My travel diaries
Saturday 19 to Sunday 20 May, 2007 - Kathmandu, Nepal
The following day, Saturday, I move into Tina and Siling's place, a huge four-storey mansion on a hill near the edge of the City, shared with most of Siling's family. The ground floor is occupied by Siling's sister Drolma and her family, the first floor by his brother Tsering and family, Siling and Tina have the second floor, and their father, who appears to be known only as Papa, lives in a shrine in the attic. It's a friendly household and the kids run around freely from floor to floor. My appearance in the house is a source of great interest, and I meet Siling's nieces, 8 year old Kunsang and 4 year old Rinchen, early on. Unfortunately for them I don't turn out to be very interesting, as for most of the weekend I'm sprawled out on a pair of floor cushions, sleeping soundly.
On Saturday evening we're invited down to Tsering's flat to watch, of all things, the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea. Once again, I keep falling asleep and waking up to find Siling and Tsering laughing at me. I make it to the end of full time with a Herculean effort, but when the game goes to extra time, I can't take it any longer, and head back upstairs for some more sleep. Apparently it was a very boring game, anyway. Chelsea eventually won 1-0.
On Sunday I decide to walk into Thamel, and ask Siling for directions. He gives me a map but tells me that the route is very easy. I walk past Swayambhunath, the monkey temple, and basically head straight on. I get confused, and have to ask him to repeat the directions. The road weaves in and out a bit, but Siling is right, I stay on the same road all the time. Even so, I have to keep stopping to look at my map and reassure myself I'm going the right way. When I reach Chhetrapati, a junction of six narrow thoroughfares on the edge of Thamel, I get even more confused. It's very busy. Rickshaws, mopeds and taxis compete for every square inch of road and the noise begins to overwhelm me. In my confused state, I need a moment or two of quiet to compose my thoughts, but as a western tourist standing there with his map in hand and looking lost, I'm a magnet for the rickshaw drivers, who won't leave me alone. Eventually, I work out where I'm supposed to be going, and head off for the relative tranquillity of Thamel.
And amazingly, it is tranquil. Normally this part of Kathmandu is abuzz with trekkers, hippies and hawkers, but now that the main tourist season is drawing to a close, it's remarkably quiet. I find an internet café and go to check my e-mails for the first time in nearly a month. It takes me about three hours, not because I'm extremely popular and have hundreds of messages to wade through, but because I keep falling asleep at my workstation.
That evening I'm exhausted, and no company for Tina and Siling at all. I sprawl on floor cushions in their flat, and feel like I weigh two tons, so soundly do I crash out. I'm still very confused, and I only find out later that Tina is worried about me. Should they be taking me to the back end of nowhere the following day, and wouldn't I be better off in Kathmandu?
We're all hoping that one more good night's sleep will be enough for me.Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Next
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