The art of haggling is a hard one at best, especially when you have no idea the actual value of the item your trying to get for cheap. I went to dozens of shops looking for trekking boots, but the opening price would range from 2800 to 6000 rupees (50-100 bucks) for the same pair of boots! I managed to haggle one shop down a fair way below these prices when I bought a small backpack as well. But from the smile on his face I couldnt tell if I had gotten a good deal or not. Still it was pretty damn cheap, especially compared to the fixed price stores around the corner.
With yet another day off I did some of the shopping I needed to do, and checked out the Thamel area a bit further. Walking through a market, I saw foods of every kind in large plastic tubs, from meats to blocks of white stuff in that look a bit like fetta cheese floating in water. It is pretty gross to hang around a market for long, so I went to a cafe for momos and a mango lassi. As I was finishing off the lassi it became chunky - I then realised that the white "fetta" cheese was actually the curd that they use for lassis! I wish I hadn't discovered that, its always nicer to be ignorant.
Tomorrow I am going to buy half a litre of tinned milk from the small mart nextdoor, go outside and drink it in front of all those damn women wanting milk for their kids! I'm definitely over the begging and hawking. Somehow I don't think it will stop anytime this year though. There are shirts you can buy that say "No i dont want...." listing all the stuff offered. Whilst it looks like a good idea, somehow I can imagine the wearer being targeted more due to looking like a tosser! If they're touristy enough to buy such a shirt, then surely they're keen to buy some tigerbalm?
