When I ordered my latte at the Pumpernickle this morning the reply was “no latte, nescafe.” The power was out, yet again, and with it, the espresso machine. Yes, I sound like a primadonna but there are so few creature comforts here I really needed that latte. I settled for the ubiquitous black tea and then went in search of the bead bazar. The markets make Kathmandu’s streets colorful but I kinda suck at framing anything interesting or arty amid such chaos so no market pictures today. I found the bead bazar but nothing really grabbed me. I’d get more excited shopping for Tibetan beads but they are pricey.

So back to Thamel where I wandered into one of the million Buddha shops and proceeded to sit on the floor for about an hour testing out singing bowls. I found one I really liked the sound of and after waiting about 20 minutes for the guys at the shop to figure out the credit card machine (i’m still atm-less) I was off, loaded with my singing bowl, a bone buddha, and tons of sandalwood incense (Phil’s fave).

I deposited my haul back at the guesthouse and headed for lunch - a salad to offset the baked goods I’ve been surviving on. Since the lights came on while I shopped, I returned to Pumpernickel for that latte to motivate me up Swayambunath hill for late afternoon sun. I can’t seem to get enough of those monkeys. They were super agitated since the monks were opening up each of the shrines around the edge of the stupa and placing offerings on the Buddha statues inside. Since people tend to chase the monkeys off the Buddhas it makes it a bit tough to get a shot. Lots of monkey fights and monkeys hissing at kids. I must have taken 200 pictures in an hour. While it makes me feel a tad gluttonous, it’s so nice to be able to shoot with such wild abandon. Also nice is having a camera that actually takes the picture when you press the shutter, especially useful when chasing monkeys. Even when they’re sitting still they’re practically vibrating so only about 1 in 10 of my monkey pics is in focus.

When I had my fill I walked back to Thamel with a Welsh guy also up there taking pictures. He tried to convince me to walk the plank bridges across the super-stinky river which, in practice, is Kathmandu’s sewer but I opted for the extra 20 feet of airspace the real bridge bought me. I feel like quite the soft traveler after hearing the Welshman’s stories - He’s biked through Pakistan, India, Tibet, and Nepal. Hard to fathom. I’m realizing I don’t have too many more of these budget travel trips in me. Next time, I’m signing onto a tour group! I’m kidding but I can totally see spending the same amount of money in less time which, of course, raises the comfort level all around.

I’ve heard nothing more about a bandh tomorrow so I think the rumor was bogus. Assuming the city is open I’ll head back over to Patan to retrieve my ATM card and maybe revisit the temples there.

Sue Borchardt in Kathmandu. February 11 2006, 7:27 p.m.

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