We slept in, to make up for our agonizing 5:30 AM morning the day before. However, our sleeping in was far from perfect, as Sandeep called at 6:30 because he missed Biskakha too much. He told me later that he's used to her calling every 20-30 minutes to see what he's up to, but she hadn't been doing that with me in town, and it made him lonely. Despite the fact that I still felt they talked all the time, it was cute - clearly, this boy is in love. Of course, the cuteness is mainly in retrospect, since at the time I was just grouchy to have a phone ringing in my ear, disrupting my sleep.
Our morning was spent getting in one last bit of tourism at Swayambanuth Temple, a Buddhist Stupa in the middle of town filled with monkeys. Buddhism has evolved into a unique Hindu/Buddhist hybrid in Nepal, and this temple is evidence of that. Aside from the obvious - e.g. shrines to Hindu gods - the Buddha eye symbol painted on every building is found only in Nepal, and has adopted the Hindu myth of Shiva's third eye (in the middle of his forehead, it's foretold that when the god of destruction opens this always-closed eye, the world will end). My first experience with this picture was in the form of our Albertson College senior shirts, designed by Rohan (another Nepalese student), but I didn't realize until I arrived in Kathmandu that it's so popular there, and doesn't exist anywhere else.
After our time at the temple, we joined Sandeep on his deliveries - in Nepal, wedding cards (e.g. invitations) are delivered in person, rather than mailed or even sent with courier, as a matter of courtesy. Poor Sandeep spent a significant amount of my visit delivering these cards - Bishakha was mainly done before I arrived - but after hours in his car alone, we took pity on him and rode along for a delivery and then went for lunch. Bishakha had promised me pane puri - another delicacy recommended by Neema but never eaten - so we went to the new food court in the mall, which serves "street food" that's actually sanitary enough for tourists to eat (the big problem with pane puri in India was sanitation; as "pane" means water, it was not something we could eat off the street, even though we passed a dozen stands daily).
So for lunch we had momos (like steamed dumplings), pane puri, masala dosa and the elusive papdi chaat (Neema's favorite food, which we found once but deemed unsatisfactory), and I had a "Nepalese beer" that was actually a Belgian brand, brewed in Nepal. Sandeep claimed that Nepalese beer tastes better than Indian beer because the water in Nepal is better than in India - while I can't affirm this statement, I can verify that it wasn't half-bad. All in all, it was a delicious meal and a safe way to experience the more "local" side of Nepalese cuisine.
That night, we went on a quest to the Night Market. I was expecting narrow, windy streets and tiny shops like in Khan al Khallili (in Cairo), but instead it was a shopping district (wide streets and normal shops) with additional stalls lining the blocked-off roads. However, the shopping was still great, plus we needed to visit a shop from which Bishakha had ordered embroidered slippers to wear on her wedding day. That was the highlight of our visit, as we had to trek through an unlit alleyway (power outage) to find the shop, only to find that the owner's father was there and had no idea what was going on with her order. Back through the alley we went, and into the car and home.
Thus did the vacation portion of my visit end; Friday would be the start of the preparations and exhaustive bhujas (prayer) that surround a Nepalese Hindu wedding.
*******
Shopping tally: bag, batik, 2 candle holders, 11 pairs earrings, 2 necklaces, 3 shirts, 1000 grams of tea for me; 2 floor cushions, 9 place mats, 4 coasters, 300 grams tea for Bishakha
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