Thamel..a quick look in the Rough Guide to Nepal will reveal much that there is to know about Thamel But for the uninitiated it is the melting pot in which backpackers from almost all over the world and Nepalese from all over Nepal (where else?) come together to form a mass of jumbled lanes, small shops and even smaller kids (who incidentally are proficient in Japanese much before they master English), Thangkas, carpets and rugs and music and dope and books.

It is incidental that Thamel happens to be in Kathmandu and sometimes the city fades out completely giving Thamel almost a surreal look. Reason being that in an ancient city Thamel is a new joint. But that’s another story and I don’t know much about it anyhow.

I have encountered some of the most unhygienic yet the most satisfying book experiences in Thamel, quite like the fun of having chaat from a road side vendor . The experience undeniably falls short with respect to the character a road side vendor brings to the same food as compared to a modern day boutique halwai.

Far from the ordered and organised aisles of Crossword and now Margudys in Dubai Thamel is a book lovers delight. The easy pace of the booksellers lets you look for whatever title you want in the shelves. Again this is far removed from the studied easy ambience maintained with paranoid attention to detail an organised book store offers. I have always felt that I am being allowed to roam free and its just not tha same as being free to roam at will.

Anyway try Thamel on your next visit to Kathmandu. Any specific store listing would be against the spirit of Thamel and I will encourage all visitors to just wade into the exciting streets of Thamel with absolute disregard for physical well being because there is nothing to worry about, the streets are reasonably full of little bookshops interspersed with other more touristy merchandise. So the experience can only be enjoyable. The range is immense because the area has to cater to a wide international audience so don’t be surprised to find the foreign language section to be healthier than normal. The backpackers may not leave behind many dollars for the Nepalese economy but they do leave behind their selection of books and these invariably find their way to Thamel. Similarly the expat population also contributes heavily from their garage sales (which are an exquisite shopping experience in itself). This results in an amazing mix of books that are difficult to classify and thus many times they are not classified. Some shops try to arrange things in alphabetical order but after some trying seem to give up and then it all becomes a hodge podge again. There is alas a surfeit of Coffee Table books on Mountains, Tibet, Buddhism and Tantra..but that’s Ok ...its eye candy for those who are a little bleary eyed from peering into the darker shelves.

There is however one store (now a chain) called Pilgrims I feel obliged to mention because they seem to be the largest bookstore in Nepal and seem to have the largest selection as well. The titles are organised neatly and the attendants seem to know their books ( I have had blank stares pulled on me at the mention of Isaac Asimov at a Crossword in Mumbai but even Robert Jordan and Ambrose Bearce were received with confidence at Pilgrims). Despite their efforts to acquire a look and feel of a chain Pilgrim still (delightfully) feels like a pop and mom store where they still seem to love books.

The prices are far from reasonable but that really shouldn’t hurt because the Nepalese rupee magically transforms Indian Rupee into a stronger currency.

So if you have the patience to spend a whole afternoon in danky corner shops looking for books with no title, section or genre in mind and are looking for books for the love of books and for the love of looking..then I think Thamel is a good bet for you…of course the afternoon well spent can linger on into the the evening with a chilled beer at any of the restaurants there and that couldn’t be all that bad…could it?