traffic and other ramblings

life in KTM kicks on with plenty of activity physical and otherwise.  I was riding across to Thamel (the tourist area of town) after work yesterday, through probably the most amazing traffic i've seen since i got here.....it probably took 20 minutes for a car to get around a round about by car - fortunately on a bike you can weave around a little bit, ride on the side walk or get off and push, it still took me 15 minutes longer than usual just to get around the corner.  Anyway as I was starting my ride from the office (up on a hill)  , I got a pretty amazing sunset view of a few of the himalayas outside the KTM Valley. It was pretty , very pretty, those mountains, are big, and you don't get sick of looking at them. and I thought as I watched the mountains from the hill and  looked across the nightmare traffic, the rubbish , the pollution and haze and the beeping horns and thought  kathmandu, you could be fucking stunning.  but you need to sort a few things out.



my first though, get rid of those car horns. or enforce some fines. seriously. i thought i'd get used to it, and see it as white noise, but i'm still not immune. To the driver who was driving towards me down the empty 2 way street, as I was on the far far left (opposite)  of the road. I saw you. the 5 second beeps at 1s intervals, was a tad unecessary. I saw you and have no desire to get in your way. thats why I gave you the finger.

oh and my work - I guess I should mentioned this I will be 'working'  for NTAG - which is the Nepali Technical Assistance Group, for the next 11 or so months on various nutrition and health projects that they've got going on. so far its been interesting, if a little quiet but have been getting into disaster preparedness planning.....and the old micronutrient bag , hoping to get on a  field trip to the mid west in about 2 weeks, but who knows, things chop and change her at the drop of a hat. deadlines are a moveable feast, and then all of a sudden something is due at 2pm on a monday....which is convenient, when you felt like I did on monday.

they group is a great organisation, and I'm lucky to have ended up here, as opposed to where I could have been.  My project got changed from the one I applied to , which I am eternally grateful for as the last AYAD who was there had a terrible time. Theres a ton of expertise in the building, great project areas and some really lovely people...I just need to spikka tha bloody language.

the office is usually 10 degrees cooler inside than out, which will be great in the monsoon, but right now its down right unpleasant. i was, however pleasantly suprised today when i rocked up, prepared to layer up in clothes, to see there was a lovely little heater in my ground floor corner office. this lasted 5 minutes, when i discovered the amazing side affects of kerosene heaters - drowsy with a side of nausea and dizziness. needless to say I was extra productive in my afternoon web browsing.

later folks

oh and heres a little gem i found today
Kim Jong Ill Looking at things