Nepal (12/07/2011) : I recently spent two magical days in Kathmandu, Nepal visiting significant religious and cultural sites. We also took a memorable 45-minute Buddha Air scenic flight over the Himalayan mountain range for some breathtaking views of Mt. Everest, known locally as "Sagarmatha." The numerous and redundant, yet surprisingly ineffective, security checks/pat downs at the Kathmandu airport did not instill a lot of confidence in the infrastructure (nor did the pirated power lines and nonexistent traffic lights); however, the lack of regulatory oversight does have an upside -- all 16 passengers on the flight got to take turns (mid-flight) going up to the cockpit for a better view and photo opportunity.