We landed at our hotel in Kathmandu on Friday at about six pm and after settling in and showering we decided to stretch our legs with a walk about.
Of course, I had a bit of a not-so-secret mission to try to find sunglasses. (In case you missed it, this is part of a saga!) We’d seen some shops outside of the tourist areas while wandering a month or so ago, so we set out to find them. I believed that we’d get a better deal as the tourist shops we’re definitely overpriced.
We turned a couple of corners and boom - “sunglasses alley”! That was unexpectedly easy. We tried a couple of shops and found a pair that fit the specifications: bit of a wrap around, black, not to dark of tint, no mirror, polarized.
After some negotiating with the young shop keeper we could not come to a suitable a deal - $12 offered - $15 price, so we left. I was willing to pay $13. For the next 30 minutes we tried multiple (at least 8 more) stores but could not find any that matched the requirements that I was holding firm to.
We were due to meet a friend from Belleville for dinner mar 8:30 so we headed back to the tourist zone and had a wonderful visit with Karen and her friend who had just finished a hike to Everest Base Camp. We had a very nice dinner (of not Dal Baht) and it was so nice to catch up.
It was about 10 when we left. As we exited there was a trekking store that had a display of sunglasses. (Not surprising as these knock-off shops are everywhere in the tourist area.)
They had the exact same pair that I’d found earlier. I was surprised however when the owner was happy with my $13 offer and I now have the sunglasses that will protect my eyes for the rest of this trip.
Ok, you can STOP LAUGHING now!