Not surprisingly, I was still drunk when Val woke me an hour or 2 later. This was not malicious sadism on her part – we had to go down to see F or G at their office at 9.30 to make final arrangements. So I showered + brushed my teeth, + tho’ I felt awful + stank of booze, we reckoned I’d pass, provided I didn’t get too close. The meeting, in fact, took no time at all – all that happened was that we were asked to return this evening at 7, bringing our clothes etc with us – such is the bureaucratic world of the international smuggler. Work, done, I could devote all my energies to recovering from my fearsome hangover. A visit to Ronald McDonald + 2 Egg McMuffins did the trick, + then, feeling considerably better (if not exactly on top of the world) we set out to buy a camera.
This is not an easy job if you know next to nothing about them, but partly thro’ prejudice, partly because of what other travellers had said, we had determined upon either the Nikon FG or the Canon AE1, with a measure of prejudice towards the Nikon, strengthening when we discovered that the standard AE1 is no longer in production. So we priced the Nikon around town – + a very tedious business it is too – before finally settling upon one shop. There, however, first of all the salesman tried to dissuade us, + then, when the FG finally arrived from their store or warehouse, it jammed the first time I pressed the shutter. So, feeling somewhat disillusioned with the whole business by this time, + ignoring the salesman’s blandishments to switch to a Yashica, we bought a Canon AE-1 with a zoom lens, 35 to 135. Total cost – about $225. So the job was done. But I can’t say we were happy with it all, + when we got back we just locked the thing away in our cupboard + tried to forget about it. We were sick of looking at the blasted things. Upon further reflection, tho’, we calmed a little. The job was done, + it wasn’t even as tho’ it meant a long-term commitment to that particular camera. We aim to sell it in Nepal, for whatever profit we can manage, + have a play with it in the meantime.
We ate a wonderful meal, cooked by myself, of chops, + then carried our bags down to F + G’s. Slightly awkward, as the guys on the desk thought we might be checking out. We were also relieved not to run into any of our acquaintances, + have some awkward explaining to do. We were worried tho’, when we arrived at the office, + found it all shuttered up. This was Thursday evening, just before the 4 day Easter holiday, + if we had somehow missed them + they had all gone home, it could well blow our chances, there not being any other way for us to contact them. So we stood around outside for a while, looking lost + sheepish, while around us the shopkeepers were busy doing a final clearing up + out. It had quite the feeling of Christmas Eve… + we were the poor waifs left out in the snow.
Luckily, after about 5 mins someone came out of a shop. He popped back in to announce our presence, + after a whispered consultation (cloak + dagger) we were beckoned in. G wasn’t there – he was now in Kathmandu apparently, would meet us there, so F dealt with us. I was pleased to see Brian there too, the guy who had introduced me to the scheme. We handed over our bags, + our gear was packed in 2 very smart suitcases – it would be supplemented, we were told, by a lot of other gear. Then we were given our final instructions: what to do, who to see, and where; + I was told to return at 5.30 on Saturday morning. There were quite a lot of instructions, but the only one that mattered was the name of the hotel. For the rest of the time I would simply have to play the role of a tourist on his first visit to Nepal – easy stuff.
Just as well to be on to the next adventure, as Hong Kong has little else to offer us. But once again, the organisational prowess of the people we are dealing with is brought seriously into question. However, it does seem that things are moving on… and that, very soon, so shall we.
