Of an afternoon
Or, what you might do in Kathmandu on a random Sunday
- Stop for favourite momo. There is only one variety for sale here: buff, served from steamers several feet across, swimming in a thin soup of ground sesame seeds, chilli, fresh coriander, and secret spices. Does anything taste better? (One day, there’ll probably be a post all about these dumplings.)
- Smile at two instances of kindness to animals you see on your walk: a woman trying to help a weak pigeon, a, young couple feeding a limping dog.
- There are tourists about today: everything from aging hippies to groups of young people with loaded backpacks. It’s a far cry from how many there used to be, but after the last couple of years it’s a joy to see any at all. Just the sight of them seems to have tangibly lifted the mood in tourist areas like Thamel.
- Discuss the pain of tattoos vs waxing with the delightful ladies of the Asylum Hair Salon. Smile again, this time at the incongruity of it all.
- Stop in at at Everest Irish Pub—a regular spot, but one you’ve neglected—for a small drink. In the best tradition of dive bars, end up hearing intimate details of the life of a person you will probably never meet again. You don’t learn their name, but you do learn it is their birthday, and join the rest of the bar in wishing them a happy one as they leave.
- Those momo are a distant memory. Nearly home, you pass a katti roll place and order a chicken-egg to go.
- Lean out of the shower every so often to admonish your cat, who is standing guard over the bag containing said chicken-egg katti roll.
- Devour the roll. Share chicken morsels with Marv, who has decided that he’s really not as interested as he thought he was.
- Didn’t you buy some tasty little yellow cherry tomatoes at the market yesterday? Yes, you did. They will hit the spot after the rich, slightly greasy roll. Rinse off a bowlful and as you drain the water into the sink espy a tiny lizard amongst the mugs and silverware there.
- Find a soft rag to scoop up the lizard and rehome it on your balcony. Something that is probably its discarded tail remains behind. As you wonder how in heck a lizard got into your sink—not where you usually find them, after all—your eyes happen to fall on the bowl of freshly washed cherry toms and the little cardboard box you carried them home in.
- Decide that perhaps those delicious and clearly very organic tomatoes would be much more ideal cooked, and find something else to eat.