Burned Bum Bimmy

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is the eight o'clock news.

In Pokhara today, there has been a strange new sighting. It has appeared that the slightly eccentric guru Siva, who has caused great commotion throughout Nepal during the last month, has now found a room here. And he says he's here for a while. From our correspondent in Pokhara:

"Yes! There is excitement in the streets in the after hours today, as people stop and look twice at this wierdo. After making quite an entrance in Kathmandu about a month ago, then stirring the mountain people of Gatlang for two whole weeks, the beautiful people of Sauraha even referred to him as "Nepali brother". Indeed, Siva has grown somewhat in his habits and lingo that locals far and wide are welcoming him into their magically humble homes. And he's loving every second of it! Here's the man himself."

"Well thank you Bob, for that honourable intro. The ride this morning was terrific. For the first time since I've discovered the magic of riding topgun on the bus, meaning on top, I was actually the only one. It was great to see the reactions that that brought to passing busses, carrying whole football teams of locals! The downside, however, is that I was so drowsy from the nights before, when we had been living it up jungle style in Sauraha, that I didn't use enough cream, fell asleep, and woke up with a burning face, belly and shins."

"Man, that sucks."

"Well, yes and no. It's only my body, but it is kind of influencing my mood and I would really love to take a cool bath, but I have much business to attend to here in Pokhara."

"Meaning?"

"I need to find a great place that serves momo's, preferably vegetable ones, 10 a portion, for around 60 Rs. I've found a tailor who at this moment has just finished making me some new clothes because I don't have any left, which is amazingly nice and I'll make sure to support his business in the future. I've got a perfect room in a hotel in the Lake (lakeside) District, except it did need something to brighten it up so I've bought some scarfs which I shall be hanging up to feel more at home. And to top it all off I've found a great book of short stories by Roald Dahl in a second hand shop, so I'm in for a good read later on this evening!"

"Sounds great. How long are you planning to stay?"


"I think about 32 or 33 days. I love this place already, and I'm pretty sure I can make myself very comfortable. I have no plans to trek - but rafting appeals, and so does para gliding and who knows I might go and live up in the mountains for a week... All I can say is that I'm happy, safe, and missing my home and work back in Leiden, so I can do with some comfort and with a bit of luck it won't be very far away!"

"Good luck with that then."

"Thank you very much."

"And now we're going back to the studio. Laters folks!"

"Thank you for that Bob. My, that Siva fellow sure is something else... I wonder whether he'll ever come back down to earth after this amazing trip of his... Meanwhile, in the other news - the rest of the world is surprisingly............."

Om Namah Sivaya