The water baggies started flying last night with boys aiming at girls and kids aiming at tourists but this morning, the Holi festival is in full swing. It’s like a massive, city-wide game of paint-ball. Even now from my internet hideout I can hear cheers & screams echoing in the streets of Thamel. It’s like a giant sporting event where all the cities inhabintants are simultaneously participants & spectators - very festive. If it was just water it wouldn’t be so bad but I’ve already seen countless people dyed red and yellow. The tailor working on my dress said the dye is really strong and will last for weeks if you get it on your skin. Nice. The woman sitting next to me at the internet and the guys that run the place have smears covering both cheeks. If I arrive home red-faced you’ll know why. I’ve got my camera tucked safely away in two ziplocks and my hard-drive has been in a fancy waterproof bag, an xmas present from my mom, for the entire trip.

I had breakfast at an ultra-hip Isreali restaurant high above the street but could still see sprays of water as bags hit the side of buildings. The breakfast at this place is huge: an omelete, tons of potatoes, salad, a basket of bread, butter, cream cheese, and real jam. The welsh guy I met on my earlier trip to Kathmandu told me about it but, up until now, I’ve always opted for outdoor breakfast. This morning I was starving so went for quantity over atmosphere. Actually, it was only outside atmosphere I gave up as this place had atmo to burn: hand drawn menus, psychodelic paintings, blacklights, and techno lounge music. The low tables are spread out in a shoeless area covered with beautiful carpets. You would never find this place but for word of mouth (unless you read arabic). There are no english signs on the street and you need to walk down a tiny hall off an already narrow street, then up two flights of stairs. It’s almost too cool.

I went for my second fitting yesterday and my dress was vastly improved over the first try-on. My guy is closed today for the holiday but is doing a couple more tweaks for me before I pick it up tomorrow - hopefully fitting perfectly. The fabric is a very understated brown raw silk so unless it fits really well it will be kinda bland. I’ve got faith in this guy though. He’s sortof a mini nepali fashion designer. He’s all of 5′1″ and reminds me of a Nepali version of one of my favorite designers from season 2 of Project Runway, Nick.

Very little else planned for today and tomorrow. Just a few more things to pick up in Thamel’s shops and the marketplace to the south. Of course, I’m planning a trip to the south indian snack shop in the morning to stock up for the long trip home. Since this is, mostly likely, my last post before arriving home I’ll give you the run-down of the next few days: Tomorrow afternoon I fly from Kathmandu to Bangkok, arriving at about 6:30 pm due to the time-change. I have a 12 hour lay-over in the Bangkok airport and have scoped out tons of options but at this point I’m thinking I will just stay at the airport, bouncing around the transit lounge, the all night internet, and the kids playground which, reportedly, has a padded floor. The Amari Hotel which adjoins Bangkok airport is charging a steep $250 per night so that’s out. There’s a very nice place called We-train only a few minute cab-ride from the airport. It even has a pool but when I called they told me they are booked with a visiting group for 2 months. After some googling-around I found a website completeley devoted to sleeping in airports! Bangok gets mixed reviews (that’s how I found out about the padded play area) but I’d say the consensus is that if you can find a place to curl up you will not be bothered by security and If you choose to stay awake there is plenty to do. If I can manage to stay up all night It’ll put me on track for the eastcoast timezone. My plane for home leaves at 6:30 thurdsay morning (6:30 wednesday night in Baltimore) by way of Tokyo and Chicago and if all goes well, I’m home by 4:30 Thurdsday afternoon.

By the sound of it, the chaos in the streets of Kathmandu is working up to a fevered pitch. If I end up multi-colored I just might need to post the story from the Bangkok airport.

Sue Borchardt in Kathmandu, Nepal. March 14, 2006 at 12 noon. Happy Holi!!

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