Kathmandu was considered Nepal's most prosperous city, but its extreme day-night temperature swings, violence targeting foreigners, and a string of poverty-driven crimes made both security and living conditions abysmal everywhere except for a few tourist spots frequented by foreign visitors. Even the water quality could make people sick. Kamar-Taj's façade stood on the edge of a cluster of Hindu temples in southeastern Kathmandu. Combined with the Arcanists occasionally going out to clean up, the area was relatively tidy. The gangs formed by the local poor also did not dare cause trouble here out of blind reverence for religion.
To Stephen Strange, every corner of Kathmandu was awful. As the dry season approached, dust devils whipping through the city filled his cold-weather clothes with grit. Every night after returning to the hotel, he had to painstakingly clean them with his crippled hands to ensure he could wear them again the next day. As for his disheveled hair and beard, a quick rinse with water was enough to preserve the last shred of dignity. For several days in a row, he wandered aimlessly through the temple complex. Occasionally, he would catch a passerby who understood English and ask about Kamar-Taj, but gained nothing. Local children who targeted foreign tourists had stolen from him several times as well. If he had not paid for his lodging in advance, he would likely have been sleeping on the streets by his second day in Kathmandu.
Before coming here, he had resolved to knock on every door in Kathmandu until he found Kamar-Taj. But his current situation was driving him deeper and deeper into despair. He had almost no money left. Christine's final gift had paid for his plane ticket from New York to Kathmandu, and if he wanted to return to New York, he would