As Annja deplaned, the sights and sounds of the region rushed back to greet her. With her visa properly stamped, she hailed a taxi.
“Thamel,” she requested.
The driver shook his head. “I can’t drive in Thamel. Streets too narrow. You need to take a rickshaw.”
Annja handed him a twenty-dollar bill. “Take me as far as you can and I’ll get along the rest of the way.”
The driver eyed the twenty and shook his head. “Dollar not good anymore. America economy bad.”
Annja frowned and pulled out another twenty. “How about this?”
The driver pocketed the money and nodded. “Now it’s good.” He shifted the taxi into Drive and bolted out of the parking space outside the airport terminal.
Annja opened her window and took in the smells of Katmandu. The combination of diesel fumes and sewage made her nose crinkle but only for a moment. She remembered the scent and knew it was only a matter of time before she grew used to it.
Nothing’s changed, she thought. The city still looks the same.
Twenty minutes after leaving the airport, the driver braked by a corner congested with people. “As far as I go. Thamel’s a few blocks farther down.”
Annja thanked him, then hopped out and dragged her bag with her. In all the years that she’d been traipsing across the globe, she’d mastered the science of packing light. She had a few key articles of clothing that could be combined into an endless array of outfits. That, plus her laptop computer and a credit card for quick purchases, helped her feel at ease with just a backpack.
She walked down the street as the sounds of the city bombarded her ears. Honking seemed to be its own form of communication. From the deep blasts of the truck horns trying to muscle their way through the city to the nasally beep-beeps of motorbikes threading through paths barely wide enough to accommodate them, the air felt thick with driver frustration.
Annja smiled as she reached the outskirts of Thamel and entered the quieter enclave. Traffic was significantly lighter. Rickshaws pulled past her and she waved two of them off. Small motorbikes zipped by, some of the drivers pausing to stare at her. Annja shook her head. She knew she was probably quite exotic-looking to the people of Nepal with her height, her long thick chestnut hair and amber-green eyes. She didn’t feel beautiful, especially not after the long flight, but people had commented on her looks enough that she accepted that many considered her to be very attractive, even if she wasn’t comfortable with it. She wanted a hot shower and a good night’s sleep. But first, she had to meet with Mike.
In his last email, he’d told Annja where to find him. He wanted to meet in the place they’d enjoyed so much the last time Annja had been here, a small American eatery called Blue Note.
It was the one place in Katmandu that Mike could find his favorite meal of all time—a cheeseburger and a cold beer.
Annja spotted the faded blue sign swinging back and forth in the dusty air and smiled. The owner refused to slap a fresh coat of paint on the building, preferring to keep an understated profile.
At the door Annja paused and then pushed her way inside. Instantly, she heard Ella Fitzgerald belting out an old song. She saw the gaggle of American faces turn toward her. She could pick out the mountaineers among them. They were eagerly poring over maps and studying the best routes that would take them in sight of Mount Everest.
But the Blue Note also attracted its fair share of surly characters, as well. She spotted two unshaven hulks of muscle eyeballing her from across the bar. Then she saw Mike’s hand waving her over and she grinned.
Mike Tingley looked more like a linebacker than a professor of obscure religions. He’d gone to college on a football scholarship and had refused to stop exercising as his years advanced. Almost forty-five, Mike could easily bench over three hundred pounds and his presence was more than enough to belay any hostility.
He rose as Annja came over to his table. “I see you made it safely.” He hugged her and then stepped back. “You look amazing.”
Annja grinned and punched him in the arm. “Cut it out. You know I just crawled off a plane after almost a full day in the air.”
Mike gestured for her to sit. “Grab a chair. I’m sure you’ve got questions.”
“Do you have the answers, though?” she asked.
He grinned. “First things first. You want a burger?”
Annja looked at Mike’s plate. Judging by the few remnants, he had already inhaled his favorite meal. “If I order one, do you promise to leave it alone?”
“I’ve already had my fill. You know I can’t resist this place.” He waved a waiter over and ordered for Annja. When the waiter returned a moment later with their beer, Mike raised his glass.
“Here’s to you, Annja. I appreciate you making the trip over. Really.”
Annja clinked glasses with him and then took a long sip. She put the glass down and smiled. “I’m happy to be here again. It’s been too long since we’ve worked together. Thanks for asking me to come along.”
Mike leaned forward. “So? What do you think of my plan?”
“At first I wasn’t sure what to think,” Annja said. “I mean what you’re proposing has been mulled over and even searched for for so long that most people consider it a pure fantasy. Or that it must have been destroyed many, many centuries ago.”
“And that’s what makes this so exciting,” Mike said. “Because I’m positive that everyone else has been searching in the entirely wrong part of this country for it. Everyone’s been wrong.”
“Except for you,” Annja said. “Imagine that.”
“Well,” Mike said. “I might be wrong, too. I guess we won’t know for sure until we actually get out there and find it.”
“What made you think you could even find the place, anyway?”
“It’s been a hobby of mine ever since I read the book that first described it in detail.”
“But Lost Horizon was a work of fiction. No one really believed that, did they?” Annja asked.
Mike nodded. “Plenty of people did. And plenty of them thought they were going to find it. As recently as a few years ago, there were still exploration teams making concerted efforts to locate it. But no one has ever succeeded.”
“Until now.”
Mike raised his glass. “You’re always the optimist, Annja. That’s what I love about you.”
“Plus, I’m the only friend of yours who’s crazy enough to actually fly across the globe to be a part of this.”
“There’s that, too,” Mike said with a laugh. “But if nothing else, at least we’ll have a fun time of it.”
Annja sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Shangri-La. It’s incredible to think that in this day and age a place supposedly so mystical and fantastic could even exist.”
“Well,
