Had breakfast at Mandap, which is a bit of an oasis of peace in the middle of Thamel. They sell Illy coffee which is imported and twice the local prices, but it's still only a quid for a pot, and it was needed this morning after sleeping for 11 hours. Couldn't move from Mandap for ages, it was quiet except for the sound of a Buddhist at devotion somewhere nearby and some quiet music.
It's so peaceful there that there is a small flock of what look like European great tits feeding on the crumbs. There's a gardener who spends all day watering and rotating pots so the leaves don't burn in the baking sun.
These are the only birds I've seen, except for an enormous flock of pigeons at Durbar, but it may be because they feed them daily at the temple, so it keeps them there.
Talking of water it's only 10NR a bottle, unless you want it chilled then it's anything from 55 to 110 NR, 114 being a quid. It interested me to see someone pay for the chilled water and then leave it in the sun while she ate breakfast, then stuff it in her rucksack and head off out. It's not so much the cost to her, but that water has to be kept cold, so there's an environmental cost.
I was the only one who noticed, either. two Aussie girls sat behind me were muttering about it, all the Aussies seem pretty clued up on that sort of thing, because they're already feeling the heat of climate change, quite literally.
These two girls were feeling the heat in other ways too after making my early mistake of pumping Tabasco sauce all over their breakfast. At least mine was over chips, but croissants?!
Decided to leave the monkey temple again today, I've got loads of time in KTM after trekking and I think the better option is to get better, and relax before our 25 day haul. It's too hot to walk the 5k across the city today anyway, it's maybe 35 in the sun.
So I've grabbed the sofa in Himalayan Java, another place I get discount, and I'm reading a book I picked up in Pilgrims called the 'Envelope' about a guy who's done the trek I'm doing, minus the climb of Imja. I wish it was putting my mind at rest, but stories of the planes at Lukla being repaired with Duck tape are making my insides churn.
The staff here are pretty cool, there is a cheeky sense of humour that catches some out, mostly the Germans, and they take a genuine pleasure in their work, and love to chat about your families and theirs. The girl here is very concerned that I have not made a family yet, so she gives me double shot coffee. She jokes "strong coffee to make you strong for making family."
Talking of which, there's a guy here who imports garlic to China. Someone has told the world's most gullible nation that it improves virility. The government then taxed sales from 5 to 40%. Dorje reckons "this time next year I'll be a millionaire". And yes he's seen Only Fools and Horses. I saw a pirate DVD of Yes Minister this morning.
It's a good place to watch the world go by. There's a junction outside staffed by the ubiquitous traffic cop who blows his whistle in a seemingly random fashion, basks in the sun and ignores me getting run over. Maybe they only deal with serious injury RTCs here too.
The army were out in force on the street last night as I walked home. The Maoists took over a year or so back, and we've not been subjected to the bhands or strikes that periodically crippled KTM for several years. They're also responsible for the 13% tax on all the bills and the 10% service charge that means you have to add a quarter to all prices, then round up to the nearest rupee as small change doesn't count. It can be hard work!!
It wasn't a good time for the drunk Kiwi to be shouting at a waiter demanding to be told where Jerry Dursfield was. The waiter didn't know, and nor did the manager. In fact no one did. Jerry could have been anywhere, as the army pointed out the best thing would be to go to his hotel and wait there. There's not many people behaving like pricks out here, but Jerry Dursfield from Auckland NZ, your mate is the biggest one I've seen, the one with dreadlocks and sick on his rugby shirt.
I'm loving Skype by the way, the free wifi in a lot of cafes and the hotel means I get to chat to her who must be obeyed and avoid the £1.40 a minute o2 charge, it's nice to have a little link back home and keep in touch with the news, although I'd probably rather not know about what's happening to United. We won't have that above Namche, but by then I'm only going to be worried about breathing.
I've tried to contact Declan a couple of times since I've been here about working at his school next month, but no joy yet. He was in the last Lonely Planet so maybe he's inundated now. I will sort something though, I really enjoyed doing newspaper English with the kids, they line under new words and write down similar ones they already know, almost like making their own thesaurus. It's fascinating and hugely rewarding.
So Dasani starts this week, everyone seems to be buying goats, apparently in this certain night they chop their heads off, and if they come off in one go that's a good thing! Some of them do it with cows, not seen any cows in KTM though, they don't seem to wander round like they do in India. Maybe they've already had their heads lopped off. Anyway it's like their Christmas.
I was in northfields for chilli fries, they're out of Momo, which is like McD running out of burgers, but it was a nice way to spend a few hours. The place gets packed with volunteers from around the villages and you can eavesdrop on what's going on in Nepal.
So there's a Brit girl, a Kiwi girl and an Anerican and they're Skypeing family and all congenial and we share some chat. I have a natter with Bijay who is far too clever to be waiting table, and listen to the political situation here. He's teaching me some Nepali too. An American dude joins the volunteers at the next table and asks for a lemonade, Bijay suggests an Everest, the local beer and this guy goes off on one and tells him to 'fuck off.' he thinks Bijay is taking the piss because he drinks a soft drink.
I've never seem someone look so hurt, so when the girls head off to pay I go over and tell this dude his behaviour isn't cool, and they find it really offensive here - no one EVER swears - and maybe he should give them a tip.
We normally tip maybe 5 NR, he gave Bijay 500 NR, two weeks wages. Dude goes off and the girls cone back with a beer for me and tell me he's needed bringing down to earth for a while. Half hour later the dude us back, thanks me for "keeping him honest" and buys me another beer. I think the buddhists call it Karma, Bijay calls it "happy day". I call it "free beer" and everyone is happy.
So, anyway, I know this goes on a tad, but it's become my diary too. Comments appreciated at Facebook or here. What do you want to know about Nepal?
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