Last day in Thamel before my himalayan adventure begins..

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As is usually the case i am chasing my tail again; Cardiff university wants some forms filled in, i have been sent only one and apparently the rest are needed ASAP. Bugger, my bus leaves Kathmandu at 5.30am and i have to be on it.
Am trying to figure out if i can trek an extra couple of hours a day to make up for one more day in kathmandu to sort this.....anyway, such is the normal pattern of my life.

Okay then, a quick recap on a couple of the things that have happened in the last week that i have been unable to report on....
The womens' festival of Tij was celebrated the other day, it's a three day festival that sees almost all the women of nepal dresssed in beautiful bright red saris, (the colour of rejoicing and domestic harmony according to my book) dancing in the streets whilst the men are left to fend for themselves. Apparently after a girls night out they feast in preparation for a day long fast in honour of their respective partners. The sight of thousands of rejoicing, dancing women is something of a spectacle, crowded as they are into Durbar square watched by a spellbound throng of onlookers. Just how they could do it all day in the scorching heat was beyond me and i had to retreat to shade after just twenty minutes. On the second day most try to make it to the temple complex of Pashupatinath to worship Shiva. One the third day they make the same journey in order to bathe in the river and 'clense' themselves of their sins. I was unfortunate enough to miss this, as it was early in the morning and i was following ward rounds at Kanti hospital.

One sobering thing i have done of late is visit one of the local jails in Dilli Bazar; my guidebook states that there are always some 'unfortunate' Westerners residing here. It took two days of badgering the police guards to let me see an Italian inmate; in the end i resorted to a blatent lie and stated i was in fact a doctor and desperately wanted to check his health. He turned out to be five years into a fifteen year stretch for possession of Heroin; the legal system here is apathetic about a lot i am told, but they are adamant that Nepal is not going to follow in the footsteps of other Asian countries and embrace prostitution and class A drugs. My friend turned out to be fit and healthy and accepting of his fate. The conditions don't of course compare to Western standards, but they are tolerable and he is confident he can ride the next decade. He was thankful of the visit and offer of fags and anything else i could bring that would help with the monotony.

As always, my love to my family; i miss them terribly.
I will try to add to this once i make it to Lukla, i depart for Jiri tomorrow and think it should take ten days to get there. Until then guys, be good and see you soon i hope. Mark, you could met me in Lukla if you got your skates on buddy!!

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