Saturday tradition

Saturday 23rd March 2013

Saturday is holiday in Nepal so my friend Rabindra picked me up on his motorcycle and drove me to his house to enjoy a meal with his family. This has become something of a Saturday tradition for me when I am in Nepal: I make a point of going to Rabindra’s place at least one Saturday a month. His wife Sushila had made an amazing array of food, she is a brilliant cook and even had my absolute favourite Nepalese condiment “Lapsiko aachar” (sweet plum pickle) which I was rather excited by as you can see from the photo! 

Delicious dal bhat and sweet plum pickle

Sushila and her friends have started a small business making beaded products and I was happy to see some of the fabulous products she’s been working on and make a small order.

Sushila with her beaded products

I met Vishal, a friend I met years ago at Heathrow Airport when we both missed our plane to Nepal due to traffic on the M1, for a coffee in swanky café-resto New Orleans. I was at Vishal’s amazing wedding in Nepal in 2007 and gave him an invite to ours :D From one cuppa to another, I went onto meet with my artist friend Pradip and his friends in Northfield cafe.  In the evening my friend Deepak, an education consultant who helps people apply for study visas, drove me over to visit my friend Bijendra, a silversmith who’s lived in the UK for the past 14 years and like me, returns back to Nepal a couple of times a year. We had a lovely dal bhat and catch up in spite of the power cut.

Later Deepak and I headed to Or2K for a coffee and a catch up (I really should keep a tally of how many hot drinks I drink in a day in Nepal, I reckon I could claim some kind of record!). Afterwards I went to outside venue Electric Pagoda with friends Tashi, Mingma and Nima, then a rooftop bar where we bumped into eccentric Indian Sanjeev who’s been living in Nepal for 15 years and is a one-man comedy show.  He had us all in stitches until the early hours when it was safe to head back out onto the street. We made time to stop at a tiny stall in the street run by a man with a tiny gas stove and a selection of simple things on the menu. I had three cups of tea and some noodles.

Early morning fun at the street tea shop