Day 70

Seventy days! It's the beginning of July...

.....

There was a certain toothless old man at the Indian embassy. A real old dude with a shock of white hair, no shoes and an American passport. He said to me:

"What's the news from Baghdad?"

I didn't know how to answer such a perfect question. Such a great "old salt" question from such a perfect old man. That's the sort of old man I hope to be, if I must be an old man sometime.

Today was my last day in Kathmandu. Not too much to report. I bought the last of my needed supplies and packed up my bag. Looking for some kitchy fun, R and I spent a few hours at the "Casino Royale," a rather charmless casino in the Indian part of town. We were hoping for a place with 25 cent blackjack hands, but were disappointed to find a place with a three dollar minimum and lots of Indian high rollers.

Lots of short skirts, though.

In contrast to the shelpy madness of Thamel, the main backpacker hangout, the area where Indian tourists hang out is very classy, calm and subdued. Backpacker hotel rooms cost about six bucks for a double, while beds for the Indians cost about ninety for a single. eeep.

I forgot to mention in yesterday's entry that N and I visited "Freak Street," which was the original hippie locale (backpackers have since moved to Thamel district) in the 60s and 70s. The place is a quieter alternative to the hustle and bustle of Thamel. It's empty now, but some old business linger on - we walked around one guesthouse that has been in operation since 1960. That place had a lot of history in it's musty rooms and shabby walls. I brought me back to the first places I stayed at, that out of fashion backpackers hostel way back in Gyeongju, Korea... thirty years ago a first-class hangout, but now just a shabby shadow of it's former self.