Bag Hunting

This is a sorry tale, and I only have myself to blame.

When I first arrived in Kathmandu, I had a talk with Uma about the bag. Unfortunately the reliable contact that she has is in Hong Kong at the moment. So I took upon myself to talk to my Pashmina man.He is the man whom I bought all the craft/pashminas/scarves etc from each year. He is honourable and reliable. He also has a factory.

I showed him the design we wanted for the bag a few days after my arrival. All the way along, he told me that there is no problem. It would take no longer than 10 days max to get the bags produced to our specifications. That was 24th August. With constant rain, and overrun with customers,he said he has not been able to make the necessary contacts.Therefore unable to give me any idea about cost or timescale. He kept reassuring me that there is no problem, he would do it the next day.I popped down to his shop almost daily in the previous week. Then I decided that I can no longer wait for him.So 2 days ago I took the design and bag samples off him.I realised at this late stage that he is just too polite to say he cannot do it, not within the timescale any way. I blamed myself for allowing it to drag on for so long

Uma made a few phone calls after I told her about this sorry state of affairs. As per usual, she came up trumps. We went to see a few potential manufacturers but to no avail.It was frustrating to say the least. The taxi fares is starting to accumulate. The visit we did this morning was the penultimate one. As luck would have it, it is possible and within the bottom line I have set for myself in this transaction. Uma and I were overjoyed to say the least. Then came the bumper. It is not going to be possible to get them done before my departure on 19th.

I agonised (again ) whether I should still go ahead and place an order . If I do it tomorrow, there will be 10 days at least before it will be ready.Knowing Nepal, the timescale could move again because the festivals are just round the corner. We are possibly looking at beginning of October( which will miss the sponsors' tea )before entering the uncharted water of sending the packet either by air freight or surface mail.And the cost is again dependent on weight!

On the one hand, it is a small order to test the water. The cost is not phenominal. On the other, would we be too late before people starts doing their xmas shopping? And hence we will miss the boat or will we?

Decisions, decisions, decisions.