Take me back to Kathmandu

Anyone who has lived in Nepal will appreciate this story of the Ant and the Grasshopper (Nepal Style).

I was surprised to see that there are now over 2 million people living in Kathmandu, a city with only one dangerous road out. When I was there in the mid 90s, it was pretty crowded and polluted. Driving around was an exercise in patience and you had to be sure not to hit the cows. Kathmandu was somewhere between the 14th and 20th Century depending upon the neighbourhood and time of day.

Getting things done there was challenging at times. Getting things done quickly was even more difficult. I can remember the convoluted process of getting our car registered. We had to go to three offices with a local fixer and rummage through dusty files, fill in all the forms, provide all back up documentation in triplicate, along with all required fees and bribes and then wait and wait and wait while the negotiations for the fees and bribes were resolved and the documents produced. The Embassy had people who just did this kind of stuff every day to ensure that their employees could function. Very interesting place to spend some time.

Thanks Nepal Sites