Morning Stupa Stupor

Kathmandu, Nepal, October 25, 2005

It's been a pretty good day, although I was woken at 6am by the sound of irregular ringing of a big nearby bell. I later saw locals ringing another bell near a stupa (holy place) so I suppose it's a ritual - probably propagated by devotees who think that those who try to sleep beyond 6am deserve no pity. Pity.

After a ridiculously generous hotel breakfast (I'll have to hold them back tomorrow) I ambled out with my Lonely Planet and did 'walking tour #2', interrupted by a shave. Not just a shave, as it turned out. I'd already noticed that South Asian barbers go all out to please (head massages and the odd cream or other which I can't frankly be bothered by) but today due to a miscommunication I got the full beauty treatment. After being shaved twice (standard) I was asked if I want "mumble-mumble?" (?). Thinking it meant some sort of massage, and not wishing to offend, I said 'a bit, yes'. That lead to three different types of facial application, one of which was removed by a stretched and dragged thread (I thought he was going to floss my teeth) and then that funny waxy mask treatment which took ten minutes and a hot hairdryer application to set before being peeled off by the barber and his assistant. I got quite anxious to continue my tour but I must admit my skin felt good.

As per my new holiday protocols my tour was followed by a good nap. Then I went to a public call office and did a telephone interview for a voluntary job in Malawi (I think it went well - I would begin in early January) and then had a passable steak dinner at "K-Too".

Early to bed with John Fowles' The Magus, which I'm re-reading.