May 7
The next day is free for sightseeing so I join four of Andrew's and Subechya's friends to visit a temple and to shop in nearby Thamel. Compared to the peaceful, lush green grounds of our modern hotel, the streets of Kathmandu are a madhouse! There are almost no traffic signals or stop signs anywhere so our small taxi and the other vehicles honk their horns constantly to warn others and to keep from running into each other. Trucks, cars, buses, motorcycles, pedicabs, and pedestrians enter the street from all angles at all times. Amazingly, I don't see any traffic accidents.
Alongside the streets everywhere vendors display their foods and wares for sale on cloths on the ground as well as in small open-air shops. I see a couple of men with old treadle Singer sewing machines open for business on street corner sidewalks. Small fires burn in a few places, adding to the air pollution from the exhaust-spewing vehicles. And over the course of many miles of city streets I see a few cattle wandering about, untouchable because of Hindu beliefs. This is my welcome to the Third World!
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