Thamel Happenings

Two girls, thoroughly sozzled, heavily made up, and dressed in a skimpy mini skirt and short down jacket, holding the pencil point-heeled shoes in one hand and each other's hands in the other, walk barefoot, taking as slow steps as possible on a chilly December morning. Girls, thoroughly sozzled, heavily made up, and dressed in a skimpy mini skirt and short down jacket, holding the pencil point-heeled shoes in one hand and each other's hands in the other, walk barefoot, taking as slow steps as possible on a chilly December morning.

 Welcome to Thamel. The most happening place in Kathmandu. Where young and old spend the Friday night drinking and dancing, and a different show starts the next morning. Thamel was known as Thambahil, after the bahal located between the road from Sanchaykosh and Amrit Science College. Prithvi Narayan Shah refused to attack from this point, citing the distance from Thambahil and Basantpur Durbar as too long and far. During the Rana rule, Badri Narsingh, one of Jung Bahadur's brothers, settled here, and the area was inhabited by Narsingh Ranas, the most famous being Kishore and Kumar Narsingh, the engineer brothers.

In the late 60s, during the hippy era, Karna Sakya, a resident of Thamel, opened the Kathmandu Guest House, and in time, Thamel was capable of drawing the tourists from Jhonche, or Freak Street, to Thamel. By the 80s, a sizeable number of lodges and restaurants opened up, and the most famous were Rum Doodle, KC's, and Utse. In time Thamel became the most famous night spot in Kathmandu. 21st-century Thamel now encompasses a much bigger area with spots like Chetrapati, Jyatha, and Samakhusi, which are known as the fringes of Thamel.

To continue, a shopkeeper comes to the police and says, 'Dai, there is a drunk in front of my shop, and I can't open my shop. The police move in. The commander of the team nudges the unconscious man very gently, saying'', 'Hello, hello, sir.' A bystander shouts to the police. 'Stop that hello and give him a kick on his ribs with your boots, and he will get up by himself.' The police commander glares at the man. 'You want to play with my job.' Before the police could call an ambulance, the man opened his eyes. If it was a movie, the drunk would have said, 'Where am I?'. The reply would have been 'in police custody. By this time, two foreigners walking on their own are joined by a tout. 'Hello, Sir. Where are you going? The tourist replies, 'Shivapuri,' and the tout hears Manaslu. 'Oh, the Manaslu trek is very dangerous, sir. I can suggest an easier route'.

The touts of Thamel are the most multi-skilled in the world. Domestic and international air tickets, hotel bookings, treks, car hires, bus tickets, women, dance bars, restaurants, and drugs are all enclosed in a single person's brain. The team of 2 foreigners and the tout is met by three hookers. 'Wow, look at our Dai. He has caught a fat fish this time. Please don't forget us'. The tout ignored the three and continued on with the foreigners.

10 meters away, something else is happening. A group of boys and girls are having coffee after a hard night's drinking. Accidentally, one girl steps on the slope built for two-wheelers, and lo and behold! She slides down the slope and lands up in the middle of the road flat on her back. Four Britishers drinking beer directly from the bottle on a chilly morning in T-shirts help her to get up. Thamel never ceases to entertain a passerby.

(The author is history buff and freelance writer.)