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How to give directions in Kathmandu, in eight steps
- Establish a landmark. It must be a building, never a road.
- The building should ideally no longer be there. Everyone will still know it.
- Give a distance in minutes, walking, at a pace nobody has ever walked.
- Say “seedhai” — straight ahead — while making a turning motion with your hand. Trust the hand.
- Mention a shop. It will have closed, but the space is still called by its name.
- Insert a “thorai” — a little further — which may mean thirty metres or the rest of the afternoon.
- Finish with “sodhnu, thaha huncha.” Ask someone, they will know.
- They will not know. They will, however, give directions, and that is the system working exactly as designed.