■ NEPAL, KATHMANDU: It was 9:30 in Kathmandu and after 3 more or less sleepless nights I was awoken abruptly by a phone call. "Good morning Sir", said an over the top jovial voice at the other end. It was Kumar, Nepal's funniest taxi driver, and he seemed to be up for another adventure.

A couple of hours later after dragging myself out of bed I ventured downtown Kathmandu to see him. My plan was to do a market hunt and witness his bargaining skills first hand. It turns out however that Kumar had different plans......