Kathmandu Free Day

This is our second day in Kathmandu.  Sybil had some baby cloths from a friend of hers for her family in Nepal.  Since she was unable to deliver them she asked us to do that for her. We called the family and the son Shiva  came to our hotel last night to collect them. Even better he was requesting that we have lunch with the family tomorrow. We agreed and he came by taxi to pick us up at 11 AM as arranged. He had said they were only 25 minutes away by taxi but that was not to be the case today. On our way to the house we encounter street barricades and protestors, one with a nasty sickle (any idea which political party they support?) blocking the road. There are protests because the propane price has been raised from 1600RS to 2100RS in one day. The protests are intentionally random and as one is broken up by the police/army another goes off elsewhere. So we go on a detour route through narrow streets with 90 degree turns. We get close enough to the house that we can walk the rest of the way. We meet the family and they are gracious and welcoming. They live in a beautiful multi story home with an asian influence which houses the extended family. Utilities are limited, they have no electric power from 12 to 19 hours a day and piped water only a few hours a week. The rest of the time they buy water from delivery trucks. Shiva’s mother and sister in law serve us local food and it is excellent. While only Shiva speaks English (studied in Manchester, UK) we communicate well with each other. They have a community surrounding them. Their doors are open and neighbors drop by to ask us where we are from and how long we are staying.  Shiva said these are the standard Hindi questions.

smoke from burning tire barricades

From the balcony we see traffic stopped in the streets and in another direction smoke rises from burning tires used to block the streets. Most of the city seems unconcerned about the protests and road closures, just a part of life here.

Shopping with Shiva

After lunch we go shopping with Shiva in the tourist/hippie area of Kathmandu. We are able to find the last items on our shopping list. It is great fun and we felt we had made a new friend. We part from Shiva who invited us for dinner and a night on the town.  We reluctantly declined, time to pack for the trip home.