Back to Kathmandu today – we’d bought our tickets for the bus yesterday, this time making sure we paid only R35. Up before 6, a bite of breakfast, onto the bus + away by 7. Last time I had found the journey quite bearable – this time it was perfectly hideous, + not helped at all by the fact that I had the shits… again. One gets almost used to the discomfort + inconvenience – I’ve been struck, on + off, since December – but that does not make it more pleasant. Still, I survived, of course, + sometime a little after 1 we rolled into Kathmandu. Annoyingly, however, we were dropped at a place neither of us recognised, + even after we’d gotten our bearings, it was a tidy little walk to Freak St – we had decided to stay in one of the lodges down there. As soon as we’d found a suitable one, + checked in, there was business to attend to: the airline to be visited, + our flight out booked (May 26th); the sleeping bags to be dropped back at the shop; the rest of our gear re-claimed from the Tibet Guest House; +, if possible, some money changed with G’s associate. We divided these a little between us, + arranged to meet at the Pizza House. I was there first, + had our pizza ordered (+ sent back another they had tried to palm me off with) by the time Val joined me. She hadn’t been able to change any money – the man had not been around – but all else was done, + the pizza was excellent.
I spent the remainder of the afternoon buried in old newspapers at the British Council. They were even older than usual – they must carry them in by Sherpa, or something. In the evening, we called in across the way to the Monumental Lodge to see if Robert was still there. Sure enough, he was, still occupying the same dreadful dingy cell. Only now, alone. We could hardly be surprised that Audrey had left + returned to Australia. They had been arguing a lot, R told us. And who wouldn’t be, in that place, in those circumstances. When we had first met them up in Bromo, everything had seemed so rosy, + we had almost envied them their plans + prospects, when our own had seemed so uncertain. And now that had all gone sour. To his credit, R was not despondent, tho’ he was still searching desperately for ways to make easy money. He asked us for a contact name in HK for a trip like this, but all we told him was to go to Chungking + keep his ears open. It really was the best we could do – I’m sure G would reject a direct approach, + prefers to catch his recruits thro’ trusted lieutenants. Or take old boys, of course. In the meantime, R is off to India in a couple of days, to try to sell his video. I hope, for his sake, he doesn’t go to HK in the hope of making money.
We went to Naryan’s for our evening meal, the main consideration being that it was the place we had arranged to meet Phil. Even so, it was quite a shock when he turned up, just 10 or 15 minutes after us. He was already pretty stoned, so had the advantage over us there, but we chatted amicably enough about our various experiences on the trail after parting. After the meal, we all went back to his place, where we smoked + played some cards. A pleasant + comfortable social evening.
The situation with Robert really was depressing, and a perilous reminder of the dangers – psychological and emotional as well as physical – of being on the road.
