be able to satisfy her. She was a precocious and impetuous child. Always interested in the wider world. Although he was suspicious of the the modern influences infiltrating village life, he understood that change was inevitable and while he may have feared the opportunities this progress brought to his daughter, he knew he had to trust her decisions. He gave his approval for her to seek work as an air hostess, he hoped that the position with Yeti would give her a more financially stable life than he had been able to provide.

What her father didn't consider was that his daughter might meet the man of her dreams, a foreigner, whilst she was working and decide to move away with him. He thought she'd always return to their village, or at worst move to Kathmandu, but the idea that she might run off to Melbourne with a handsome and charming young buck didn't enter into his mind. I, of course, wanted to make the situation as smooth as possible, so I went to meet with her father to ask for his permission to court his daughter. I told him that with her experience she should be able to pick up some work on an airline in Australia and I promised him that I would let no harm come to her whatsoever. We were in love! We couldn't be separated. After much reassurance he agreed to let her return to Australia with me on the condition we returned once a year for her to visit her family.

I'm positive our love with blossom when we fly back to Melbourne. She is genuinely excited by the prospect of moving to Australia. She can't wait to discover the myriad of new cultures and ideas that await her. She wants to know when I come from and become involved in my life back home. We've got to know each other quite intimately over the past few days. Our love making has been passionate and immensely satisfying. It is inevitable our relationship will continue to strengthen as we being our new life together in Melbourne.