A Whole Lot of Lasts

We fly out on Sunday and we’re officially at the end of our adventure in Nepal and there’s a really strong temptation to get all nostalgic. Consider this fair warning: I’m not making any attempt to avoid it. In fact, in the same way that the thrill of planning a trip is half the fun for me, I think I need a certain degree of melancholy to fully appreciate the impact of our sojourn and the excitement of going home.

Which is why all week I’ve been keeping a mental journal of “lasts”. The last time we’ll have dinner in Thamel and need to argue with taxi drivers about the quickest route home and what constitutes a fair price. The last time I’ll see that street dog near Kwality Café and be able to give him my left over curry. The last time I’ll buy bread from the Italian baker and get possibly the world’s best chocolate croissant thrown in. The last time I’ll have lunch with Jess and Liv at Tandoori Kitchen (the quickest and best paneer butter masala this side of the river). The last time I’ll hang out in Patan Durbar Square with all the other people who don’t have much to do on a weekday afternoon. The last time I’ll labour through a description of how I need my clothes altered in my awkward Nepali/English/hand language combo and have Anita understand perfectly anyway and give me her beautiful big smile. The last time we’ll have cooking lessons with Kalpana and she’ll tut and tell me I look too skinny, but isn’t Linda lovely? The last time we’ll get 4 bananas for 10 rupees from the banana man on the corner. The last time we’ll stick our heads out the window of our office and see a huge and magnificent stretch of the Himalayas, all covered in snow, rising between the brick buildings and billboards of Kathmandu. The last time I’ll see the lights of Kirtipur as I walk down I street at night like a compressed patch of stars and the last time we’ll see the sunset over Champa Devi, making it look like a massive cardboard cutout.

It will be good to be home, but I think I’ve dropped a little piece of my heart somewhere here in Nepal that I’ll have to come back and find one day.