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@Himali Cha Cha is one of best Indian restaurant in Bangkok, and there's the story behind it's creation as complex as a Moghul curry . Back in the mid-'70s. as the Vietnam War and related flare-ups came to an end, a number of Westerner gravitated to Bangkok-among them mercenaries, spies,disaffected veterans,and freelance war reporters.Two who drifted into were Cha Cha and John Everingham.Cha Cha means"uncle" and is the nickname of an Indian cook, K.L. Sircar, who worked for various Indian ambassadors abroad. This led to a posting in Vientiane, Laos. Cha Cha eventually quit the "diplomatic service" and set up his own restaurant near the Vientiane markets. One steady customer was John Everingham. @In 1976, John Everingham,an Australian photographer, was the last western journalist left in Vientiane after the communist takeover of Laos. His presence was tolerated because he presented material sympathetic to the communist cause, though at the same time he was secretly filing stories with Western news media sources. Everingham's life had a few other complications, such as a dangerous affair with a Laotian woman called Keo. He was in the habit of meeting his Laotian paramour in a discreet section of Cha Cha's restaurant. Everingham was eventurly followed, arraigned on charges of spying, and thrown in prison for a couple of weeks. His slide library, the result of ten years' work in Indochina, was destroyed by the authorities. He was then thrown out of the country, but later swam back across the country, scuba equipment to spirit Keo away. @In the interim, Cha Cha and his Thai wife had left Laos.Cha Cha and Everingham joked that if they met again they would open a new restaurant. By chance they bumped into each other on the streets of Bangkok, and in 1980 the restaurant became a reality -the Himali Cha Cha-created and financed by Everingham and run by Cha Cha. Everingham's daring rescue of Keo was the subject of a 1982 movie. He's based in Bangkok and runs ArtAsia Press, which operates from an office behind the Shangri-La on Soi 44, publishing magazines, postcards, calenders, and books. On the stands around Bangkok you'll see many of Evringham's postcards. |