Bye Bye
Laura Jeffrey, Destination Expert
I don't know what the official Nepali National anthem is (no doubt it will soon change) but I would like to nominate ‘bye, bye' as the unofficial one. It is limited, in the main, to children under ten but within that section of society there are no other limits.
Tall, short, cycling, running, walking, shepherding, literate, illiterate, toothless, tooth-brushing, ragged, school-uniformed, naked, all Nepali children break into the most welcoming smiles, accompanied by tunefully calling ‘bye, bye' as you pass them. I found this endearing, enchanting and irresistible. Taking off from Kathmandu I can still hear them. Hopefully, it wont be too long before it is ‘hello, hello'.
