POST # 445
During this past week, I celebrated another birthday. This time it was number 66. Considering the adventurous life that I have had the opportunity to participate in, I do find it truly amazing that I am still here.
Last month, I received plenty of positive feedback from my post on February 7th, in which I posted an entry from a journal that I wrote back in 1980. Seeing as one of the entries in that journal was written on my birthday for that year, I decided that today I would share it with my readers. So sit back, relax and enjoy the read.
KATHMANDU MON. M.P.*
MARCH 3RD, 1980 25 YEARS
The sun breaks through the window on this crisp winter morning, a good day to be alive. Well old man, that's what you are today- an old man. One quarter of a century- and I feel great. This is my first birthday away from home where the weather is similar to the weather back home at this time. Time to get up though, and enjoy this day to the fullest- because it's my day. It felt good to do the exercises this morning. And this morning for the first time since Qld., over 5 months ago- I had my first hot shower and was that ever a treat. We went back to the Tea Room on pig alley for breakfast, but prior to that we saw another display of Nepalese butchery with guts and hide strewn all over the road. Robin and Robert were in this morning for breakfast- and beside them were sitting these 2 Aussies. This one guy had the habit of making sure everyone in the entire restaurant knew he was present. "Ya, no worries, cobber." He's not my kind of people. Time 11am. Today, even though it was my birthday, was meant to be a business day, so after we left the Tea Room, we did some errands like checking at the tourist bureau about Chitwan Nat. Park, buying shampoo, pen, and some vitamin pills. I feel it's wise now to supplement my diet with multivitamins, because I want to stay as healthy as possible for the trekking that we will encounter in about 10 days. Another trip to the P.O. was in order to check for any more mail, and it paid off, for I received a postcard from Harry and Alison and a birthday card-letter from mom and Laura. Not much in the way of new news though. It's such a beautiful day today, a crisp, clear morning with excellent clear views of the Himalayas tucked in behind the foothills around the city. On our way back we ran into two Canadian guys, whom we met yesterday at the bank, and spent a good half hour just shooting the bull with them-talking about India, and also about money transfer. They suggest the best arrangement is to telegraph home, and have them send the money to the bank here. Sounds OK to me but I will make a few inquires at the bank before I go ahead. But I am definitely going to have to get some more money before leaving this place. Return to lodge, and then I went down to freak street and found a shoe man to repair my bag for 5 Rupees. They do a damn good job, these guys. I took a photo, and told him that I would send him a copy. At 5, we wandered across town to meet Rene, and then to Butova's for a tea, and when Rob and Robin arrived the group all congregated at Jamaly's. Well, it was a superb birthday meal of roast chicken, and for dessert, Dick had arranged a cake. So I did the honours of candle blowing and cutting- and we all pigged out. Later, Liz and Jenny arrived. It's great to have friends around on your birthday. We continued the celebrating later at the Kathmandu Guest House. The English guy that we met at Birganj bought me a beer and so did Vladimir. My first beer in ages. The Guest House is a great place for a gathering of this sort- a lively place with a real cross section of travellers. Good music. I was really happy. The party broke up around 9:30, but Vladimir and I went to another place, and bought even more beer, and talked for a few hours more. You meet some interesting people, as we did here- a guy from New York who collects old coins, and who was stoned out of his mind. I like Vladimir and I hope to see him in the future, at home. At 1am we decided to leave, and instead of walking all the way back in the rain, pissed, I crashed out on the floor at Vladimir's place about 1:30am, the beginning of a peaceful, dreamy sleep, the perfect ending to my day, without a doubt the best birthday party I've had on the road, and the second best one ever. I'm a lucky person to have experienced such a wonderful day.
196.91Rupees $16.55 **
*Note: MP stands for Malaria pill which I had to take once each week.
** Total money spent for the day in Rupees and $US equivalent.
So there you go. I hope you enjoyed the read. It was a good trip down memory lane for me. I have to laugh at the fact that at the age of 25, I considered myself an old man. Even though I state near the end that this was the second best birthday party I've ever had, I can't remember for the life of me, what the best birthday was.
grateful for every breath,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
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