Tribal Girl

Another death overnight but this time it was the old lady who usually sat with a book at the entrance to my breakfast restaurant. She was just being carried out on her bier covered in marigolds and dark red rose petals and sweets were being thrown in front of the cortege by bystanders. A band started up at the head of the procession and I went into the garden to find that there was a barber shaving off the long hair of the dead one's son. I skipped out smartly but nobody minded and soon the deed was done and he caught up with the cortege. When I went down the road an hour later it still smelt of heavenly red roses.

Got my new glasses today – perhaps I shall manage to work things out better on the computer. My old ones had a sixpence sized scratched area on one lens that happened when I fell in Nepal. I managed to get used to seeing through it but these are infinitely better.

Kannu drove me out to another tribal area with a beautiful tranquil lake snuggled down in the rugged hills – it was rather extraordinary therefore to see a small blue dinghy being paddled round a corner towards me. The fisherman tested all his nets and I had rather hoped to see one of the reputedly 15-18kg fish that live in the lake but it didn't happen. Lots of people were happy to have their portraits taken and the children were a particular delight.

Will put extras on tonight - terrible trouble wth wifi