A woman from the city and her friend from Mumbai escaped strife-torn Nepal on Thursday after witnessing charred cars and burnt buildings during a tense drive through deserted Kathmandu streets to reach the airport.
Park Circus resident Pritha Soni and her friend Sanyukta Dalvi from Mumbai reached Kathmandu on September 7 for a four-day holiday, but found themselves trapped as anti-government protests flared up.
Despite their flight's 2pm departure, their hotel insisted they leave by 9am on Thursday because of an impending 10am curfew. The 30-minute journey from their Lemon Tree Premier hotel in Budhanilkantha to Tribhuvan International Airport revealed a city ravaged by violence.
"At six to seven places on our way to the airport, we saw charred cars on the roadside. Most buildings were burnt too. It looked like a war-ravaged city," said Pritha on her way home to Calcutta on Thursday evening. "The road was mostly deserted except for army personnel and their vehicles. There were no civilians."
The ordeal for the two friends began on Monday when they encountered their first deserted roads, though without the destruction they would later witness. They had to walk 10 minutes through empty streets to reach their Holiday Inn Resort hotel after curfew was announced while they were dining at a restaurant.
By Tuesday morning, hotel authorities relocated them because the Holiday Inn property belonged to a Nepalese minister and officials feared it could become a target of the Gen Z protesters.
At their new hotel, Lemon Tree Premier, the situation deteriorated further. The friends endured three hours of gunshots on Tuesday afternoon, followed by fireworks throughout the night that kept them sleepless. From their hotel, they could see smoke rising from a former Prime Minister's residence.
The violence claimed several lives, including that of Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar, wife of former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, who suffered serious burns when protesters trapped her at home and set it ablaze. She later succumbed to her injuries in the Dallu area of Kathmandu.
Tuesday evening brought news that Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli had resigned, triggering street celebrations.
For Pritha and Sanyukta, Thursday's departure proved as challenging as their stay. The friends joined three-hour-long check-in queues at the chaotic Tribhuvan airport, where exhausted staff struggled to process hundreds of passengers, mostly Indians, being evacuated.
"The airport was chaotic. There were long queues and many passengers were sitting on the floor," Pritha said. "Most employees at check-in counters looked exhausted and overworked."
Security checks added another lengthy wait. Personnel thoroughly searched hand luggage, even questioning whether jewellery pieces were real or fake.
Their Air India flight finally departed at 2.45pm — 45 minutes late — reaching Delhi at 4pm. Pritha reached Calcutta in the evening.
Pritha, who runs a travel agency, had intended the trip to experience Nepal's tourist attractions firsthand so she could promote the destination to clients. Instead, she returned with a sobering reminder of how quickly political situations can endanger travellers.