I was getting very lazy or into some kind of rut. I had at least made some travel plans. The next day I was off to Pokhara.
My notes don't say so but I shouldn't be surprised if I hadn't managed to score something to smoke. I only say it because this was the fifth day in a row that nothing much happened. Perhaps I was permanently wasted. I don't think I was. I didn't bring anything with me from India. That would have been stupid. Not only would it have amounted to the equivalent of taking coals to Newcastle but also it would have been running the risk of lengthy incarceration in appalling prison conditions for doing so. That would have been even stupider. I also don't think I was stoned because I would have made a note of it somewhere.
Strangely, the fact that I was on my own probably contributed to the lack of . In contrast to elsewhere on the road there wasn't much interaction with other travelers. There could have been a psychological reason. The fact is that India is a very strange place. It is so out of one's normal sphere of experience that travelers need to relate to each other, a familiar point of reference. There was chaos and hassle, most of everything was weird and inexplicable. Here was laid back and chilled and there was enough that was familiar to comfort a person. No-one was threatened by the atmosphere. The inhabitants of Kathmandu got on with what they had to do without paying the tourists and travelers much notice. As a result the travelers may have felt less need to hang together.
I may have been bored. I don't think so. I went to the Poste Restante and spent some time at My Place. That's all I've noted.
It could also have been the weather. As I mentioned, every day started foggy and freezing cold so I wouldn't get up too early. A late start and a walk down into Thamel for a leisurely breakfast while the mist cleared would write off the morning. Then there were only a few hours before the sun would begin to set. Although the sun was more than warm enough to sunbathe in, when it began to set it became chilly again and I found myself retiring to the hotel. There I had a little den. I had my books, the radio and could write letters listening to the World Service.
This evening I had to pack everything up ready for the off the next day.
Overall the lasting impression I am left with of this sojourn in Kathmandu is one of a feeling of anticlimax. That is not to say I did not enjoy whatever I was doing, I certainly did like Kathmandu very much. It is just that India was just so full on all the time and Kathmandu was completely different. It was a culture shock.
