Jai Nepal!

Here are a couple of photos of my apartment in the Baluwatar neighborhood of Kathmandu. I’m about 2 minutes from the READ Nepal office. Compared to the Basantapur/Freak Street area – it’s upscale and quiet. Compared to my space in Himalaya’s Guest House – it’s huge. I live in back of my landlord’s house and though called an apartment it’s really a small house: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and kitchen (although I only have a gas burner), dining room, living room and sitting area. It’s almost too much, really. But before you think I’ve gone too bourgeoisie this time around, please note that my shower spews only rusty water and has only two temperatures: scalding and ice cold. We still have load shedding (blackouts) 4 evenings a week, and of course there is no internet access. The ambient temperature is controlled by how widely I open my windows. So far it’s been Indian Summer here (warmer than Little Rock) so it’s been OK but we will see how I fare when the temperatures drop.