It was the UN's 25th anniversary, and a big social event was held in the UN compound. Boris Lisanevitch, a White Russian refugee from the Russian Revolution, and one of the great characters of Kathmandu, had been invited to do the catering, and his much lived-in face was easily spotted in the crowd. He was, at the time, a celebrity, sought out by tourists who wanted to be able to say that they had spoken to the great man, who had, in the mid-50s, opened the Royal Hotel in a great white Rana palace on the Rajpath, and kick-started the tourist industry. He had catered for all the great state events of Nepal, including the state visit of Queen Elizabeth 11, and the early mountaineers, drink in hand, would relate their tales of triumph or disaster
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