excerpts from the last week

the lounge, taken with my awful kit lens. wish i had a good wide angle lens.

Thursday 13th - We are currently sitting around the lounge, from close by I can hear blues weaning its way out of the speakers on the bookshelf, from far away i can hear many different types of birds chirrping the afternoon away, from even further blustering thamel. The warm air is not overwhelming as is it cleared aweay occasionally by the breeze running across the balcony. In itself the balcony is welcmoming and comfortable , its thatched roof provides shade and hides the metal sheet above that stops the rare occurence of rain.

Friday 14th - Didn't get up till 5 today. Felt very, very ill. Headache, stomach ache, backache, couch, cold, about every bluergh in the book. Of course I still managed to go out in the evening with some of the other hostels residents. One of our stops was the surreal OR2K, a fantastic restaurant where everyone sits on mats with low tables. The lighting consists of candles, hundreds of them, and a few UV lights. It works well, overall you have a natural light but with strange side effects, the string of a tea bag glows bright white. The menu was full of snacks and dishes perfect for the savoury munchies, bowls of different humouses with naan, panini bread stuffed with hot, melting mozerella, create your own 12" pizzas and these dense chocolate balls covered in coconut shavings.


view from the Nirvana rooftop. again taken with my dodgy lens, so its actually much, much nicer.

Saturday 15th - Again, some stomach problems. In the afternoon we all went onto the rooftop and ate watermelon, grapes and oranges in the hot sun, lazily throwing water on eachother. It was one of those moments that you could live in forever. Day only got better as i went to Helenas (best view of the city, and co-incidentally, best chocolate brownie of the city too) After this we descended on the bars, one of which was Mambo (i think, it might have been mungo, mumbo, bamboo, bombay) Lounge, a huge tent/marquee like place with low seating and the most talented live band i've seen in a long time. We drank lots of Mojitos and moved on to Full moon club, a very different affair, but the last place open. Dancing, spilling of drinks and no shoes were the obligations of the night.

Sunday 16th - Felt much better when i woke up this morning! Must have been the alcohol.

Monday 17th - Rained today. Felt very much back at home.

Tuesday 18th - Finally got email from Art Refuge people saying that some refugees had come to Nepal. So my days of ease might finally be at an end....
I love it how the nepalese always overdo it on the garlic side of garlic bread. You always get huge flavoursome chunks of it, and the bread is always soaked in the butter yet maintaining the outer crispiness and the soft doughy centre. Or maybe the british under do it. As you may see, i have had plenty of time to consider such matters. Its brilliant.

Wednesday 19th - Finally, today i went to the art refuge. Or close to it. it took me an hour to get there, in theheat, up hills and on the back of a motorbike of a stranger. Got there, the guard wouldn't let me in. Stood around for a while, then walked home. Have emailed them now, though.

Again, this was much longer than i intented. Oh well. If this art refuge thing doesn't fall through, might organise myself a trek or white water rafting.


again, the rooftop. very nice.