At home in Kathmandu

Anything you're missing? Anything you think of ? Come get it in Kathmandu!

You need a Nikon D100 camera? No problem, the store next door has it or can get it for you.

How about an Omega watch or a MontBlanc pen? You can get them here,too.

The face of Penelope Cruz in "Volver" ? I've encountered it many times already.
Books and maps? Anything that was ever printed on Nepal and Himalaya - you can find it in bookstores.

The outdoor equipment stores are very well stocked, even though most of the merchandise is fake. Deuter and "The North Face" packs are at every step. Obviously, Arc'teryx doesn't manufacture in Asia :-) But for 20USD you can get a pack that, even if it's a fake, looks just like the original one and certainly will do the job for now.

Kathmandu is catering to all tourists. All alcohol brands are available. You walk on the street listening to Pink Floyd. You can drink espresso and cappucino; you can eat anything, from excellent Italian pizza to Nepalese food.
Internet? There's an Internet cafe at almost every step. The lowest price I've encounterd is 10Rs per hour while the exchange rate is 63Rs per 1USD.

The supermarket next door offers from Toblerone chocolate to Fa shower gels and cosmetics.

Thamel, the tourist area is an open air shopping mall, open until late in the evening and extremely noisy. There's music at every corner and there seems to run a contest every evening - "who can set the higher volume". Fact is, the open air disco runs until the early morning hours. Lucky me - since I never have problems sleeping.

I am not getting lost in the city any longer, but I get lost every time in Pilgrim's bookstore. All these books about Himalaya, Nepal, Tibet and all the maps are driving me crazy. I can hardly wait to leave the city and experience the mountains.
But you can find any book, any author - from Emily Dickinson to Paulo Coelho, from Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" to the latest Feng-Shui books.

It is raining every day and walking the muddy narrow streets has become a daily routine now.

Redefine luxury - being able to wash your feet at the end of the day.

I'm happy with my Keen sandals as I can also wash them in the evening and start fresh and relatively clean in the morning.

It feels just like home once you know every street corner of your neighborhood, where to eat, where to go and how to say no :-)