I am now going home in under 48 hours, it's very strange and the last 2 months have gone by very quickly. Nepal seems like a lifetime ago and last time I was in England there were Christmas trees up!
I have loved India. It is an absolutely amazing country, and it's HUGE. 2 months does not do it justice in any way, you need at least 2 years to be able to see a decent amount of it. But what I have loved most about it is the people, people always make a place.
The time that best describes why I love the Indian people is when I had insommnia. I hadn't slept well for a couple of days and was walking in Kollam and had originally planned to find somewhere to sit by myself. However, this country has over 1 billion people and being by yourself is not very possible. I ended up sitting on a bridge watching the road. In England I may have worried about looking strange, but I'm a white person in India and therefore am automatically strange and so might as well live up to expectations.
I was essentially people watching and wasn't concentrating very hard on what was going on. However, people walked past me and noticed I was there and were openly curious. Back in the UK people would just have pretended I didn't exist, but this is India, people are not subtle. Sure, I got bemused looks but I have long ago got into the habit of grinning at anyone who stares at me. And most people grin back. Some of the old women looked genuinely happy, if slightly surprised. True, I did get the obligatory lechy looks from many men, but by then I had learnt to ignore that. I got smiles from the men, women and children some of whom even waved at me.
It's very hard to be wrapped up in your own problems in a country when few people seem to walk around wrapped up in theirs. I wasn't really looking to be cheered up, but I was simply by the people walking past me. It's hard enough to be able to be able to cheer someone up if you are trying to, but without even realising it is quite a skill. Before I came I was told to be careful and that Indians would try and rip me off. Yes, the autorickshaw drivers do. But you should never go to a country expecting the worst. I have been helped by many Indians, who have been genuinely willing to help and friendly.
When in Puri I was given a tika by a women on the street simply because I was wearing Indian clothes. She literally took it off her head and gave it to me. I was once sitting on a beach and a random child came up and had a chat with me, for no reason other than I was there (and I was white). The guest house manager in Mumbai was so helpful and always willing to have a chat with me. There are many many more examples over the past 2 months.
I have only been given the opportunity to see this gorgeous country because of AV. They are a wonderful company. When first arriving in Nepal it is slightly daunting, but AV hold your hand when you need it but also let you make your own way when they know you can manage. Any time we had a problem they immediately helped us and we knew that we could ask them anything. Even whilst being in India I would not hesitate to contact AV if we were in serious trouble, and I have no doubt they would do their best to help us. I would recommend Africa, Asia and Americas Venture to anyone.
I am going to miss India a lot and I plan to come back. There is so much more to explore and see and, as is often said, India always serves up surprises!
Friday, 25 June 2010
Only in India...
- Do you sit still and break a sweat
- Do you have to play frogger to cross a road (this is actually quite fun)
- Do you wobble your head in greeting, to say yes, to say maybe, in fact at every given opportunity
- Is 25C considered cold
- Do you get lunch for Rs35 (40p) and get given seconds if you are still able to fit in any more food
- Do you get cricket playing in restaurants
- Do you get a small boy starting at you through the window while you're typing
- Do you get leched on by random men and it be considered normal
- Do random people come up and have a chat with you
- Do you get charged more than three times the price of locals to visit most attractions
- Would you get a room with a bathroom but without a shower head
- Do you get 4 or 5 people fitted into a relatively small autorickshaw
- Do you walk down the road and have to jump over rubble
- Do you get told you're sweating three times a week (this isn't something you normally need updating on)
(the small boy is still there...)
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Taj Mahal
I was very excited about seeing the Taj Mahal. It is something that seems so mystical and is definetely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
We got to Agra the day before we wanted to see the Taj as we wanted to see it early in the morning. This meant that I had the afternoon to wander around Agra. I really enjoy just walking around the Indian cities. The people are much more open than at home and, although it is openly curious, I have on the whole stopped minding. I got a massive grin out of a young girl who was looking at my kurta shulwal and seemed slightly bemused by the fact a white person was wearing Indian clothing!
And the next morning we saw the Taj. It's not something that is easy to explain, it looks like all the photos (obviously) but it is completely different actually seeing it for real. It's an amazing building and fully deserves to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. You enter through one of the gateways and the walls are built so you can't see the Taj from outside. This means the first sight you get of it is when you walk through the archway and see the water lined by trees leading up to the Taj Mahal. It's very cleverly built and is an absolutely amazing sight.
We got to Agra the day before we wanted to see the Taj as we wanted to see it early in the morning. This meant that I had the afternoon to wander around Agra. I really enjoy just walking around the Indian cities. The people are much more open than at home and, although it is openly curious, I have on the whole stopped minding. I got a massive grin out of a young girl who was looking at my kurta shulwal and seemed slightly bemused by the fact a white person was wearing Indian clothing!
And the next morning we saw the Taj. It's not something that is easy to explain, it looks like all the photos (obviously) but it is completely different actually seeing it for real. It's an amazing building and fully deserves to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. You enter through one of the gateways and the walls are built so you can't see the Taj from outside. This means the first sight you get of it is when you walk through the archway and see the water lined by trees leading up to the Taj Mahal. It's very cleverly built and is an absolutely amazing sight.
Mumbai
I love cities. I have always loved cities and as far as I can tell I will always love cities. We got an overnight bus to Mumbai and when I woke up and looked out of the window and saw buildings and people I got very excited.
I have now also acted in Bollywood. It's something you read about in the Lonely Planet, but you never really expect a random person to ask you to be an extra for a Bollywood film. However, our hotel manager (who was always lovely and very helpful) asked us as we were heading out to dinner if we would like to be in a film and so the next evening we spent the whole night filming!
We got our hair and make-up done and got given costumes. It's the first time that any effort has been put into my appearance in about 6 months and I almost wanted to apologise for the state of my hair. But it was quite nice not to look like a complete tramp for 12 hours. Plus I got high heels which also means I didn't feel short :) It's always the small things in life.
We then essentially walked around an office for more than 6 hours. The film is called Anjaana (or Anjaani) and is about the stock market crashing. So we were all dressed up as business men and women and marched around when and where the slightly stressed out lady told us to. It was quite fun as I think we all got quite melodramatic with the acting and must have looked ridiculous but, to be honest, no-one ever pays attention to the extras anyway. It was a long night though, and we got fed twice (if you're back-packing this is a big deal) with really good food (I'm not sure Indians can do bad Indian food) and we got paid! Absolutely pittance, but that's not the point. We also got back at 5 in the morning (they have to film overnight so that the office block isn't being used) and so were absolutley knackered.
We still got up and did the walking tour in the afternoon. Mumbai is a great city and the walking tour only gives you the surface impression. I think the most memorable building (it may only have been a week and a half, but a lot happens in a week and a half) was the High Court. It reminded me a little of Hogwarts, which is probably degrading it by comparing it to an imaginary castle in a children's book, but it gives the idea of how big it was. It had beautiful carvings and must be an amazing place to work, as it is still very much in use. Apparently there is a carving of a monkey playing with the scales of justice but, unfortunately, I couldn't spot it. For anyone who's read Shantaram we later ate at Leopold's. Apparently what looks like a bullet hole in the wall is a real bullet hole. This isn't verified though...
The last thing that we saw in Mumbai was the Prince of Wales Museum. This has another name but I can't remember it as it is very long and I left my journal in the room at the guest house. This is another very impressive museum and for the (completely over-inflated) foreign tourist price you get a free audio tour. I listened to this for roughly 10 minutes before wandering about as I chose and switching on the audio when I happened to see a number. The museum has a number of exhibits, including Nepal-Tibetan (which was quite nostaglic), animals, European paintings, Chinese snuff boxes and porcelain. It was a very extensive range and a very impressive one. My favourite was one of poems that accompanied the paintings. I am going to miss the art here!
I have now also acted in Bollywood. It's something you read about in the Lonely Planet, but you never really expect a random person to ask you to be an extra for a Bollywood film. However, our hotel manager (who was always lovely and very helpful) asked us as we were heading out to dinner if we would like to be in a film and so the next evening we spent the whole night filming!
We got our hair and make-up done and got given costumes. It's the first time that any effort has been put into my appearance in about 6 months and I almost wanted to apologise for the state of my hair. But it was quite nice not to look like a complete tramp for 12 hours. Plus I got high heels which also means I didn't feel short :) It's always the small things in life.
We then essentially walked around an office for more than 6 hours. The film is called Anjaana (or Anjaani) and is about the stock market crashing. So we were all dressed up as business men and women and marched around when and where the slightly stressed out lady told us to. It was quite fun as I think we all got quite melodramatic with the acting and must have looked ridiculous but, to be honest, no-one ever pays attention to the extras anyway. It was a long night though, and we got fed twice (if you're back-packing this is a big deal) with really good food (I'm not sure Indians can do bad Indian food) and we got paid! Absolutely pittance, but that's not the point. We also got back at 5 in the morning (they have to film overnight so that the office block isn't being used) and so were absolutley knackered.
We still got up and did the walking tour in the afternoon. Mumbai is a great city and the walking tour only gives you the surface impression. I think the most memorable building (it may only have been a week and a half, but a lot happens in a week and a half) was the High Court. It reminded me a little of Hogwarts, which is probably degrading it by comparing it to an imaginary castle in a children's book, but it gives the idea of how big it was. It had beautiful carvings and must be an amazing place to work, as it is still very much in use. Apparently there is a carving of a monkey playing with the scales of justice but, unfortunately, I couldn't spot it. For anyone who's read Shantaram we later ate at Leopold's. Apparently what looks like a bullet hole in the wall is a real bullet hole. This isn't verified though...
The last thing that we saw in Mumbai was the Prince of Wales Museum. This has another name but I can't remember it as it is very long and I left my journal in the room at the guest house. This is another very impressive museum and for the (completely over-inflated) foreign tourist price you get a free audio tour. I listened to this for roughly 10 minutes before wandering about as I chose and switching on the audio when I happened to see a number. The museum has a number of exhibits, including Nepal-Tibetan (which was quite nostaglic), animals, European paintings, Chinese snuff boxes and porcelain. It was a very extensive range and a very impressive one. My favourite was one of poems that accompanied the paintings. I am going to miss the art here!
Goa
This was a long time ago but I haven't had time to update...
Goa is essentially beaches, we spent a couple of nights in the capital and saw Old Goa. This is mainly Churches from when Goa was Portugese. They are famed as some of the biggest and most impressive Churches in India. However, none of us were particularly taken with them. Especailly after the bright colours and bold painting of the Buddhist Temples, it seemed quite drab! The most impressive thing were the ruins. If the building had been maintained then it would be very impressive, it seemed huge. It was the middle of the day though and brick gets surprisingly hot!
The rest of Goa is essentially beaches. We stayed in two different places; Baga and Anjuna. Baga has a beautiful beach and we were able to eat dinner there. It's also the place we've seen with most white people. It's strange seeing so many after such a long time! In Anjuna we got a very good guest house. It had a hammock and I spent a lot of my day sitting in it, I had also found a very good book in Baga and so was happy to sit and read and just chill out.
It was nice to relax for a while, and Goa's reputation for beauty is not undeserved. We visited one fort and it was gorgeous. It had the most beautiful scenery I think I have ever seen. It was easy to just sit and watch the ocean. It makes me miss it just thinking about it!
Goa is essentially beaches, we spent a couple of nights in the capital and saw Old Goa. This is mainly Churches from when Goa was Portugese. They are famed as some of the biggest and most impressive Churches in India. However, none of us were particularly taken with them. Especailly after the bright colours and bold painting of the Buddhist Temples, it seemed quite drab! The most impressive thing were the ruins. If the building had been maintained then it would be very impressive, it seemed huge. It was the middle of the day though and brick gets surprisingly hot!
The rest of Goa is essentially beaches. We stayed in two different places; Baga and Anjuna. Baga has a beautiful beach and we were able to eat dinner there. It's also the place we've seen with most white people. It's strange seeing so many after such a long time! In Anjuna we got a very good guest house. It had a hammock and I spent a lot of my day sitting in it, I had also found a very good book in Baga and so was happy to sit and read and just chill out.
It was nice to relax for a while, and Goa's reputation for beauty is not undeserved. We visited one fort and it was gorgeous. It had the most beautiful scenery I think I have ever seen. It was easy to just sit and watch the ocean. It makes me miss it just thinking about it!
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Elephants, Caves and Waterfalls
Whilst in Kerala we went to the Waynad National Park which is meant to be the nicest place in an already very beautiful state. Just the bus journey to the Park had spectacular views and monkeys chilling out by the side of the road.
We went on a jeep trip around the park and for this you get a guide who point out all the animals. Within the first 5 minutes we had seen domestic elephants and some spotted deer. We also saw bysons and later a whole herd of the spotted deer, which are very majestic creatures. The best bit, of course, was the wild elephants. It was getting to the end of the circuit and we happened to pass them on the track. There was maybe 5 to 10 of them, including a one month old calf. It's great seeing the herd dynamic and how protective they are over their young, plus I've now seen wild elephants :)
On the same day we also saw what is listed in the Lonely Planet as a cave. It is, however, a rock shelter which means that it is a gap between two rocks with some huge rocks fallen over the top so it is partially covered. It's pretty cool though as it has 3000 year old carvings on the walls and a very nice Indian man explained some of them to us. There was a chieftain, a woman, an elephant and a peacock with two inscriptions; one in Tamil and the other in Sanscrit. It was nice to have them pointd out to us as otherwise we probably wouldn't have noticed it.
We also went to a waterfall and we sat and watched it for a while as it is always quite hypnotising watching waterfalls. The walk to it was also great but isn't designed for those without much agility. That is one major difference about India, they haven't got the insane political correctness and general nanny-state going and so you get the beautiful scenery without it being wrecked by 101 signs telling you that a surface may be slippery when wet.
We are now in Goa and tomorrow are heading to the beach, and Goa is meant to have some of the nicest beaches in India and as we have already seen some very beautiful beaches, it should be good!
We went on a jeep trip around the park and for this you get a guide who point out all the animals. Within the first 5 minutes we had seen domestic elephants and some spotted deer. We also saw bysons and later a whole herd of the spotted deer, which are very majestic creatures. The best bit, of course, was the wild elephants. It was getting to the end of the circuit and we happened to pass them on the track. There was maybe 5 to 10 of them, including a one month old calf. It's great seeing the herd dynamic and how protective they are over their young, plus I've now seen wild elephants :)
On the same day we also saw what is listed in the Lonely Planet as a cave. It is, however, a rock shelter which means that it is a gap between two rocks with some huge rocks fallen over the top so it is partially covered. It's pretty cool though as it has 3000 year old carvings on the walls and a very nice Indian man explained some of them to us. There was a chieftain, a woman, an elephant and a peacock with two inscriptions; one in Tamil and the other in Sanscrit. It was nice to have them pointd out to us as otherwise we probably wouldn't have noticed it.
We also went to a waterfall and we sat and watched it for a while as it is always quite hypnotising watching waterfalls. The walk to it was also great but isn't designed for those without much agility. That is one major difference about India, they haven't got the insane political correctness and general nanny-state going and so you get the beautiful scenery without it being wrecked by 101 signs telling you that a surface may be slippery when wet.
We are now in Goa and tomorrow are heading to the beach, and Goa is meant to have some of the nicest beaches in India and as we have already seen some very beautiful beaches, it should be good!
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
The Houseboat
Well, we are now in Kerala, which is south-west India and it contains a load of rivers and the best way to see them is on a houseboat. As it is off-season we got a really nice houseboat for a relatively cheap price. It had a huge seating area at the bow of the boat, which was great as on a houseboat you mainly just relax!
The first morning it started raining as the monsoon had hit Kerala the day before. However, you're not really on a boat until it starts raining and so we just sat and watched the rain and I loved it. Along the river banks are basically a load of trees interspersed with random buildings and villages. The kids are all really enthusiastic and happy to wave at everyone. There was even one kid making faces and, as I'm nice and mature, I didn't make them back.
In the afternoon we got a 'complimentary' canoe trip. This was along the smaller rivers that come off the main river. We had a great guide, who knew a lot about random trees and stuff. We even got to try a freshly picked cashew nut!
To be honest there isn't a whole lot to say, as the point of a houseboat is just to chill out and watch the world go by. Which we did, along with some drinking...
The first morning it started raining as the monsoon had hit Kerala the day before. However, you're not really on a boat until it starts raining and so we just sat and watched the rain and I loved it. Along the river banks are basically a load of trees interspersed with random buildings and villages. The kids are all really enthusiastic and happy to wave at everyone. There was even one kid making faces and, as I'm nice and mature, I didn't make them back.
In the afternoon we got a 'complimentary' canoe trip. This was along the smaller rivers that come off the main river. We had a great guide, who knew a lot about random trees and stuff. We even got to try a freshly picked cashew nut!
To be honest there isn't a whole lot to say, as the point of a houseboat is just to chill out and watch the world go by. Which we did, along with some drinking...
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Cities, Night Buses and MORE Beaches!
Going from the east to west coast we stopped in Bengaluru for a night. This is more expensive than the places we had stayed in before, due to it being a relatively big city. However, we managed to stay in a guest house that had only been open for two days and so therefore got cheap rates. The only drawback was that it didn't have a shower, which we didn't realise for a while, and so bucket baths it was!
I love cities, simply for the hustle and bustle and that there is always something going on and Bengalura was no exception. We went to the Government Museum which contains stones and relics and stuff. Doesn't sound that interesting but they had some amazing wood carvings, which were very detailed and I loved. There was also an Art Gallery attached and one particular artist caught my eye as there were some fantastic landscapes. Normally the paintings here are bold and clear with lots of colour and then you notice more detail the longer you look at it. Although I know next to nothing (frankly, nothing) about art I have so far loved most of what I have seen here.
We also went to Cubbon Park, which is just beside the museum. A huge park that was great to sit in during the heat of the day. Lots of shade and far enough away from the road that you couldn't see the traffic.
From Bengaluru we got a semi-sleeper night bus. A semi-sleeper is not comfortable at all and it's good that I don't normally need much sleep. Partly because of the chair and partly because they switched on music very loudly at 6 in the morning. My mp3 didn't go loud enough to drown it out...
We are now in Varkala and the beach (seeing a theme?) is AWESOME. Most of the restaurants look out to the sea and you can sit and watch it for hours. Have to admit haven't been to the temple here, as we feel we've seen lots already, but we walked past it :)
A Cyclone, Rathas and Photos
Some random details...
We arrived at Chennai (just go with the names, they're relatively unimportant) on a night bus to find that a cyclone was hitting it. Having never been in a cyclone I have no idea what they're meant to be like but this one was just a whole lot of rain. We were walking in it for perhaps 10 minutes and we were absolutely soaked through. Luckily my bag is vaguely waterproof and so most of my stuff stayed dry. The roads, however, were another story as at one point we were wading through water that was about half a foot deep which makes keeping your flip-flops on your feet a whole lot harder...
We were in Chennai in transit to a place called Mamallapuram which is by another beach. Due to the cyclone there was a load of dead, and therefore rotting fish, on the shore and they smelt... interesting.
Mammallapuram is a World Heritage Site because of the Shore Temple (self-explanatory) and the Five Rathas. These are temples that are all carved out of the same stone although for many Indians it seemed that three white people were far more interesting. I had my photo taken with some random kids, and it isn't the first time. They're all so friendly and good-natured though and you quickly stop caring about being stared at. When we were our kurtha shuluwars (the clothes we wore for school in Nepal) it makes so much difference to the amount of respect we get.
We arrived at Chennai (just go with the names, they're relatively unimportant) on a night bus to find that a cyclone was hitting it. Having never been in a cyclone I have no idea what they're meant to be like but this one was just a whole lot of rain. We were walking in it for perhaps 10 minutes and we were absolutely soaked through. Luckily my bag is vaguely waterproof and so most of my stuff stayed dry. The roads, however, were another story as at one point we were wading through water that was about half a foot deep which makes keeping your flip-flops on your feet a whole lot harder...
We were in Chennai in transit to a place called Mamallapuram which is by another beach. Due to the cyclone there was a load of dead, and therefore rotting fish, on the shore and they smelt... interesting.
Mammallapuram is a World Heritage Site because of the Shore Temple (self-explanatory) and the Five Rathas. These are temples that are all carved out of the same stone although for many Indians it seemed that three white people were far more interesting. I had my photo taken with some random kids, and it isn't the first time. They're all so friendly and good-natured though and you quickly stop caring about being stared at. When we were our kurtha shuluwars (the clothes we wore for school in Nepal) it makes so much difference to the amount of respect we get.
Saturday, 15 May 2010
Puri
Well, we are now in Puri which is a relatively small town just by the sea. So, now I've been swimming in the Bay of Bengal and it was great!
We also saw the fisherman go out at sunrise (well, we missed the sunrise because we didn't get up in time to see the sun actually rise, but the point still stands and we did watch the fisherman go out). We also had a dinner of fresh fish and the next day fresh crab at one of the Lifeguard's houses. Pretty cool, and also the first time I had crab meat - which was delicious. It was also interesting to see the normal Puri rather than the touristy part. Although at the moment it is low season for backpackers and so it is Indian tourists. In Nepal there was very few domestic tourists, but here there are loads! And you can really tell the difference between the locals and the tourists as the locals have much darker skin and are generally much skinnier!
Yesterday we went to the Sun Temple which is an amazing structure. There is so much carving on it and it is all in a lot of detail. It was built hundreds of years ago some is very weathered but you can still see the original carvings.
The day before we went to Chilika Lake and I saw dolphins! True, not a whole lot of one but still a dolphin! It was also fun being on the water again as we went on a boat tour. The lake is a huge lagoon so you get a boat out to where the dolphins are most likely to be. There was four very excited Indian boys who were obviously enjoying themselves!
We're next heading south, we're not entirely sure where yet, but it's going to get hot and also at some point we're going to run into the monsoon :)
We also saw the fisherman go out at sunrise (well, we missed the sunrise because we didn't get up in time to see the sun actually rise, but the point still stands and we did watch the fisherman go out). We also had a dinner of fresh fish and the next day fresh crab at one of the Lifeguard's houses. Pretty cool, and also the first time I had crab meat - which was delicious. It was also interesting to see the normal Puri rather than the touristy part. Although at the moment it is low season for backpackers and so it is Indian tourists. In Nepal there was very few domestic tourists, but here there are loads! And you can really tell the difference between the locals and the tourists as the locals have much darker skin and are generally much skinnier!
Yesterday we went to the Sun Temple which is an amazing structure. There is so much carving on it and it is all in a lot of detail. It was built hundreds of years ago some is very weathered but you can still see the original carvings.
The day before we went to Chilika Lake and I saw dolphins! True, not a whole lot of one but still a dolphin! It was also fun being on the water again as we went on a boat tour. The lake is a huge lagoon so you get a boat out to where the dolphins are most likely to be. There was four very excited Indian boys who were obviously enjoying themselves!
We're next heading south, we're not entirely sure where yet, but it's going to get hot and also at some point we're going to run into the monsoon :)
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Last Post On Nepal
You know you've been to Nepal when...
- You're suprised if rice isn't in a plate-sized portion
- If something leaves half an hour late it's considered early
- You're more likely to sit on top of a bus than in it
- You don't nod, you wobble your head
- You offer everything with your right hand
- A meal is expensive if it costs Rs400 (4 pounds)
- Getting up at 9 is late and going to bed at 10 is normal
- Walking down the middle of the road is expected
- You don't react to car horns
- You don't notice people spitting on the street
- You immediately half the quote price for everything, including taxi fares
- A hot shower is a rarity and a luxury
- Welcome is Wel Come
- You ask for e-sprite, you go to e-school etc
- If dal bhat doesn't come on a prison plate you complain
Saturday, 8 May 2010
A Train Ride to Kolkata
We walked to the train station in Raxaul on the morning of the 7th and I'd forgotten what it was like to be the only white people around. You get used to the stares fairly quickly. The train system was fairly easy; the board says the daily trains with the number and name and then you go and find them. We were on 3AC - the cheapest class with AC. The trains are more comfortable and more spacious than National Rail and contain a lower number of annoying chavs than Southern. We spent 20 hours on the train and I've had train rides up to London seem longer.
The scenery is something to look at, there are miles and miles of fields with no habitation whatsoever. The villages that we passed through seemed poorer than Nepal, but we only really saw Gorkha which is a relatively rich part of Nepal (especially compared to the far west). The most interesting thing I saw, however, was the dead dog. Morbid as this may seem this dog was very dead. It's head and front paws were on one side of the train track and its tail and back paws were on the other side of the track. And they were very much unjoined in the middle. It was severed and covered in flies. Didn't put me off supper, which was my first propoer meal that day and therefore delicious.
We got to Kolkata at 6am (this morning, 8th May), found a guest house and then had breakfast. The novelty of finding a restaurant, choosing food from a menu and having an actual meal hasn't worn off. You don't appreciate things until the Maoists take them away. We then went to the Victoria Memorial Hall built to comemorate... Queen Victoria. The foundation stone was laid in 1906 and it was finished in 1921 and the spectacularly white building is now a museum which is very impressive. It's a shame that they don't sell postcards because there were some beautiful paintings and there were no photos allowed. The Hall is set in a huge park. A park that strangely resembles Hyde Park.
That had been one of the things to really strike me about India, you can see parts that are very British. Some of the train stations could have been in London (if they were a bit grimier). You can tell that India used to be part of the British Empire while Nepal wasn't. Although due to Kolkata's importance for the British this may be exacerbated here compared to the rest of India. We shall see :)
The scenery is something to look at, there are miles and miles of fields with no habitation whatsoever. The villages that we passed through seemed poorer than Nepal, but we only really saw Gorkha which is a relatively rich part of Nepal (especially compared to the far west). The most interesting thing I saw, however, was the dead dog. Morbid as this may seem this dog was very dead. It's head and front paws were on one side of the train track and its tail and back paws were on the other side of the track. And they were very much unjoined in the middle. It was severed and covered in flies. Didn't put me off supper, which was my first propoer meal that day and therefore delicious.
We got to Kolkata at 6am (this morning, 8th May), found a guest house and then had breakfast. The novelty of finding a restaurant, choosing food from a menu and having an actual meal hasn't worn off. You don't appreciate things until the Maoists take them away. We then went to the Victoria Memorial Hall built to comemorate... Queen Victoria. The foundation stone was laid in 1906 and it was finished in 1921 and the spectacularly white building is now a museum which is very impressive. It's a shame that they don't sell postcards because there were some beautiful paintings and there were no photos allowed. The Hall is set in a huge park. A park that strangely resembles Hyde Park.
That had been one of the things to really strike me about India, you can see parts that are very British. Some of the train stations could have been in London (if they were a bit grimier). You can tell that India used to be part of the British Empire while Nepal wasn't. Although due to Kolkata's importance for the British this may be exacerbated here compared to the rest of India. We shall see :)
Goodbye Nepal, Hello India!
I have now left Nepal. In the past few days we've travelled a lot. We left Kathmandu on the morning of the 6th. We had spent the previous couple of days sitting in our hotel room as the Maoists have called an indefinete bandh, or strike, which means everything is closed, except between 6 and 8 pm. Even then it was a limited number of things that opened and, as they had no deliveries, restaurants remained shut after the 3rd. This amounted to two things; meals of dried noodles and biscuits and extreme boredom. So we were glad to get out.
The strike also closed every road out of Kathmandu and so we had to fly to Simara (near Birganj, the border town). As we could only get plane tickets for the 6th it meant the extra hassle of changing our train ticket to Kolkata from the 6th to the 7th. The Maoists are not popular among tourists, or in fact most people, at the moment. The atmosphere in Kathmandu has completely changed and it was both sad and annoying that our last couple of days were ruined. But the Maoists obviously think it's wise in Nepal Tourism Year to completely put off any tourists from coming and so crippling a huge part of the Nepali economy. A great way for a party who want to run the country to act. Congratulations to whoever thought of that one.
We flew out on another washing-machine sized plane and then had the trouble of getting from Simara to Birganj. The bandh has stopped all cars and taxis so in the end we got a horse and cart. You have to try everything once. Three people each with a backpack and day sack meant a fairly squashed ride but we got to Birganj. Which was definetely closed. We originally intended to spend the night but decided to spend our money in India where we might get a decent meal. Another congratulations to the Maoists by increasing the income of the country. Well done.
So, on another horse and cart we left Nepal. And turned round and came straight back in again. Got the correct stamps in our passports and left Nepal for the final time. Which was strange; I hadn't thought about leaving until then, I'd just be looking forward to having something to do, but we were leaving Nepal! That is the main reason tthe Maoists are intensely annoying as it meant a very boring last few days in an amazing city of a beautiful country. One that I hope to come back to.
Not that it isn't great to be seeing new things all the time. Raxaul was... busy. Shops were open, kids were going to school and people weren't just hanging about aimlessly. It was nice to be out of an area of indefinite strike! The thing we were most looking forward to was a proper meal. Something that we hadn't had since breakfast on the 4th (kind thanks to Sanjeep of Omega for paying for that one :) so willingly too...) This isn't as easy as it seems. There aren't any (obvious) restaurants in Raxaul. To be fair the Lonely Plant describes it as a "grim, dirty and crowded border town" and it isn't a particularly inaccurate description. Although, honestly, I was glad to be somewhere that had something happening outside the hours of 6 and 8
In the end we ate at the hotel and it was one of the nicest meals I have had in my life. I have never been more grateful for a meal anyway!
The strike also closed every road out of Kathmandu and so we had to fly to Simara (near Birganj, the border town). As we could only get plane tickets for the 6th it meant the extra hassle of changing our train ticket to Kolkata from the 6th to the 7th. The Maoists are not popular among tourists, or in fact most people, at the moment. The atmosphere in Kathmandu has completely changed and it was both sad and annoying that our last couple of days were ruined. But the Maoists obviously think it's wise in Nepal Tourism Year to completely put off any tourists from coming and so crippling a huge part of the Nepali economy. A great way for a party who want to run the country to act. Congratulations to whoever thought of that one.
We flew out on another washing-machine sized plane and then had the trouble of getting from Simara to Birganj. The bandh has stopped all cars and taxis so in the end we got a horse and cart. You have to try everything once. Three people each with a backpack and day sack meant a fairly squashed ride but we got to Birganj. Which was definetely closed. We originally intended to spend the night but decided to spend our money in India where we might get a decent meal. Another congratulations to the Maoists by increasing the income of the country. Well done.
So, on another horse and cart we left Nepal. And turned round and came straight back in again. Got the correct stamps in our passports and left Nepal for the final time. Which was strange; I hadn't thought about leaving until then, I'd just be looking forward to having something to do, but we were leaving Nepal! That is the main reason tthe Maoists are intensely annoying as it meant a very boring last few days in an amazing city of a beautiful country. One that I hope to come back to.
Not that it isn't great to be seeing new things all the time. Raxaul was... busy. Shops were open, kids were going to school and people weren't just hanging about aimlessly. It was nice to be out of an area of indefinite strike! The thing we were most looking forward to was a proper meal. Something that we hadn't had since breakfast on the 4th (kind thanks to Sanjeep of Omega for paying for that one :) so willingly too...) This isn't as easy as it seems. There aren't any (obvious) restaurants in Raxaul. To be fair the Lonely Plant describes it as a "grim, dirty and crowded border town" and it isn't a particularly inaccurate description. Although, honestly, I was glad to be somewhere that had something happening outside the hours of 6 and 8
In the end we ate at the hotel and it was one of the nicest meals I have had in my life. I have never been more grateful for a meal anyway!
Friday, 30 April 2010
Our Day Out
Well, yesterday we went for a three hour coach ride out of Kathmandu. We got off and walked across a bridge, sat down, had some orange juice, got ourselves weighed, went back to the bridge and then jumped off. With a bungee attached. It was epic.
Before we came back from the EBC trek the only other three left in Nepal of the AV volunteers had decided to do the biggest bungee jump in Asia, the 3rd biggest in the world and we decided to join them.
I was in the first group and for some strange, irrational reason I didn't actually feel that nervous, but seriously excited. To do the bungee you literally dive off the edge. And the freefall is fantastic. If you're not screaming it is almost completely silent, with just the sound of the wind as you watch the ground rushing towards you at an ever-increasing rate. On the rebound you have absolutely no control over your body, which is weird and kinda cool. You bounce a few times and then come to rest. It is brilliant.
You get lowered down and have to grab a bamboo pole which is made twice as difficult by the fact I was spinning 360 degrees. You are then placed on a table and detached. You then have to walk back up. When I realised this as I was standing on the bridge I was more nervous about walking up than jumping off, which is more than slightly illogical.
AND jumping off a bridge was so much fun I thought I'd do it again. With a twist. A Canyon Swing is when you jump off (feet first this time) and the rope you are attached to is also attached to a metal wire strung across the river. So you jump, then swing. It's a longer freefall and instead of the rebound you barely feel the rope taking our weight but start swinging away from the ground instead. It's a slightly surreal feeling! Apparently you get up to 150 km/h. It's also the biggest Canyon Swing in the world and it's better than the bungee jump. Cost all of Rs1900 and worth every penny.
To avoid inevitable questions; yes, the company we went with is as safe as possible, no, I didn't do it specificially to wind my mother up and yes, I would love to do it again.
Hope you're all well :)
Before we came back from the EBC trek the only other three left in Nepal of the AV volunteers had decided to do the biggest bungee jump in Asia, the 3rd biggest in the world and we decided to join them.
I was in the first group and for some strange, irrational reason I didn't actually feel that nervous, but seriously excited. To do the bungee you literally dive off the edge. And the freefall is fantastic. If you're not screaming it is almost completely silent, with just the sound of the wind as you watch the ground rushing towards you at an ever-increasing rate. On the rebound you have absolutely no control over your body, which is weird and kinda cool. You bounce a few times and then come to rest. It is brilliant.
You get lowered down and have to grab a bamboo pole which is made twice as difficult by the fact I was spinning 360 degrees. You are then placed on a table and detached. You then have to walk back up. When I realised this as I was standing on the bridge I was more nervous about walking up than jumping off, which is more than slightly illogical.
AND jumping off a bridge was so much fun I thought I'd do it again. With a twist. A Canyon Swing is when you jump off (feet first this time) and the rope you are attached to is also attached to a metal wire strung across the river. So you jump, then swing. It's a longer freefall and instead of the rebound you barely feel the rope taking our weight but start swinging away from the ground instead. It's a slightly surreal feeling! Apparently you get up to 150 km/h. It's also the biggest Canyon Swing in the world and it's better than the bungee jump. Cost all of Rs1900 and worth every penny.
To avoid inevitable questions; yes, the company we went with is as safe as possible, no, I didn't do it specificially to wind my mother up and yes, I would love to do it again.
Hope you're all well :)
Monday, 26 April 2010
The Everest Trek - Slight Change of Heart (Read ABC first...)
The Everest Base Camp Trek was... interesting. It started off great. The scenery is way better than ABC. You start off the trek in Lukla, which you have to fly to from Kathmandu, so on the 14th we jumped on a huge plane of 16 seats.
The first day was very short, as you have to be much more careful of AMS and Lukla starts at 2840m. We stopped at Phakding and then headed out early the next morning. The days continued on a similar vein and we got to EBC on the 20th April. It is technically the old EBC as the new one is reserved for people actually climbing the moutnain. EBC is a pile of rocks, and I now have a piece in my bag (which I'm sure most people who go there do!)
The next morning we headed to Kala Patthar. This is the highest point that you reach (5550m). It wouldn't be a difficult walk at sea level, but is very difficult with limited oxygen, still we all made it to the top and got biscuits while we looked at the view.
We then headed back down to Lukla. The original plan meant we went down in four days, but we wanted to make it in two. This was mainly because our guide's wife was ill and he wanted to get back, and we were happy to go as quickly as possible. We got from KP to Pangboche in one day, 6 and a half hours walking and a descent of 1620m. A long day, but it was nice not to have an afternoon sitting around with very little to do.
The next day we did get to Lukla, a further descnt of 1090m and it took me 9 hours. I was not feeling great. Although I wasn't 100% from ABC I had mostly felt fine throughtout the trek. On the last day, however, I fet nauseaous a lot of the time. It made walking a hundred times harder, and I was glad it was mostly downhill as I struggled going uphill. Which is ironic considering I was fine at 5550, with less oxygen. In the end we were delayed for a day in Lukla anyway, which was frustrating and got back to Kathmandu on the 24th.
I can now say I've been to EBC (5364m) and to 5550m and I am hoping that in a months time I will look back and be more proud of this. At the moment I didn't enjoy the last day in any way, shape or form, but I hope my lasting memory will eventually be of the first 8 days instead. Either way, not many people can say they have a piece of Everest in their bag!
The first day was very short, as you have to be much more careful of AMS and Lukla starts at 2840m. We stopped at Phakding and then headed out early the next morning. The days continued on a similar vein and we got to EBC on the 20th April. It is technically the old EBC as the new one is reserved for people actually climbing the moutnain. EBC is a pile of rocks, and I now have a piece in my bag (which I'm sure most people who go there do!)
The next morning we headed to Kala Patthar. This is the highest point that you reach (5550m). It wouldn't be a difficult walk at sea level, but is very difficult with limited oxygen, still we all made it to the top and got biscuits while we looked at the view.
We then headed back down to Lukla. The original plan meant we went down in four days, but we wanted to make it in two. This was mainly because our guide's wife was ill and he wanted to get back, and we were happy to go as quickly as possible. We got from KP to Pangboche in one day, 6 and a half hours walking and a descent of 1620m. A long day, but it was nice not to have an afternoon sitting around with very little to do.
The next day we did get to Lukla, a further descnt of 1090m and it took me 9 hours. I was not feeling great. Although I wasn't 100% from ABC I had mostly felt fine throughtout the trek. On the last day, however, I fet nauseaous a lot of the time. It made walking a hundred times harder, and I was glad it was mostly downhill as I struggled going uphill. Which is ironic considering I was fine at 5550, with less oxygen. In the end we were delayed for a day in Lukla anyway, which was frustrating and got back to Kathmandu on the 24th.
I can now say I've been to EBC (5364m) and to 5550m and I am hoping that in a months time I will look back and be more proud of this. At the moment I didn't enjoy the last day in any way, shape or form, but I hope my lasting memory will eventually be of the first 8 days instead. Either way, not many people can say they have a piece of Everest in their bag!
The Annapurna Trek - Taking it Easy (Part Two)
On the fourth day I walked with the slower group and found I broke a lot less of a sweat and listend to more of my mp3. At Chhomrong, where we had lunch, we were able to dump some stuff and so I moved the majority of my stuff to Magnus' bag and in the afternoon I didn't have to carry a rucksack for the first time. It's amazing how much easier it is to move. I was last to where we stayed overnight at Sinuwa as I was walking/encouraging Pippa, who didn't want to be trekking. Still, we made it in perfect time, just befre the rain and got a much-needed hot shower. Also got charged Rs70 for a litre of boiled and filterd water. Rip off, but the water from the tap lookd slightly beyond purification.
Day five didn't start off well. Hari was too ill to carry on and so had to go back down. This wasn't her being pathetic, when she got back to Pokhara (2 days later) they almost had to IV her. It's a credit to her stubbornss that she even got to Sinuwa.
I did, however, get Hari's camea. Hari's SLR camera. Hari's extremely good and no doubt very expensive camera. Hari's amazing camera. As I was walking slowly I had plenty of time to take lots and lots of pictures and I have come to two conclusions; my camera is shit and at some point in the relatively near furture I'm getting an SLR. And it will be worth every penny.
So, I took way too many pictues and had to cross rivers on the way to the lodge. Normallly I wouldn't think twice (as rivers where my childhood summer holidays) but carrying Hari's camera made me slightly more nervous about falling and breaking it. Which, if it had happened would have meant I would have stayed on the mountain and possibly become a hermit or the yeti.
We were staying at Deorali and it was the fist night it was really cold. I meant freezing. Still, battle on and the next day was ABC! The way up to ABC is amazing. It's hard to describe but there are lots of pictres on Hari's camera :)
Only four of us stayed overnight at ABC as space is limited and the next morning out of four two of us had the shits. Not seriously, but enough to make watching the sunrise slightly tainted. Even so, the sunrise was better than Poon Hill. You get a panormaic view of the Annapurna Himalya and it is worth getting up for. By this point, annoyingly, Hari's camera had run out of battery and so my fun had ended and I couldn't take pictures of the mountains, but they were beautiful.
Going down from ABC was fun. Me and Caitlin (other person to foolishly choose pizza) both just kept walking to lunch and then from lunch to the lodge as we wanted to get there. I was actually very lucky as I was mainly ill in the morning and was back to about normal in the evening.
The next couple of days we re-traced our steps to Chhomrong where we went a different way down. We didn't walk up this way as it has a million and three steps instead of half a million and three. Everyone was more cheeful and we got to Naya Pul arond 3pm and then got the bus to Pokhara, where we met up with Ed (who had gone down with Hari) and Hari and realised quite how filthy we were. Luckily Omega (the trekking company) gave us all lovely grey t-shirts the size of my sleeping bag to wear to our farewell dinner. And so one shower and one grey t-shirt later we all headed out in a flurry of grey to say goodbye to the guides.
I loved the Annapurna trek and now want to do the Annapurna Circuit Trek. It was great fun, with great views. True, at times it was difficult, but I didn't struggle as much as most, all credit to them for carrying on. You need a certain mind-set to be able to walk and enjoy it, and I never realised I would ever really enjoy putting one foot in front of the other so much!
Day five didn't start off well. Hari was too ill to carry on and so had to go back down. This wasn't her being pathetic, when she got back to Pokhara (2 days later) they almost had to IV her. It's a credit to her stubbornss that she even got to Sinuwa.
I did, however, get Hari's camea. Hari's SLR camera. Hari's extremely good and no doubt very expensive camera. Hari's amazing camera. As I was walking slowly I had plenty of time to take lots and lots of pictures and I have come to two conclusions; my camera is shit and at some point in the relatively near furture I'm getting an SLR. And it will be worth every penny.
So, I took way too many pictues and had to cross rivers on the way to the lodge. Normallly I wouldn't think twice (as rivers where my childhood summer holidays) but carrying Hari's camera made me slightly more nervous about falling and breaking it. Which, if it had happened would have meant I would have stayed on the mountain and possibly become a hermit or the yeti.
We were staying at Deorali and it was the fist night it was really cold. I meant freezing. Still, battle on and the next day was ABC! The way up to ABC is amazing. It's hard to describe but there are lots of pictres on Hari's camera :)
Only four of us stayed overnight at ABC as space is limited and the next morning out of four two of us had the shits. Not seriously, but enough to make watching the sunrise slightly tainted. Even so, the sunrise was better than Poon Hill. You get a panormaic view of the Annapurna Himalya and it is worth getting up for. By this point, annoyingly, Hari's camera had run out of battery and so my fun had ended and I couldn't take pictures of the mountains, but they were beautiful.
Going down from ABC was fun. Me and Caitlin (other person to foolishly choose pizza) both just kept walking to lunch and then from lunch to the lodge as we wanted to get there. I was actually very lucky as I was mainly ill in the morning and was back to about normal in the evening.
The next couple of days we re-traced our steps to Chhomrong where we went a different way down. We didn't walk up this way as it has a million and three steps instead of half a million and three. Everyone was more cheeful and we got to Naya Pul arond 3pm and then got the bus to Pokhara, where we met up with Ed (who had gone down with Hari) and Hari and realised quite how filthy we were. Luckily Omega (the trekking company) gave us all lovely grey t-shirts the size of my sleeping bag to wear to our farewell dinner. And so one shower and one grey t-shirt later we all headed out in a flurry of grey to say goodbye to the guides.
I loved the Annapurna trek and now want to do the Annapurna Circuit Trek. It was great fun, with great views. True, at times it was difficult, but I didn't struggle as much as most, all credit to them for carrying on. You need a certain mind-set to be able to walk and enjoy it, and I never realised I would ever really enjoy putting one foot in front of the other so much!
The Annapurna Trek - At Speed (Part One)
The trek to Annapurna Base Camp stated on the morning of the 2nd April. AV organised the trek and so it was all 15 of the volunteers assembled and ready to go The ABC trek is based from Pokhara and from there you get a bus to Naya Pul where you start to walk. Between 15 of us we had 7 porters and so either people where sharing one bag or where swapping days which they had to carry a bag. We had left any unnecessary stuff in Pokhara and so our backpacks were, theoretically, lighter.
The first day was a relatively easy morning and we started to get into the rhythm of trekking. We were walking by a river for part of it and then across the river. An interesting experience when you haven't quite got used to the changed balance with a pack on your back. Still, we all made it to a lunch of dal bhat (24 hour power) and then set off again for the afternoon. Slightly harder due to the stairs, but we plodded on. You got into the mindest of one foot in front of the other focusing on the stair just in front of you and you always get to the top eventually and we reached where we were staying by 3.
A fairly easy first day but the steps where only a small part of the hundreds/thousands of steps overall. Most of which are on the second day. And it doesn't start you off easily, you go straight in. So, the whole morning of the 3rd April was stairs, stairs and more stairs. Towards mid-morning we had done the worst of them, however, and the stairs were interspersed with flats through a wood and we were very grateful of the shade. However, by this point my legs were aching. More specificallly, the muscles just above my knees were cramping. Luckily it was just before lunch and so we could have a much-needed rest.
After lunch wasn't nearly so difficult, but we were all fairly tired fom the morning and were very glad to reach Ghorepani, where we were staying and, more importantly, where there were hot showers. We then all sat by the fire, probably looking a little like the living dead. I still got up at 3:30 the next morning though.
Near Ghorepani is Poon Hill, which you get a fantastic view of the mountains. So me, Magnus and Sarah (the only ones crazy enough to get up) walked up to Poon Hill by moonlight, because torches are overrated. It was worth it, despite my running commentary of complaints on the way up. It was freezing (most places are at 4:30am) but the first light hitting the Annapurna range was spectacular. It hits it way before th sun rises and so you see the mountains go from red to orange and get more and more light on them. It was amazing. Frankly, just seeing the mountains when it was still dark and they were just white shapes against the sky was worth getting out of bed for.
So, to start the third day trekkng (4th April, Easter Day) we were wide awake and even if we weren't we soon would be. It was a much easier day trekking and we were going through the forest full of rhododendrums. All the trees near Gorkha have been mostly stripped bare of the flowers but these were full of red flowers. And so looking at them almost made me trip up The last bit up to lunch was a steepish hill and it came as a bit of a shock as the rest had been flat or downhill. Still, you plod along!
So, we reached Tadapani (where we thought we were having lunch) at around 11-11:30. We generally walked in 2 or 3 separate groups, depending on speed. We were first to reach Tadapani and were happily drinking tea when the next two people arrived. One of whom was not happy. Turns out we had overshot lunch and where meant to stop at Banthanti, one hour back. So, the five of us who first to get there felt awful, due to the severity of the reaction of the second group This menat waiting for 1 and a half hours for the last group who had to walk to Tadapani as we all had to eat in the same place. It's hard to describe why we felt so bad whilst waiting. It's porbably because we didn't know how tired the last group would be when they got to lunch as they had to walk the steep uphill. It was not fun waiting. As it turns out they were relatively cheerful considering and it meant we only had an half an hour walk to the lodge where we were staying for the night.
The first day was a relatively easy morning and we started to get into the rhythm of trekking. We were walking by a river for part of it and then across the river. An interesting experience when you haven't quite got used to the changed balance with a pack on your back. Still, we all made it to a lunch of dal bhat (24 hour power) and then set off again for the afternoon. Slightly harder due to the stairs, but we plodded on. You got into the mindest of one foot in front of the other focusing on the stair just in front of you and you always get to the top eventually and we reached where we were staying by 3.
A fairly easy first day but the steps where only a small part of the hundreds/thousands of steps overall. Most of which are on the second day. And it doesn't start you off easily, you go straight in. So, the whole morning of the 3rd April was stairs, stairs and more stairs. Towards mid-morning we had done the worst of them, however, and the stairs were interspersed with flats through a wood and we were very grateful of the shade. However, by this point my legs were aching. More specificallly, the muscles just above my knees were cramping. Luckily it was just before lunch and so we could have a much-needed rest.
After lunch wasn't nearly so difficult, but we were all fairly tired fom the morning and were very glad to reach Ghorepani, where we were staying and, more importantly, where there were hot showers. We then all sat by the fire, probably looking a little like the living dead. I still got up at 3:30 the next morning though.
Near Ghorepani is Poon Hill, which you get a fantastic view of the mountains. So me, Magnus and Sarah (the only ones crazy enough to get up) walked up to Poon Hill by moonlight, because torches are overrated. It was worth it, despite my running commentary of complaints on the way up. It was freezing (most places are at 4:30am) but the first light hitting the Annapurna range was spectacular. It hits it way before th sun rises and so you see the mountains go from red to orange and get more and more light on them. It was amazing. Frankly, just seeing the mountains when it was still dark and they were just white shapes against the sky was worth getting out of bed for.
So, to start the third day trekkng (4th April, Easter Day) we were wide awake and even if we weren't we soon would be. It was a much easier day trekking and we were going through the forest full of rhododendrums. All the trees near Gorkha have been mostly stripped bare of the flowers but these were full of red flowers. And so looking at them almost made me trip up The last bit up to lunch was a steepish hill and it came as a bit of a shock as the rest had been flat or downhill. Still, you plod along!
So, we reached Tadapani (where we thought we were having lunch) at around 11-11:30. We generally walked in 2 or 3 separate groups, depending on speed. We were first to reach Tadapani and were happily drinking tea when the next two people arrived. One of whom was not happy. Turns out we had overshot lunch and where meant to stop at Banthanti, one hour back. So, the five of us who first to get there felt awful, due to the severity of the reaction of the second group This menat waiting for 1 and a half hours for the last group who had to walk to Tadapani as we all had to eat in the same place. It's hard to describe why we felt so bad whilst waiting. It's porbably because we didn't know how tired the last group would be when they got to lunch as they had to walk the steep uphill. It was not fun waiting. As it turns out they were relatively cheerful considering and it meant we only had an half an hour walk to the lodge where we were staying for the night.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Lumbini/ Bandipur
We have now left Gorkha! It's strange not going back to our pink house in the middle of a field, but we are leaving for the Annapurna Base Camp trek on the 2nd so we have lots to look forward to.
As we had some time when the kids had exams we decided to see a bit more of Nepal and travel to Lumbini and Bandipur.
Lumbini is the birthplace of Buddha and the marker stone showing exactly where he was born is in the Maya Devi Temple. It was very peaceful here and there were lots of monks meditating. Can't say I'm sold on the idea of Buddhism, but it was still a nice place to wonder around. We also got bikes and cycled to the monastries in the area around the Maya Devi Temple. There is a big project for Lumbini and lots of different countries are building monastries and some of them are amazing. The Nepali one is beautiful, the decoration is bright and colourful and bold and they have some very cool paintings on almost every surface. The Korean one is half finished and is currently a concrete shell. A huge concrete shell - I would love to come back and see it when it's finished because it looks amazing. As Lumbini is in the Terai (the flat bit of Nepal in the south) it was hot. Boiling hot. And also mosquitoes everywhere. However, I have already been eaten alive by every mosquito in Asia, so really I've given up counting the number of bites I have.
Bandipur is an old town that the Nepali government restored to attract tourists and show them some of the old style Nepal. It was a very clean place; slightly disconcertingly clean as there is strictly no rubbish. We stayed in a very nice guest house and the owner has a daughter who's living in Sutton and working at the Rosemary Hospital. It was quite weird asking him where in London his daughter was living and finding out it was only 20minutes walk from me. Small world. In Bandipur there is the biggest cave in Asia. It was great fun climbing round the cave, and reminded me of rock climbing when sailing. The cave was great; lots of bats :)
Sorry about the short entry, we are now in Pokhara where the prices for the internet are more than double that in Gorkha. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time in Gorkha to go on the internet as we were packing and cleaning. And also head office cut off the internet so there wasn't really much hope...
Hope you're all well.
As we had some time when the kids had exams we decided to see a bit more of Nepal and travel to Lumbini and Bandipur.
Lumbini is the birthplace of Buddha and the marker stone showing exactly where he was born is in the Maya Devi Temple. It was very peaceful here and there were lots of monks meditating. Can't say I'm sold on the idea of Buddhism, but it was still a nice place to wonder around. We also got bikes and cycled to the monastries in the area around the Maya Devi Temple. There is a big project for Lumbini and lots of different countries are building monastries and some of them are amazing. The Nepali one is beautiful, the decoration is bright and colourful and bold and they have some very cool paintings on almost every surface. The Korean one is half finished and is currently a concrete shell. A huge concrete shell - I would love to come back and see it when it's finished because it looks amazing. As Lumbini is in the Terai (the flat bit of Nepal in the south) it was hot. Boiling hot. And also mosquitoes everywhere. However, I have already been eaten alive by every mosquito in Asia, so really I've given up counting the number of bites I have.
Bandipur is an old town that the Nepali government restored to attract tourists and show them some of the old style Nepal. It was a very clean place; slightly disconcertingly clean as there is strictly no rubbish. We stayed in a very nice guest house and the owner has a daughter who's living in Sutton and working at the Rosemary Hospital. It was quite weird asking him where in London his daughter was living and finding out it was only 20minutes walk from me. Small world. In Bandipur there is the biggest cave in Asia. It was great fun climbing round the cave, and reminded me of rock climbing when sailing. The cave was great; lots of bats :)
Sorry about the short entry, we are now in Pokhara where the prices for the internet are more than double that in Gorkha. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time in Gorkha to go on the internet as we were packing and cleaning. And also head office cut off the internet so there wasn't really much hope...
Hope you're all well.
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Last Day at Saraswoti
On 11thMarch was our final day "teaching" at Saraswoti. Although it was the last day of term, the final day of proper teaching was the 10th. The kids all have exams starting on the 14th Mardh (the first day of the Nepali month) and so the Firday was a holiday for them to prepare.
We were asked to buy a pencial for each child we taught, and so I had to buy 164 pencils. As Ed had already been to the stationers I didn't get as strange a look as I expected.
I walked into my grade 4 class and was immediately inundated with yellow flowers. Each child had got me a bunch and so the whole of the front desk was covered in yellow flowers. I also got five of the best sudents a certificate and a stamper pen (and so by the time I left each child's hand was covered in stamps). It was strange leaving the classroom for the last time and it reminded me how much I'm going to miss teaching all of the classes!
Grade 5 was also much louder than normal and, cheefully, I could let them be as loud as they wanted :) We played hangman and they got stars for the correct letters. As I had a huge excess of stars I was giving them away to any child and so, in mamy of the pcitures, they all have stars on their collars. One boy gave me a picture he had drawn himself, which he obviously put effort into, and it was very kind, definetely one of the things to remember them all by.
Grade 6 were close to rioting. I don't know this class as well as the others as I have only taught them for a short time, but there are 55 of them, which is bigger than any of my other classes by about 15 students. There are also a lot more boys than girls and so they are much much louder. The behaved until the girls started giving me a tikka (this meant smearing my face with red power) and the boys started running about. To their credit they did sit down evenutally when I yelled at them. So, I left grade 6 very red, with two Nepali flags and two gifts!
Grade 7 were the final class I was saying goodbye to. It was the quietest they've ever been as I think they have a better idea of how important they're exams are. Still, when it came to photos the boys were relatively enthusiastic and the girls weren't; just by that it shows they are older.
We then had the leaving porgramme. I thought this would be standing on the stage and them saying thank you. I was very much mistaken. We stood on the stage, some teachers said thank you, tikka-ered us and gave us flowers. One of the boys in my grade 7 class said a short speech, syaing thank you and then a child (or two) from eachclass came up on stage.
They each tikka-ered us both (which meant smearing both cheeks with red powder and the smallest ones having to stand on tiptoe to reach Ed) and they also gave us gifts. It was very unexpected and very generous. I am now laden with presents and had a whole bag full on the way back from school. Not to mention a bagful of flowers.
Teaching for two months is a relatively short time. It takes that much time to get to know the kids as people and to know the dynamic of each class. Due to the ever-changing Nepali terms we weren't able to teach for longer, but I would have liked more. It's a shame but Saraswoti definetely didn't do the leaving programme by half-measures. It was a good way to say goodbye to the kids but I also think they enjoyed it as much as we did. Especially those who were tikka-ering us...
We have our final day at Saraswoti on the 17th March as all the exams for the classes we've taught are on the first four days of the exm period. We will then get the teacerh's goodbye and will leave for the final time. Which will be very strange and also very sad!
We were asked to buy a pencial for each child we taught, and so I had to buy 164 pencils. As Ed had already been to the stationers I didn't get as strange a look as I expected.
I walked into my grade 4 class and was immediately inundated with yellow flowers. Each child had got me a bunch and so the whole of the front desk was covered in yellow flowers. I also got five of the best sudents a certificate and a stamper pen (and so by the time I left each child's hand was covered in stamps). It was strange leaving the classroom for the last time and it reminded me how much I'm going to miss teaching all of the classes!
Grade 5 was also much louder than normal and, cheefully, I could let them be as loud as they wanted :) We played hangman and they got stars for the correct letters. As I had a huge excess of stars I was giving them away to any child and so, in mamy of the pcitures, they all have stars on their collars. One boy gave me a picture he had drawn himself, which he obviously put effort into, and it was very kind, definetely one of the things to remember them all by.
Grade 6 were close to rioting. I don't know this class as well as the others as I have only taught them for a short time, but there are 55 of them, which is bigger than any of my other classes by about 15 students. There are also a lot more boys than girls and so they are much much louder. The behaved until the girls started giving me a tikka (this meant smearing my face with red power) and the boys started running about. To their credit they did sit down evenutally when I yelled at them. So, I left grade 6 very red, with two Nepali flags and two gifts!
Grade 7 were the final class I was saying goodbye to. It was the quietest they've ever been as I think they have a better idea of how important they're exams are. Still, when it came to photos the boys were relatively enthusiastic and the girls weren't; just by that it shows they are older.
We then had the leaving porgramme. I thought this would be standing on the stage and them saying thank you. I was very much mistaken. We stood on the stage, some teachers said thank you, tikka-ered us and gave us flowers. One of the boys in my grade 7 class said a short speech, syaing thank you and then a child (or two) from eachclass came up on stage.
They each tikka-ered us both (which meant smearing both cheeks with red powder and the smallest ones having to stand on tiptoe to reach Ed) and they also gave us gifts. It was very unexpected and very generous. I am now laden with presents and had a whole bag full on the way back from school. Not to mention a bagful of flowers.
Teaching for two months is a relatively short time. It takes that much time to get to know the kids as people and to know the dynamic of each class. Due to the ever-changing Nepali terms we weren't able to teach for longer, but I would have liked more. It's a shame but Saraswoti definetely didn't do the leaving programme by half-measures. It was a good way to say goodbye to the kids but I also think they enjoyed it as much as we did. Especially those who were tikka-ering us...
We have our final day at Saraswoti on the 17th March as all the exams for the classes we've taught are on the first four days of the exm period. We will then get the teacerh's goodbye and will leave for the final time. Which will be very strange and also very sad!
Holi
The 28th February is the festival of colour, aka Holi, in Nepal. And the Neapli's don't go halfway when it comes to Holi.
The main aim of the day is to cover any person within sight with colour. This is mainly done by water and powder. Walking down the street you are liable to ambush. Literally, as many children stand on their balconies or roofs and throw water balloons at you. As the only white people from here to Pokhara, we had no chance of being subtle.
All 15 volunteers were in Gorkha or Laxmi Bazaar and had stayed overnight and so the day began with preparation. You can buy the coloured powder in a lot of places in the week leading up to Holi and so we filled balloons first with powder and then with water. We also filled one litre water bottles with powder / water and made a hole in the top in a form of water pistol. We then turned on each other.
So, already covered in colour (most of us were wearing white t-shirts to get the full effect) and now without water balloons we braved the streets of Gorkha. 100m out of the house and we had our first battle. We had only just stepped out of the house when they headed towards us. This then worked out to our advantage as we joined forces and they knew how Holi worked a lot better than us.
Everyone throws coloured water from the rooftops but the people on the ground still have powder. Literally handfuls of powder. This they smear over you. About 10 of them attack one person and cover them in powder, which dries and leaves you with a different coloured face. Think lions attacking a gazelle and you get the idea.
So, after an hours circuit around Gorkha we returned to the house looking slightly different. Everyone had red/blue/green faces, hair was matted and mine was a nice shade of purple, everyone was soaked. The white t-shirts were very colourful and generally it had been brilliant.
Everyone who is on the street gets into the spirit of Holi and goes out expecting to get covered. I would like to think that we gave as good as we got but, despite being 15 of us, I doubt it. You really need powder instead of water to attack people with, but we were always going to be No. 1 targerts. To the point where one of the teachers at school on Tuesday mentioned that he had heard about us going round Gorkha. So, basically we didn't have a chance.
My hair was still purple after washing it twice and only eventually, after leaving conditioner in for 15minutes and washing it four times did it fade. I can only say I'm very lucky my hair isn't (or wasn't) blonde.
The main aim of the day is to cover any person within sight with colour. This is mainly done by water and powder. Walking down the street you are liable to ambush. Literally, as many children stand on their balconies or roofs and throw water balloons at you. As the only white people from here to Pokhara, we had no chance of being subtle.
All 15 volunteers were in Gorkha or Laxmi Bazaar and had stayed overnight and so the day began with preparation. You can buy the coloured powder in a lot of places in the week leading up to Holi and so we filled balloons first with powder and then with water. We also filled one litre water bottles with powder / water and made a hole in the top in a form of water pistol. We then turned on each other.
So, already covered in colour (most of us were wearing white t-shirts to get the full effect) and now without water balloons we braved the streets of Gorkha. 100m out of the house and we had our first battle. We had only just stepped out of the house when they headed towards us. This then worked out to our advantage as we joined forces and they knew how Holi worked a lot better than us.
Everyone throws coloured water from the rooftops but the people on the ground still have powder. Literally handfuls of powder. This they smear over you. About 10 of them attack one person and cover them in powder, which dries and leaves you with a different coloured face. Think lions attacking a gazelle and you get the idea.
So, after an hours circuit around Gorkha we returned to the house looking slightly different. Everyone had red/blue/green faces, hair was matted and mine was a nice shade of purple, everyone was soaked. The white t-shirts were very colourful and generally it had been brilliant.
Everyone who is on the street gets into the spirit of Holi and goes out expecting to get covered. I would like to think that we gave as good as we got but, despite being 15 of us, I doubt it. You really need powder instead of water to attack people with, but we were always going to be No. 1 targerts. To the point where one of the teachers at school on Tuesday mentioned that he had heard about us going round Gorkha. So, basically we didn't have a chance.
My hair was still purple after washing it twice and only eventually, after leaving conditioner in for 15minutes and washing it four times did it fade. I can only say I'm very lucky my hair isn't (or wasn't) blonde.
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Five Days in Pokhara
AV allows their volunteers a mid-term break. This is three days about the middle of the teaching period that we don't have to go to school, so essentially a half-term. We decided to take the mid-term with one of the many long weekends that the Nepali's have. Therefore we had five days free, which we used to visit Pokhara.
This is one of the more touristy areas of Nepal, with Lakeside (where we stayed) being the central tourist area. It was strange going from Gokrha, which is mostly untouched by tourism to an area that is aimed almost completely at tourists. What was strangest was seeing so many white people. We've spent the last month and a half being the only white people for miles and to suddenly have so manyof them was strange. Ironically, most of us didn't like it!
We left Gorkha on the 6 o'clock bus, which is early but doesn't seem to early because normally I am up by 7 anyway. A four hour bus journey later we were in Pokhara. We were meeting all the volunteers from AV in Pokhara as we hadn't seen most of them since early January. It was interesting to hear the different experiences the houses have had and the differences between the schools. A surprising number are English medium schools and I'm sure the Nepali government is encouraging all schools to follow suit.
We did lots of shopping in Pokhara. There is a much wider variety of choice and more things aimed at tourists. We all ended up buying similar things, which I suppose is to be expected. Some people also brought books. As there is no TV or internet I have found that I am reading more than I have for years. It also meant that there were a lot of conversations about books, as it replaces the conversations about TV. It was very relaxing to sit in a cafe with tea and a book and it is definetly something I will miss when I go home.
On Saturday morning (our second day) we went on the Phewa Tal, which is the lake by Pokhara. We hired boats for an hour and were rowed around the lake.There is a temple in the middle which you could get off to see, we chose not to and actually got better pictures as we got to go around the island that the temple was on.
Sunday morning was a bike trip to Old Pokhara. Originally 14 of us set off with 14 (relatively) working bikes. Not all 14 bikes quite made the journey. It was a mission to get back when you have a bike that breaks almost as soon as you have arrived at your destination, and so the furthest point from where you started off. Therefore we did try to fix one of the bikes. We had split down into smaller groups and so there were 3 of us with 2 working bikes. The third bike had handle bars that no longer turned the front wheel and a front wheel that therefore couldn't be controlled. We did fix this with multiple pieces of string so that it could be ridden down a very very gentle slope to make the journey back quicker. Turns out the string really wasn't strong enough and broke 50m down the road. it was still quite a nice walk/slow cycle back and, technically, we did fix the bike. The string was just rubbish, which isn't entirely surpirinsg as we got it free off a random shokeeper. I'm sure she considered it worth her while as we were a 30 minute source of amusement for all Nepali's within sight.
Monday was a trip to the Peace Pagoda. This is on top of one of the hills on the opposite side of Phewa Tal and was constructed by Bhuddhist moks to promote world peace. It was a nice 40 minute walk up and definetly worth it. Unfortunately, it was hazy most of the time we were at Pokhara so the views were obscured. However, it was mostly very peaceful up there. It is a dome-shaped, bright-white building and if I ever visit a white building again then I am taking sunglasses. As it is Bhuddist you walk clockwise around it to get the seven qualities of happiness. By now I think I am happy about 35 times over. We then headed back down as in the afternoon we had paragliding.
Some of the group had paraglided the day before but apparently we got the better day for it. The guy I was with had also won the 11th paragliding competition in Pokhara the day before. When you first take off you find a thermal. You then spiral upwards until you reach the edge of a cloud by which point I think I was above 2000m. It's also a little cold and there was a massive advantage to wearing long sleeves. We then glided around for a while and it goes very quickly. As it was hazy you couldn't see too much of the mountains but as we have spectacular views at school it didn't bother me as much as if I was just visiting Nepal for a few weeks. I didn't realise how big Pokhara was and apparently it is still expanding . It was great floating and just looking at the ground. I even got a chance to steer, which is relatively simple, and also got a chance of thermalling (essentially going round and round the thermal). The best part was the acrobatics. It's like a rollercoaster except better and, unfortunately, shorter. It was brilliant.
Tuesday was just the bus journey home which, because we're in Gorkha, was just one four hour bus. It was fun seeing a touristy part of Nepal but it was also nice getting back to Gorkha. You don't realise how much you've settled in a place until you go away and come back again. It's going to be very strange leaving Gorkha for the final time at the end of March.
This is one of the more touristy areas of Nepal, with Lakeside (where we stayed) being the central tourist area. It was strange going from Gokrha, which is mostly untouched by tourism to an area that is aimed almost completely at tourists. What was strangest was seeing so many white people. We've spent the last month and a half being the only white people for miles and to suddenly have so manyof them was strange. Ironically, most of us didn't like it!
We left Gorkha on the 6 o'clock bus, which is early but doesn't seem to early because normally I am up by 7 anyway. A four hour bus journey later we were in Pokhara. We were meeting all the volunteers from AV in Pokhara as we hadn't seen most of them since early January. It was interesting to hear the different experiences the houses have had and the differences between the schools. A surprising number are English medium schools and I'm sure the Nepali government is encouraging all schools to follow suit.
We did lots of shopping in Pokhara. There is a much wider variety of choice and more things aimed at tourists. We all ended up buying similar things, which I suppose is to be expected. Some people also brought books. As there is no TV or internet I have found that I am reading more than I have for years. It also meant that there were a lot of conversations about books, as it replaces the conversations about TV. It was very relaxing to sit in a cafe with tea and a book and it is definetly something I will miss when I go home.
On Saturday morning (our second day) we went on the Phewa Tal, which is the lake by Pokhara. We hired boats for an hour and were rowed around the lake.There is a temple in the middle which you could get off to see, we chose not to and actually got better pictures as we got to go around the island that the temple was on.
Sunday morning was a bike trip to Old Pokhara. Originally 14 of us set off with 14 (relatively) working bikes. Not all 14 bikes quite made the journey. It was a mission to get back when you have a bike that breaks almost as soon as you have arrived at your destination, and so the furthest point from where you started off. Therefore we did try to fix one of the bikes. We had split down into smaller groups and so there were 3 of us with 2 working bikes. The third bike had handle bars that no longer turned the front wheel and a front wheel that therefore couldn't be controlled. We did fix this with multiple pieces of string so that it could be ridden down a very very gentle slope to make the journey back quicker. Turns out the string really wasn't strong enough and broke 50m down the road. it was still quite a nice walk/slow cycle back and, technically, we did fix the bike. The string was just rubbish, which isn't entirely surpirinsg as we got it free off a random shokeeper. I'm sure she considered it worth her while as we were a 30 minute source of amusement for all Nepali's within sight.
Monday was a trip to the Peace Pagoda. This is on top of one of the hills on the opposite side of Phewa Tal and was constructed by Bhuddhist moks to promote world peace. It was a nice 40 minute walk up and definetly worth it. Unfortunately, it was hazy most of the time we were at Pokhara so the views were obscured. However, it was mostly very peaceful up there. It is a dome-shaped, bright-white building and if I ever visit a white building again then I am taking sunglasses. As it is Bhuddist you walk clockwise around it to get the seven qualities of happiness. By now I think I am happy about 35 times over. We then headed back down as in the afternoon we had paragliding.
Some of the group had paraglided the day before but apparently we got the better day for it. The guy I was with had also won the 11th paragliding competition in Pokhara the day before. When you first take off you find a thermal. You then spiral upwards until you reach the edge of a cloud by which point I think I was above 2000m. It's also a little cold and there was a massive advantage to wearing long sleeves. We then glided around for a while and it goes very quickly. As it was hazy you couldn't see too much of the mountains but as we have spectacular views at school it didn't bother me as much as if I was just visiting Nepal for a few weeks. I didn't realise how big Pokhara was and apparently it is still expanding . It was great floating and just looking at the ground. I even got a chance to steer, which is relatively simple, and also got a chance of thermalling (essentially going round and round the thermal). The best part was the acrobatics. It's like a rollercoaster except better and, unfortunately, shorter. It was brilliant.
Tuesday was just the bus journey home which, because we're in Gorkha, was just one four hour bus. It was fun seeing a touristy part of Nepal but it was also nice getting back to Gorkha. You don't realise how much you've settled in a place until you go away and come back again. It's going to be very strange leaving Gorkha for the final time at the end of March.
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Manakamana
Just a short post. On Saturday we went to Manakamana which is a temple on top of a hill. They have a cable car up to the top but you can walk in 4 or 5 hours if you so wish. We took the cable car. We queued for 1hour and a half which is pretty good as the AVs who are in Laxmi
Bazaar queued for 3 and a half hours.
It is a Hindu temple and so people take sacrificies up. This means that there are three of the cable cars dedicated to carrying goats up. Unfortunately the sacrifices are inside the temple so we didn't get to see any, but there was a lot of blood around the temple. You could also see where they had dragged the carcass away.
As the temple is very high up i.e. the cable car is 3km long or something like that, the views at the top are amazing. We were very lucky and we were above the cloud and it was insanely clear. The mountains were great (I have absolutely no idea which ones they were but apparently they were Annapurna and Manaslu) and there was a blanket of cloud along the valley. We sat and ate lunch and admired the view and the cloud started clearing so we could see more of the valley floor.
Hope you're all well at home, here it is getting sunnier and sunnier and so am building up my tan. As we randomly had a free day on Sunday spent most of it in the sun and so it is surprisingly easy :)
Bazaar queued for 3 and a half hours.
It is a Hindu temple and so people take sacrificies up. This means that there are three of the cable cars dedicated to carrying goats up. Unfortunately the sacrifices are inside the temple so we didn't get to see any, but there was a lot of blood around the temple. You could also see where they had dragged the carcass away.
As the temple is very high up i.e. the cable car is 3km long or something like that, the views at the top are amazing. We were very lucky and we were above the cloud and it was insanely clear. The mountains were great (I have absolutely no idea which ones they were but apparently they were Annapurna and Manaslu) and there was a blanket of cloud along the valley. We sat and ate lunch and admired the view and the cloud started clearing so we could see more of the valley floor.
Hope you're all well at home, here it is getting sunnier and sunnier and so am building up my tan. As we randomly had a free day on Sunday spent most of it in the sun and so it is surprisingly easy :)
Thursday, 11 February 2010
A Nepali Wedding
On Friday we went to a Nepali wedding. This is normally a two day event but because Saturday is a holy day it was shortened to one day. We started off quite early in the day by going to the groom's house. Here the band started playing. They played all day (mostly the same song). However, the Nepali's have a sing off which is essentially banter in the form of song. It was great to listen to, but would have been a lot funnier if we could understand it!
We then rode to the bride's house on a bus. Literally on top of the bus. This isn't like riding on English buses as they are designed to have people on top and there is a rack type thing on top so that people stay there. It is slightly uncomfortable, which you don't really notice until the next day as the bottom is just metal slats. Riding on top of the bus is much more fun than in the bus and as we were going round the mountain rather than through the town you didn't really have to watch out for cables as there were none!
From where the buses stopped we walked to the bride's house. The band continued playing and this involved a lot of stopping and so the walk took a while. Good fun though, and some cool pictures. The groom was wearing a suit and so looked a bit like a Western groom except it's the first time I've seen a groom wearing sunglasses (not really that sunny) and an umbrella. He also had the traditional garland around his neck.
Once at the bride's house we got food (delicious) and then every member of the bride's family washes the bride and groom's feet. This takes a while and so we had daal bhat (traditional Nepali meal) and then wandered back when we were done. It is much more relaxed than English weddings and people were wandering around most of the time! We didn't understand much of the ceremonial stuff, but we got brilliant seats at the wedding so we could see it all. The Nepali teacher at Saraswoti is going to explain what it meant to us when we show him the pictures so it will mean a little more to us.
This is the first time that I got a good look at the bride though. She was wearing a beautiful red sari and a veil. This was very much necessary as she spent most of the time in tears. When she left her house she was completely hysterical. For her this would probably be the first time she has left her house and her village and everything she knows and she must have been terrified. The man didn't look particularly happy but he would be surrounded by people he knew the next day. She wouldn't. It's hard to condemn the culture though when you're living in it. Especially as without marriage the women's future is very uncertain here and there is much more emphasis on the family unit here as many kids had the day off school to see the wedding.
After the ceremonial stuff the bride was carried (in a metal chair) to the buses. At this point you couldn't even see her face as she had it hidden in a jumper/whatever came to hand and we all walked back to the buses. After another hour journey on top of the bus (with great views had it not been dark and getting much colder by this point) we were back at the groom's house for the party. This contains no alcohol. However, between the bride's and groom's houses there is plenty of time to drink. While we didn't the Nepali's did. Turns out it is actually possible to dance on top of a moving bus and not fall off. We didn't try this, but quite a good few of the Nepali's did as the band was also on top of the bus. Fairly entertaining and very impressive!
At the groom's house we had a party. This involved a lot of dancing, the girls and guys are mainly split but as Westerners we are counted separately. Me and Hari did dance for a very short amount of time, but the boys didn't. It's quite embarrassing when small children can dance better than you can. We got a lift home from the groom's house because the Nepali's believe in ghosts and so wouldn't allow us to walk. It was quite hard to keep a straight face at this point, but it was much appreciated. And walking back from the groom's house (by Saraswoti) in the dark would not have been much fun; we were all very tired by this point and so were very grateful for the lift.
It was amazing seeing the wedding and was a brilliant day. The Nepali's are much more family orientated and use every excuse it seems to get together. It is much more colourful and relaxed than an English wedding, with the guys making a lot of noise, but this is probably to prevent the sound of bride crying. Although she may end up being happy in a years time, it was quite sobering to see the sheer terror she felt on what is a very important day of her life.
We then rode to the bride's house on a bus. Literally on top of the bus. This isn't like riding on English buses as they are designed to have people on top and there is a rack type thing on top so that people stay there. It is slightly uncomfortable, which you don't really notice until the next day as the bottom is just metal slats. Riding on top of the bus is much more fun than in the bus and as we were going round the mountain rather than through the town you didn't really have to watch out for cables as there were none!
From where the buses stopped we walked to the bride's house. The band continued playing and this involved a lot of stopping and so the walk took a while. Good fun though, and some cool pictures. The groom was wearing a suit and so looked a bit like a Western groom except it's the first time I've seen a groom wearing sunglasses (not really that sunny) and an umbrella. He also had the traditional garland around his neck.
Once at the bride's house we got food (delicious) and then every member of the bride's family washes the bride and groom's feet. This takes a while and so we had daal bhat (traditional Nepali meal) and then wandered back when we were done. It is much more relaxed than English weddings and people were wandering around most of the time! We didn't understand much of the ceremonial stuff, but we got brilliant seats at the wedding so we could see it all. The Nepali teacher at Saraswoti is going to explain what it meant to us when we show him the pictures so it will mean a little more to us.
This is the first time that I got a good look at the bride though. She was wearing a beautiful red sari and a veil. This was very much necessary as she spent most of the time in tears. When she left her house she was completely hysterical. For her this would probably be the first time she has left her house and her village and everything she knows and she must have been terrified. The man didn't look particularly happy but he would be surrounded by people he knew the next day. She wouldn't. It's hard to condemn the culture though when you're living in it. Especially as without marriage the women's future is very uncertain here and there is much more emphasis on the family unit here as many kids had the day off school to see the wedding.
After the ceremonial stuff the bride was carried (in a metal chair) to the buses. At this point you couldn't even see her face as she had it hidden in a jumper/whatever came to hand and we all walked back to the buses. After another hour journey on top of the bus (with great views had it not been dark and getting much colder by this point) we were back at the groom's house for the party. This contains no alcohol. However, between the bride's and groom's houses there is plenty of time to drink. While we didn't the Nepali's did. Turns out it is actually possible to dance on top of a moving bus and not fall off. We didn't try this, but quite a good few of the Nepali's did as the band was also on top of the bus. Fairly entertaining and very impressive!
At the groom's house we had a party. This involved a lot of dancing, the girls and guys are mainly split but as Westerners we are counted separately. Me and Hari did dance for a very short amount of time, but the boys didn't. It's quite embarrassing when small children can dance better than you can. We got a lift home from the groom's house because the Nepali's believe in ghosts and so wouldn't allow us to walk. It was quite hard to keep a straight face at this point, but it was much appreciated. And walking back from the groom's house (by Saraswoti) in the dark would not have been much fun; we were all very tired by this point and so were very grateful for the lift.
It was amazing seeing the wedding and was a brilliant day. The Nepali's are much more family orientated and use every excuse it seems to get together. It is much more colourful and relaxed than an English wedding, with the guys making a lot of noise, but this is probably to prevent the sound of bride crying. Although she may end up being happy in a years time, it was quite sobering to see the sheer terror she felt on what is a very important day of her life.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
One Whole Month
It doesn't really seem like a month since we've been here. One of the teachers asked us how long we've been in Gorkha today (quite randomly but appropriately) and it seems like we've been here way longer. The week is almost finished now (we have a wedding on Friday and so are not going to school) and it seems like yesterday it was Sunday!
We left school at lunchtime (or half-time) today as the last lesson for us is period 5 which is my science class and we thought we'd head to the Gurkha Inn for a warm shower.
The first lesson of the day is period 1 which I teach English to grade fours. They are a relatively quiet class. They are just starting to get used to putting their hands up for questions and are starting to want to answser questions a lot more. Which is great. Except generally it involves them jumping up and down squealing "I, miss, I!". It's good they're enthusiastic, but it definetely needs controlling. And so today when I put up my hand they sat in silence with their arms crossed. It looked very British and took a little bit of practice. They seemed to think it was quite fun though!
The grade 5s who I teach English to second period are slightly louder. There is one kid who I think is ADHD who does not like sitting down. He is very enthusiastic but really struggles to sit still for the whole lesson, and gets bored very easily. When he is sitting at the back then it is acceptable for him to stand for some of the lesson, as long as he is quiet. This doesn't work when he sits at the front. However, when there is something to do he generally does work hard, so it's just a question of making it interesting enough for him to listen. They were also introduced to sitting down with their arms crossed today and so we got through the work. I also used register numbers to choose who answered questions. It's very useful that they answer the register by number instead of name and so do know their numbers.
Although taking the register in grade four there are always some that don't seem to be listening, same ones each time as well...
My grade 7s are the only science class that I teach, the loudest class and also the one I enjoy teaching most. To start with it was a battle to get them to be quiet long enough to say my name. They have now settled and listen well. I still have to move some of them sometimes, but they now listen without talking and seem interested. There is also only the occasional few that come late to lessons now, soon to be reduced to none. While the teachers are allowed to come at whatever time, or not turn up, the students are expected to be there when the teacher is. They are no longer late because if they are they are required to answer a question before they walk through the door, must to the amusement of those who were already in the class the first time I introduced this.
I hope to pick up another science class as I enjoy teaching it a lot more. I think I am also better at teaching it as well and I have more enthusiasm for teaching science than English and I'm sure this effects the children's enjoyment as well.
In between classes, in the 'leisure' periods, we generally sit with the teachers and often go for tea. There is a tea shop about a minutes walk from the school and you get a cup of milky chia for Rs7, about 6p. We also plan lessons and are beginning to learn the braille contractions (ie the words that there are shorthand for in braille). This turned out to be very useful as the blind girl in my grade 7 gave me a note that I was able to read. It took a while, but at least I know the alphabet now!
Hope you're all well.
We left school at lunchtime (or half-time) today as the last lesson for us is period 5 which is my science class and we thought we'd head to the Gurkha Inn for a warm shower.
The first lesson of the day is period 1 which I teach English to grade fours. They are a relatively quiet class. They are just starting to get used to putting their hands up for questions and are starting to want to answser questions a lot more. Which is great. Except generally it involves them jumping up and down squealing "I, miss, I!". It's good they're enthusiastic, but it definetely needs controlling. And so today when I put up my hand they sat in silence with their arms crossed. It looked very British and took a little bit of practice. They seemed to think it was quite fun though!
The grade 5s who I teach English to second period are slightly louder. There is one kid who I think is ADHD who does not like sitting down. He is very enthusiastic but really struggles to sit still for the whole lesson, and gets bored very easily. When he is sitting at the back then it is acceptable for him to stand for some of the lesson, as long as he is quiet. This doesn't work when he sits at the front. However, when there is something to do he generally does work hard, so it's just a question of making it interesting enough for him to listen. They were also introduced to sitting down with their arms crossed today and so we got through the work. I also used register numbers to choose who answered questions. It's very useful that they answer the register by number instead of name and so do know their numbers.
Although taking the register in grade four there are always some that don't seem to be listening, same ones each time as well...
My grade 7s are the only science class that I teach, the loudest class and also the one I enjoy teaching most. To start with it was a battle to get them to be quiet long enough to say my name. They have now settled and listen well. I still have to move some of them sometimes, but they now listen without talking and seem interested. There is also only the occasional few that come late to lessons now, soon to be reduced to none. While the teachers are allowed to come at whatever time, or not turn up, the students are expected to be there when the teacher is. They are no longer late because if they are they are required to answer a question before they walk through the door, must to the amusement of those who were already in the class the first time I introduced this.
I hope to pick up another science class as I enjoy teaching it a lot more. I think I am also better at teaching it as well and I have more enthusiasm for teaching science than English and I'm sure this effects the children's enjoyment as well.
In between classes, in the 'leisure' periods, we generally sit with the teachers and often go for tea. There is a tea shop about a minutes walk from the school and you get a cup of milky chia for Rs7, about 6p. We also plan lessons and are beginning to learn the braille contractions (ie the words that there are shorthand for in braille). This turned out to be very useful as the blind girl in my grade 7 gave me a note that I was able to read. It took a while, but at least I know the alphabet now!
Hope you're all well.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
The Nepali Teachers House
Ok, I have absolutely no idea what the Nepali teacher's name is, at least 
I have no idea how to spell it but the very nice Nepali teacher at Saraswoti invited us to his house. This was actually a while ago but 1) the internet really hates me in Nepal (and so don't feel offended if it takes a while to send emails, I write them and then they don't send) and 2) the anniversary happened and so I wrote about that last time.
The first time I went must have been about a week and a half ago maximum, but it seems like a very long time ago. He walks back the same route as us from Saraswoti an
d once just invited me to his house, completely out of the blue. We had been told in the orientation course to expect this though, it's just a different culture. He has three grandchildren; Nitya (7), Subam (4) and Ankeet (19months). When first told the names I pronounced Nitya's wrong, and was very quickly corrected in a very severe tone by her. They are lovely kids and very enthusiastic. The Nepali teacher's wife is also the most welcoming person in the world, and immediately treated me as though she had known me for years. I got given food and tea (of course) and it's amazing how welcoming they all are, I think the children were also quite excited because one of the strange white people who wonders around Gorkha had come to their house!
I was also invited again yesterday. The children were slighly more used to me this time. I also had my bag which contained my stamper pens. This meant that when
I left Nitya and Subam looked a little like they had chicken pox, much to their enjoyment. I also hadn't quite escaped. They also had great fun with my camera, and I managed to get some really nice photos of them. Hopefully I may be able to print out some photos to give to the Nepali teacher as I think he would really appreciate having a photo of his family. It also turns out that 'clap songs' are common all over the world, and Nitya was showing me some. I then taught her Baa Baa Black Sheep as I couldn't remember any of the ones that we used in England. She seemed quite pleased though.
At school the grade 10s (oldest year at Saraswoti) have exams at the moment. This means that school has been a little bit unpredictable in the past week. On Tuesday we had a half day, but they are now sending one year home early each day so they have enough classrooms. Exams here aren't quite the same as England. The teachers are allowed to talk to the students during the exams, but this is to clarify questions. We saw an exam paper and it's very much necessary. It was the English paper and a lot of the grammar was wrong and there were also a lot of spelling mistakes. The passmark is also very low but the questions are often ambigious so it's understandable. As Saraswoti is an English medium school they are all expected to pass the English exam, but all their other exams are also in English which must be very difficult for them. However, as all their lessons are in English I would guess they are used to it.
I hope everyone is well back home and feel free to post comments if possible, I don't know how easy it is...
I have no idea how to spell it but the very nice Nepali teacher at Saraswoti invited us to his house. This was actually a while ago but 1) the internet really hates me in Nepal (and so don't feel offended if it takes a while to send emails, I write them and then they don't send) and 2) the anniversary happened and so I wrote about that last time.
The first time I went must have been about a week and a half ago maximum, but it seems like a very long time ago. He walks back the same route as us from Saraswoti an
d once just invited me to his house, completely out of the blue. We had been told in the orientation course to expect this though, it's just a different culture. He has three grandchildren; Nitya (7), Subam (4) and Ankeet (19months). When first told the names I pronounced Nitya's wrong, and was very quickly corrected in a very severe tone by her. They are lovely kids and very enthusiastic. The Nepali teacher's wife is also the most welcoming person in the world, and immediately treated me as though she had known me for years. I got given food and tea (of course) and it's amazing how welcoming they all are, I think the children were also quite excited because one of the strange white people who wonders around Gorkha had come to their house!I was also invited again yesterday. The children were slighly more used to me this time. I also had my bag which contained my stamper pens. This meant that when
I left Nitya and Subam looked a little like they had chicken pox, much to their enjoyment. I also hadn't quite escaped. They also had great fun with my camera, and I managed to get some really nice photos of them. Hopefully I may be able to print out some photos to give to the Nepali teacher as I think he would really appreciate having a photo of his family. It also turns out that 'clap songs' are common all over the world, and Nitya was showing me some. I then taught her Baa Baa Black Sheep as I couldn't remember any of the ones that we used in England. She seemed quite pleased though.At school the grade 10s (oldest year at Saraswoti) have exams at the moment. This means that school has been a little bit unpredictable in the past week. On Tuesday we had a half day, but they are now sending one year home early each day so they have enough classrooms. Exams here aren't quite the same as England. The teachers are allowed to talk to the students during the exams, but this is to clarify questions. We saw an exam paper and it's very much necessary. It was the English paper and a lot of the grammar was wrong and there were also a lot of spelling mistakes. The passmark is also very low but the questions are often ambigious so it's understandable. As Saraswoti is an English medium school they are all expected to pass the English exam, but all their other exams are also in English which must be very difficult for them. However, as all their lessons are in English I would guess they are used to it.
I hope everyone is well back home and feel free to post comments if possible, I don't know how easy it is...
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Saraswoti's anniversary
The last two days have been celebrating Saraswoti's 38th Anniversary. This is a much bigger deal than in England and for the week before the kids were very very excited. Which means I did end up playing hangman for 30mins on Friday with my grade 5s as they were not listening at all and teaching was definitely a lost cause. It was a great success and there were even spectators standing at the windows (not an entirely unusual occurrence, there was just more than usual).
Saturday was technically the day off but they had games at school. This was amazing fun. The day started off late (perfectly normal, everything is much more relaxed here) and then there was a 4km race for the boys. I watched it with one of the female teachers, who was wearing one of the nicest sarees in the world, of which I have a picture. She's also going to show me were I can print the pictures and so I hope to give some to the school, as I have a few pictures of the games as well. I then watched the kids practicing dancing. The rehearsals were very popular to watch and the other kids were literally climbing the walls to watch their peers. The Nepali dancing is amazing, and the atmosphere is great, all the kids really enthusiastic and are there because they want to be.
The rest of the games were musical chairs, thread the needle, eating a biscuit from a string (no hands) and there were games for the blind children; getting the most amount of sweets (did involve some cheating) and who can write braille the fastest. Saraswoti has integrated the blind children really well, and they are able to go around the school perfectly freely and are often helped by the other children. The day finished with the final of the interhouse volleyball and then teachers volleyball. Volleyball is the equivalent of football here and the boys normally play it at lunchtimes and in free periods. Ed and Magnus both joined in the teachers volleyball, but unfortunately it's boys only. Shame.
The entire day was brilliant, the kids attitude to the school is subtly different than from at home. They will willingly bully teachers given half the chance but they realise that they only have one opportunity for an education. There is no second chances for them, and there is always the risk that they will have to be pulled out because their parents need their help.
Saturday was technically the day off but they had games at school. This was amazing fun. The day started off late (perfectly normal, everything is much more relaxed here) and then there was a 4km race for the boys. I watched it with one of the female teachers, who was wearing one of the nicest sarees in the world, of which I have a picture. She's also going to show me were I can print the pictures and so I hope to give some to the school, as I have a few pictures of the games as well. I then watched the kids practicing dancing. The rehearsals were very popular to watch and the other kids were literally climbing the walls to watch their peers. The Nepali dancing is amazing, and the atmosphere is great, all the kids really enthusiastic and are there because they want to be.
The rest of the games were musical chairs, thread the needle, eating a biscuit from a string (no hands) and there were games for the blind children; getting the most amount of sweets (did involve some cheating) and who can write braille the fastest. Saraswoti has integrated the blind children really well, and they are able to go around the school perfectly freely and are often helped by the other children. The day finished with the final of the interhouse volleyball and then teachers volleyball. Volleyball is the equivalent of football here and the boys normally play it at lunchtimes and in free periods. Ed and Magnus both joined in the teachers volleyball, but unfortunately it's boys only. Shame.
The entire day was brilliant, the kids attitude to the school is subtly different than from at home. They will willingly bully teachers given half the chance but they realise that they only have one opportunity for an education. There is no second chances for them, and there is always the risk that they will have to be pulled out because their parents need their help.
Yesterday was the prizegiving bit of the anniversary and also the dancing. The speeches were all in Nepali, and although I can now understand the odd word it was still mostly a complete mystery what they were saying. The dancing was good, but there were some problems with the speakers. Prizegiving is a much less formal affair than in England with people willing to wander in and out as they please, which meant that we went to get tea and their equivalent of a fast food dish, which has varying amount of chillis in and is really nice. It, again, shows the children's dedication that the teachers were with us when getting tea and the parents had mostly gone when there was still a good few hundred children there.
We are very lucky to have been here for the anniversary as it is a fantastic representation of the school. Next week (we got a day off today as all the teachers have worked really hard for the anniversary) we only have four teaching days and so it is a much shorter week than normal. However, the Nepali schools have a lot more day holidays than we do, as next Nepali month there is something like 10 days off out of 29!
I have also got two rakis (a bracelet that was made for me by the Nepali teacher and is definitely a Hindu thing, but they don't seem to mind that I'm not a Hindu), have learnt braille and hope to get a Salwaar Kameez today. It's blue with pink flowers and also has some decoration on it in a greyish thread. I'll try and load up photos soon!
Hope that everyone's well.
I have also got two rakis (a bracelet that was made for me by the Nepali teacher and is definitely a Hindu thing, but they don't seem to mind that I'm not a Hindu), have learnt braille and hope to get a Salwaar Kameez today. It's blue with pink flowers and also has some decoration on it in a greyish thread. I'll try and load up photos soon!
Hope that everyone's well.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Bet I have a better walk to school/work than you do
On my way to school I get a view of mountains and the farms that are built down the hillside. It's very hard to describe and, honestly, the photos really don't do it justice. When walking to school we are accompanied by the teachers who are all very willing to talk to us and on the way back from school we are accompanied by around 20 children. This was slightly unexpected the first time, we literally turned around and saw a procession of 20 children following us, who all started giggling and re-started giggling when we said 'namaste'. Ed raced some on them part of the way on Thursday, while I had language lessons from the girls. Apparently my Nepali accent is good, but as I'm their teacher I suspect they may not be entirely honest!
We were very lucky in having a two and a half day weekend. Normally we get Friday afternoons off and Saturday off but school on Sunday. However, there was a festival on Friday and the last day of the (Nepali) month is a day off so we had Thursday afternoon free. This was badly needed, and we used it to catch up with some washing. However, the washing is still not dry as there was mist around the house in the mornings and so we couldn't put the washing out before we left the house and by the time we got back the sun had gone in. Today was beautiful again (we're going to be very hot in the summer) and so I think now everything is mostly dry.
On Friday we went up to the Gorkha Durbar which is approximately 1376 steps above the main town of Gorkha. However, counting skills get a little lost around the 1200th step and so when we next go up the recount may be slightly different! 1376 steps is a long way up for those who are in any doubt and it took us about an hour. It was well worth it, however. The view at the top is stunning. You can see down into Gorkha (which was mostly shrouded in mist) but also down the other side of the hill/mountain. The mountains were in the background and then the mist covered the valley floor. Leading up to the Durbar and slightly to one side were the Nepali farms. Hari is a better photographer than I am so hopefully some of her photos will show what it was like.
The walk down only took half an hour and in the evening we went to visit another house of AVs who are a 45 minute walk away. Their schools were mostly closed last week because of exams so they're only just starting to get into teaching, but it all seems positive. We had a really nice meal of Dhal Bhatt with chipattis and honey and bananas for pudding (something which we haven't bothered with yet in our house...) We then stayed overnight and came back on a Nepali bus in the morning. This may seem horrific but it came quicker than a London bus and also wasn't that much worse. Plus the people on the bus are much friendlier.
Today we were teaching from a timetable for the first time. We're both teaching separatly but have similar classes; both have grade 4 and grade 5 english and I'm teaching grade 7 science. The lessons went quite well but the kids are still quite reluctant to answer questions. They are much better than they were though. And starting with simple questions (yes/no) are best and they all seem pleased if they're correct. I'd never really taught the grade 7s before and the lesson went surprisingly well. I was teaching about sound (trying to dredge up my GCSE knowledge) and they answered the questions correctly, which is always encouraging. We teach the same classes everyday and so hopefully tomorrow they will remember what was learnt, no guarantee however!
We were very lucky in having a two and a half day weekend. Normally we get Friday afternoons off and Saturday off but school on Sunday. However, there was a festival on Friday and the last day of the (Nepali) month is a day off so we had Thursday afternoon free. This was badly needed, and we used it to catch up with some washing. However, the washing is still not dry as there was mist around the house in the mornings and so we couldn't put the washing out before we left the house and by the time we got back the sun had gone in. Today was beautiful again (we're going to be very hot in the summer) and so I think now everything is mostly dry.
On Friday we went up to the Gorkha Durbar which is approximately 1376 steps above the main town of Gorkha. However, counting skills get a little lost around the 1200th step and so when we next go up the recount may be slightly different! 1376 steps is a long way up for those who are in any doubt and it took us about an hour. It was well worth it, however. The view at the top is stunning. You can see down into Gorkha (which was mostly shrouded in mist) but also down the other side of the hill/mountain. The mountains were in the background and then the mist covered the valley floor. Leading up to the Durbar and slightly to one side were the Nepali farms. Hari is a better photographer than I am so hopefully some of her photos will show what it was like.
The walk down only took half an hour and in the evening we went to visit another house of AVs who are a 45 minute walk away. Their schools were mostly closed last week because of exams so they're only just starting to get into teaching, but it all seems positive. We had a really nice meal of Dhal Bhatt with chipattis and honey and bananas for pudding (something which we haven't bothered with yet in our house...) We then stayed overnight and came back on a Nepali bus in the morning. This may seem horrific but it came quicker than a London bus and also wasn't that much worse. Plus the people on the bus are much friendlier.
Today we were teaching from a timetable for the first time. We're both teaching separatly but have similar classes; both have grade 4 and grade 5 english and I'm teaching grade 7 science. The lessons went quite well but the kids are still quite reluctant to answer questions. They are much better than they were though. And starting with simple questions (yes/no) are best and they all seem pleased if they're correct. I'd never really taught the grade 7s before and the lesson went surprisingly well. I was teaching about sound (trying to dredge up my GCSE knowledge) and they answered the questions correctly, which is always encouraging. We teach the same classes everyday and so hopefully tomorrow they will remember what was learnt, no guarantee however!
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
First Week
It's hard to actually believe that I've only been here a week. I'm sure most people say this about their gap year, but the first week seems to stretch out, as there is a lot to experience!
We first arrrived in Kathmandu (the capital) on the fourth, and one of the first things we tried was the Nepalese tea. This has spices in and is much milkier than the English tea, it's also much nicer! The roads around Kathmandu generally have no pavement and there are more motorbikes than there are cars. To warn anyone in the way they generally use their horns. This means that there is a constant blare of noise when walking in the streets, which you quickly learn to get used to. On the first evening we went to the Rumdoodle pub, this is where all the people who have climbed Everest come after they have done it. They then sign a footprint on the wall. However, when reading the footprints you generally seems to find out that most haven't climbed Everest, but instead got the base camp and just wanted their name on the wall, still an impressive feat.
On the fifth we then went for a day tour around three of the main Kathmandu temples. The first one, Pashupati temple, was Hindu, and is by a sacred river. They have cremations here every day, up to 10 in one day. Three were going on whilst we were there. The attitude to death is very different in Nepal and is much more open than in England. There is a seperate place where the Royals are burnt and after the massacre in 2001 apparently a large proportion of the population shaved their heads in mourning.
The Bhuddist tem
ple we went to had the prayer flags everywhere. There are five colours; red, blue, yellow, white and green and these represent fire, water, cosmic, air and earth. They are draped around this amazing structure which is painted all in white and consists of a square base with a dome on top, and on top of this 13 levels which represent something along the lines of the 13 levels of enlightenment. There are also massive eyes painted on it near the top, and the bright colours contrast well against the white. As it was a warm day it also meant that the sunlight reflected against the white background and so, contrary to what was expected, most of us where standing in tshirts!
After Kathmandu we trekked to Shivapuri. It wasn't a long trek and only took a couple of hours, we also didn't have to carry our bags which made a huge difference :) The view at the top was amazing, and took us all a little by surprise as most of us had been concentrating on where to put our feet to prevent us from falling.
Shivapuri is an amazing place. During the day when the sun is out it's
very warm, and wearing shorts and tshirts is normal. However, when the sun goes in or standing in the shade it gets very cold, and many people had to use their sleeping bags to stay warm at night. Luckily Hari and I had a fire in our room which stayed warm all night :) As there is very little air pollution that high up the stars at night are so much clearer and it's quite a shock to see so many. It's definitely something you have to see for yourself, as no picture would ever come close to doing it justice. I have taken some pictures of the views, however, and will try to upload them when possible.
On Sunday we moved into our houses. It was a relief to be based somewhere, as we had moved from England to Kathmandu to Shivapuri and then to a place called Riverside, where we stayed overnight to break up the journey before getting to our houses, in a week. The town I am staying in is called Gorkha, and is quite large by Nepalese standards. It is 1200-1400m and is spread along a hillside. The school that I am teaching in is called Saraswoti and is a 30minute walk from the house. The road is very dusty and yesterday a bus came past so we returned home with clothes that didn't seem to have been washed in a week!
We are all teaching in pairs, although there are four of us living in the house, the other two teach at a school slightly closer and more in the centre of Gorkha. My teaching partner is called Ed and we were thrown in a the deep end slightly. Being asked to teach a class having no idea what level they're at and having done no prep is not what we expected on the first day! To be fair, we were given the text book and so we could read from it but it's hard to guess how much they've understood. They kids are still amazed at our white skin, and apparently were telling the teacher how white we looked.
Everyone is really nice and helpful and I'm trying to pick up Nepali, a great source of amusement to the teachers at lunchtime, the food is really good and we're cooking for ourselves with some basic Nepali meals that we were taught, I'll try and put up some of the receipes.
Hope everyone is well and England isn't too cold.
We first arrrived in Kathmandu (the capital) on the fourth, and one of the first things we tried was the Nepalese tea. This has spices in and is much milkier than the English tea, it's also much nicer! The roads around Kathmandu generally have no pavement and there are more motorbikes than there are cars. To warn anyone in the way they generally use their horns. This means that there is a constant blare of noise when walking in the streets, which you quickly learn to get used to. On the first evening we went to the Rumdoodle pub, this is where all the people who have climbed Everest come after they have done it. They then sign a footprint on the wall. However, when reading the footprints you generally seems to find out that most haven't climbed Everest, but instead got the base camp and just wanted their name on the wall, still an impressive feat.
On the fifth we then went for a day tour around three of the main Kathmandu temples. The first one, Pashupati temple, was Hindu, and is by a sacred river. They have cremations here every day, up to 10 in one day. Three were going on whilst we were there. The attitude to death is very different in Nepal and is much more open than in England. There is a seperate place where the Royals are burnt and after the massacre in 2001 apparently a large proportion of the population shaved their heads in mourning.
The Bhuddist tem
ple we went to had the prayer flags everywhere. There are five colours; red, blue, yellow, white and green and these represent fire, water, cosmic, air and earth. They are draped around this amazing structure which is painted all in white and consists of a square base with a dome on top, and on top of this 13 levels which represent something along the lines of the 13 levels of enlightenment. There are also massive eyes painted on it near the top, and the bright colours contrast well against the white. As it was a warm day it also meant that the sunlight reflected against the white background and so, contrary to what was expected, most of us where standing in tshirts!After Kathmandu we trekked to Shivapuri. It wasn't a long trek and only took a couple of hours, we also didn't have to carry our bags which made a huge difference :) The view at the top was amazing, and took us all a little by surprise as most of us had been concentrating on where to put our feet to prevent us from falling.
Shivapuri is an amazing place. During the day when the sun is out it's
very warm, and wearing shorts and tshirts is normal. However, when the sun goes in or standing in the shade it gets very cold, and many people had to use their sleeping bags to stay warm at night. Luckily Hari and I had a fire in our room which stayed warm all night :) As there is very little air pollution that high up the stars at night are so much clearer and it's quite a shock to see so many. It's definitely something you have to see for yourself, as no picture would ever come close to doing it justice. I have taken some pictures of the views, however, and will try to upload them when possible.On Sunday we moved into our houses. It was a relief to be based somewhere, as we had moved from England to Kathmandu to Shivapuri and then to a place called Riverside, where we stayed overnight to break up the journey before getting to our houses, in a week. The town I am staying in is called Gorkha, and is quite large by Nepalese standards. It is 1200-1400m and is spread along a hillside. The school that I am teaching in is called Saraswoti and is a 30minute walk from the house. The road is very dusty and yesterday a bus came past so we returned home with clothes that didn't seem to have been washed in a week!
We are all teaching in pairs, although there are four of us living in the house, the other two teach at a school slightly closer and more in the centre of Gorkha. My teaching partner is called Ed and we were thrown in a the deep end slightly. Being asked to teach a class having no idea what level they're at and having done no prep is not what we expected on the first day! To be fair, we were given the text book and so we could read from it but it's hard to guess how much they've understood. They kids are still amazed at our white skin, and apparently were telling the teacher how white we looked.
Everyone is really nice and helpful and I'm trying to pick up Nepali, a great source of amusement to the teachers at lunchtime, the food is really good and we're cooking for ourselves with some basic Nepali meals that we were taught, I'll try and put up some of the receipes.
Hope everyone is well and England isn't too cold.
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