Yesterday’s big Nepali news was that the head of the Maoist Insurgency gave an extremely rare interview to the BBC. The analysts claim his image is extremely well crafted in a not entirely accurate way but he comes across as quite moderate, rational, and progressive. I can only imagine what the political situation will be in Nepal in the coming years but there seems to be agreement among everyone but the king that it will get worse before it gets better. There seem to be many positive forces of change active on the political scene but the royal government seems to be, um, unbelievably inept. On the plus side, the current government is not completely dictatorial or I wouldn’t be writing this.

On a more personal note, I might be just about shopped out on Thamel. With the exception of a few textile (read light) items I will stop now though I’m still considering getting a few wooden Buddhas before I come home. I’m also thinking about having a dress made for a wedding in April but it’ll run about $40 (about 3 times the price it was in Vietnam) and can’t decide if I really need it. Money takes on such skewed proportions here. A lunch of $4 (yesterday’s stuffed tofu at the top-notch Ying Yang restaurant) is huge relative to the local economy where you can get a plate of the dreaded momos for 15 Rupees (about twenty cents) . Pashminas and gold buddhas are off the charts maybe because they, like stuffed tofu, are only tangentially related to the local economy.

I guess I’ve burnt out on Kathmandu’s photo-ops. I’m going on my third day of not taking my camera out of the case. Assuming the infrastructure supports it, I’m hoping to restart the picture postings once in Bhutan. I’m also hoping for inspiring gompas.

In a frustrating twist I recently discovered that the Tiban New Year (Losar) falls on February 28 this year which is 2 days after I’m scheduled to leave Bhutan. Because of the tourist infrastructure there I don’t think it’s an option to extend my stay and if it is possible it’s not affordable at $200 per day to be in-country (yes, a completely unique tourist economy created by Bhutan’s government in an effort to protect their local culture). There are plenty of Tibetans around in neighboring Sikkim but I will be in transit so will have to wait and see what sort of celebrations are underway wherever I happen to be.

It’s valentine’s day here though it seems odd to have such a western hallmark holiday being pushed in local media. I think they miss the mark a tad – one of the movie channels has a romantic movie marathon featuring the good girl . (um, have they seen the movie?). The Kathmandu times carried a full page of Thamel business ads one of which suggested that having a sandwich would be a special way to celebrate with your loved one. I know I’ve always thought that nothing says love like a sandwich. For my part I marked the occasion with a big-splurge phone call to Phil who sounded happy for the surprise – a whopping 10 minutes of 3 second-delayed tele-connecting. If we were both a bit more tech savvy we could have celebrated with some shirt-lifting and web-caming but not so, at least on this trip. Of COURSE, dad, i’m joking.

Rumor has it my soon to arrive travel companion Susan made it out of Baltimore despite the almost 2 feet of snow to fall on the eve of her departure. If all went well she should be living in the lap of luxury right now in a 4 star hotel in Delhi. I can only imagine what kind of pair we will make in Bhutan – she is bringing a hair drier and maybe even multiple changes of clothes. I will be wearing every item of clothing I have brought with me since it’s significantly colder in Bhutan. Since we are on the move most days I am imagining there will be little opportunity to get my clothes washed though washing around here does not necessarily translate to cleaning. The water that comes out of the tap is often brown and towels and sheets are a brilliant shade of grey. Fortunately, most of what I brought is black. The other curious thing about laundry is the fact that items come back about 2 sizes larger than they go in. I imagine ladies pounding my silk long underwear on a rock and wringing it out within an inch of its life. It looks as if it was used for tug of war.

Sue Borchardt in Kathmandu. February 14, 2006 11:13 a.m.

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