The tradition lives on.

The Lomibao Girls at Bhairab Temple

Hello again at Bagh Bazar

At Bagh Bazar

KUPONDOL!

The Van der Veen house on the hill was a magnet for Filipinos. Aside from Ching’s cooking, or the supervision of her kitchen didi, and the general Van der Veen hospitality, there was the black Lhasa with the overbite, to play with (I’d forgotten its name, a relative of those given to the Umalis). Then there was Little Eric, who was a living baby doll!

Here we are, at one of their numerous functions at Kupondol.

QUILTED COAT FROM HANUMAN DHOKA

We discovered a Nepali tailor near Hanuman Dhoka, at a corner shop along where Thangkas were being sold, close to the Bhairab temple. He only did a few pieces at a time and it took about two months to get an order done. But the tailoring and styles were excellent, it was worth the wait. I think it was Susan Sossna who first knew about this tailor.

SHANTI NIKETAN- KOSI COMPOOUND, DILLI BAZAAR

Our compound was known as KOSI COMPOUND, named by the Indian engineers who built the road to the Tibetan border along the Kosi River. It was later purchased by the King’s accountant, a Bhandary. The Bhandary sons live in two of the houses, while the front house, the largest one, was occupied by the Kathmandu Tax Office.

Tenants of another house at the front were Elizabeth Hawley, ("I'll Call You in Kathmandu"), and the Himalayan Trust, run by the late Sir Edmund Hillary. And Snowy, Elizabeth's Lhasa Apso. Often, some very tired looking unshaved Kiwis or Aussies would arrive there from the Namche Bazaar medical missions, to replenish the pharmacy, go shopping for GI sheets and pipes, or just to take the first decent hot shower for months.

We were at the house in the back, just after a carp pond. Upstairs was occupied by BK Shrestha and family, a pilot at RNAC. Their daughter Priyanka was Pema’s age. There was a tall fir tree at the back of the Tax Office, which MoMo Vanderveen-Barker, the male Siamese, was stranded at the top for a couple of days, so afraid to come down until he got starved.

We so enjoyed our stay at Kosi Compound: we participated in the ceremonies, our doggies were puja’d, we were smeared with vermillion powder, the full treatment. The Bhandary landlords never raised our initial rent, throughout our ten years of residing there!

One of the Indian engineers who lived in the compound is central to a Han Su Yin story, The Mountain is Young, although much fictionalized.

Kosi Compound is just around the corner from where the Perdons lived. We inherited their double-petal Sampaguita bush (used by the compound Didis for their Tuesday Ganesh pujas), and raspberry cuttings (pero ma-asim!! Great to eat with salt).