The husband drives a taxi so when we need one, we use his service—sort of keep it in the family. We booked a ride for 10:30am. We arrived at the vegetable store, our pick-up point, and noticed that Mama was 'dolled' up; she's very pretty but not 'thinnish'. Turns out the plan was that they would drop us off at the town of Begnas, while the family would then enjoy an outing at the lake. What a nice idea. We had our large backpack, two small backpacks, ourselves, Mama and a ten-year old daughter, plus a baby in arms and of course, the driver. The car is possibly the smallest manufactured, a typical Nepal model with missing seatbelts as well inoperable ones, not an unusual occurrence. Jen had volunteered to sit on the roof rack, but we thought her weight may be a little too much for the position. Besides, there aren't seatbelts on the roof.
Initially, I mentioned careless behavior. I packed my clothes and for a reason unbeknown to me, I had omitted to put the selected hiking and other pants in my bag. I hate to point fingers, but I would not be surprised to learn that my darling Jen removed them to accommodate extra clothing for herself. What can a person say? It meant I had to wear the same pair of pants each day or find a store at which I could replace the missing items. What to do?
Unfortunately, the town is a forty-minute walk each way from our place; we had much tough hiking planned outside of town. It was an ideal occasion where one needed to be able to order online. However, that's not possible in Nepal.
We were returning from a very tough hike, the Rupakot mountain; atop sits the luxury Resort. What a day, what a hiking occasion. We were within 30-minutes from home when a scooter passed carrying a small shop of clothes. Unfortunately, it did not register with me until Jen jokingly mentioned I should have stopped the guy and checked out his merchandise. I felt bad once again—I missed an opportunity. Perhaps, I thought, the vendor might pass us again. Jen thought I was joking.
Ten minutes later, then on high alert, I waved the guy down and asked to peruse his merchandise. I joke not, see picture, of his load. It was as if I ordered online; the vendor was delivering in person with his whole range on offer. Amazon thinks it does a good job. This guy was outstanding. He brought a fortune of clothing including women's apparel into the jungle to enable him to service me. Okay, let's take a look. I quickly found 2 items that would work although the sizes were very large. Fortunately, their size markings are very different from western standards, so they did prove to be acceptable.
We briefly discussed credit terms, return policy, alterations, and a warranty. I wanted to know should I wish to return the items selected, would he collect them? Also, were there any parts of the jungle where he might not service. As expected, there were no change rooms available, after all, we were just emerging from the jungle.
'I think the size is far too big at 3*XXL.'
'I think the length is good but I don't like the color. I feel bad that I seem so fussy.'
We did the deal, I waived printing of a receipt and a bag to carry my new pants and we parted. It proves that Nepal, in its own way, might appear to be behind in many aspects of life , but is in fact, ahead. Should I be Mr. Bezos, I might be concerned of an Everest size onslaught from a jungle-style country upon Amazon, in the United States...in other locales, too.
'I think the length is good but I don't like the color. I feel bad that I seem so fussy.'
We did the deal, I waived printing of a receipt and a bag to carry my new pants and we parted. It proves that Nepal, in its own way, might appear to be behind in many aspects of life , but is in fact, ahead. Should I be Mr. Bezos, I might be concerned of an Everest size onslaught from a jungle-style country upon Amazon, in the United States...in other locales, too.
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