A new neighbor

The journey from Fukuoka to Kathmandu was long and tiresome, but went without major incident or complication. I flew Fukuoka to Bangkok via Bangkok Air, then spent six hours waiting for a flight to Dhaka, where I overnighted and flew on to Kathmandu around noon the following day. The staff of Biman Airlines in Bangladesh were exceedingly kind and professional, though their system for getting transit passengers out of the airport and to their hotel could stand a bit of stream lining. They could also perhaps think of upgrading their choice of hotel. The Black Rose wasn't a total dump, but I seriously doubt it would rank above 2-star.

I arrived at my home in Boudhanath, the Dragon Guest House, to find the neighborhood has changed just a bit, with new construction work on two adjacent buildings. It seems we also have a new resident, a monkey that has wandered into the city. The animals are quite common in Nepal and within the Kathmandu valley there are large colonies at the stupa at Swayambunath and the Hindu temple complex of Pashupatinath. But this was the first time I'd seen a monkey around Boudhanath. A man in the neighboring building, whom I spoke to from the veranda, said the monkey has been hanging around here for a while now and hasn't yet caused any problems. Still, I'll now have to be extra vigilant not to leave open windows or doors.

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