Last night was Loi Krathong, the festival in which Thais float lanterns on rivers and lakes to apologise for polluting them the rest of the year. We were told to go to Saphan Thaksin to watch it, and so we it. It was immensely crowded, though there is clearly more personal space in Thailand than […]
Wardrobe woes
I am going back to Pakistan for a family wedding in January, and clothing remains a perpetual concern. At first, when it looked like I might make a fortnight’s trip home for work, i was relatively relaxed, as I have a suitcase full of clothing that I intended to dig through. I have the key […]
JJ Market
In the morning we went to Chatuchak Market. We’d been there on our first visit to Thailand over ten years ago, and had forgotten how immense it is. We found the section we were looking for – sections 2-4, where the trendy young designers are. Ten years ago I bought myself a canvas bag that […]
A kind of homecoming
Strange how much South East Asia feels like coming home even though we have never lived in Thailand. We arrived late at night and it felt such a relief: the warmth, the humidity, the smells, the bearing of the people. Today my eczema, which had flared in both Lebanon and Nepal, has calmed down; the […]
On the defensive, again
I am in the executive lounge at the airport, waiting for a much delayed flight. It was supposed to leave at 11 in the morning, then yesterday we got that email informing us that it was postponed to 4.40 in the afternoon. Wednesday arrived at the airport a couple of hours early you find a […]
Crunch time
The Brexit storm has struck, and I do feel some pity for Theresa May, despite her own hand in her misery. Also some admiration for her ability to keep going, like the Black Knight, even though I wish she’d just done the sensible thing and called off the whole business and let the Brexiteer loons […]
Inside
I was inside for most of the day, as it was back to working and the Gentleman Friend was not feeling well at all. I am increasingly convinced that he did have at least the start, or a mild form, of high-altitude pulmonary oedema, which is often deadly. But he is not one to go […]
Around Lazimpat
We had a quiet Sunday as the Gentleman Friend was not feeling very well at all. At lunchtime we went for a stroll around Lazimpat and I was impressed by how pleasant it all was, particularly after Thamel but even after Patan. Lots of quiet very narrow streets connected by even narrower alleys between walls […]
Move on
Yesterday we checked out of the hotel and moved to our next Airbnb, a room in a family house in Lazimpat. This is the embassy district of Kathmandu, about a 20 minute walk from Thamel. The main road is full of restaurants and shops, and behind it is the usual Kathmandu warren of very narrow […]
Hello to the freaks
It was the final day of Tihar, and the auspicious time for this day’s main celebration was around 11.50 so when the Gentleman Friend, tired and unwell, finally woke and we left for breakfast there was almost no breakfast to be found. Eventually we made our way to the French Bakery (where I had the […]