Well it's been a strange day to say the least. We said an emotional goodbye to the kids this afternoon - lots of hugs and a few tears (me doing the crying, typically, not anyone else!). Got back to the Volunteer House to find that there had been a riot in the middle of town and three of the volunteers here had been caught up in it - they were running to try to get away from the rioters and the Police - Emma even took her flip-flops off and ran in her bare feet - thankfully they were OK. Santoshi got caught in the resulting traffic jam and was offered a lift by a friend with a motorcycle - they swerved to avoid a bus and crashed into the barriers in the road - no physical injuries but a Police report had to be filed and they then fined the motorbike driver!
And to top it all off, yep, you've guessed it, there's a strike tomorrow. So Alison and I are packing to go to the airport at 11pm and stay there for the night. There's no way I'm risking not getting on the plane in the morning. Wish us luck!
Ann & Alison
x
Monday, 26 April 2010
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Photos
Carlyn and I after we'd been tika'd (I don't understand why this is underlined and can't find a way to stop it!!)
The chariot I helped to carry in the New Year procession
Urmila (left) writing in Alison's journal, with Rajina watching
Ramilla laughing - Alison had to tickle her to get her to laugh - the minute you get a camera out the girls go into serious posing mode, it's really funny
Jeny Rai (8), Alison, Ramilla (9) and Anu (10) - Alison is a giant in Nepal!
The view from the road down to Basundara, our main shopping area
On the way to Basundara
Shops at the side of the Basundara road. One is empty - new premises for Antara Consulting perhaps?!
The Garden of Dreams (bit of a contrast to the outside world, eh?!)
This is probably our last post from Nepal. It's 10am here and we're about to go and spend our final day with the kids who fortunately have a day off school today. I predict tears by this afternoon!
Everything seems to be OK with travel plans - seats are confirmed on the Air India flight and accommodation and travel is organised in the UK. Now we need to keep everything crossed to ensure there's no unexpected strike (or bundha) tomorrow. The Maoists are gearing up for another conflict here during May and June apparently and are planning a national strike on Saturday 1st May, which is International Labour Day. They've called a few strikes over the last months and everything has to stop - no public transport, no shops open, and there has even been trouble if private cars are seen on the road - they have been known to set fire to cars and motorbikes in the past. There's a story here of someone having had to walk to the airport (2.5 hours!) to catch a flight....not the sort of obstacle we need! The political situation is very messy here, and although the Maoists are now part of the government they are protesting that the constitution hasn't been written yet (the deadline is 28th May but it looks as if there's no hope of that being met) and their mission now is to get the government out and rule themselves. I really hope that their threats are empty and that Nepal gets the chance to settle down peacefully and get its government together properly because as always it's the man in the street who suffers most in these situations. Next year is Year of Tourism in Nepal and it would be nice to think that it could go ahead without any bother.
We'll be sad to leave here, but we're looking forward to being home (although looking forward less to work and school!). I realised recently that I haven't had to cook anything for 8 weeks - we've been spoilt by Santoshi our brilliant cook (she's making paratha tonight for us because it's our favourite), she's lovely.
Will probably do a final post once we're back home and can sort through our photos.
See everyone soon!
Ann & Alison
x
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Slight change of plan
The thing I dreaded has happened - disruption to travel plans - although not from the source I might have expected. It's a long story and I won't bore you with it, but believe me I'll be reluctant to book a Flybe flight ever again after this! We've changed our travel plans and are now going to take the overnight sleeper from London to Inverness on Wednesday night, arriving in Inverness on Thursday morning. Neither of us has been on the sleeper before so that should be fun, and because it doesn't leave till 9pm from Euston we get to spend the afternoon and early evening in London - Camden Market here we come! I bet the prices will scare the wits out of us after being here, though! :)
We spent the last couple of days playing at being proper tourists. Yesterday we went to Patan with Pieter and Carlyn, two of the volunteers here. It is just south of the river and is now part of Kathmandu but it used to be a small city in its own right hundreds of years ago. It has a beautiful royal palace, part of which has been converted into a museum so we had a good wander round looking at everything, it was a good day. The Durbar Square there doesn't allow cars so it had the advantage of being fairly quiet and feeling relaxed.
The day before we went to the edge of Thamel to the Garden of Dreams - a beautiful garden designed in the 1920s by a very rich Nepali along the lines of English and Italian formal gardens. It had ponds and grass and flowers and fish and despite being right next to the main road was surprisingly peaceful - a mini haven in the midst of the madness.
The kids were off school today (and apparently have tomorrow off too because it's the last Sunday of the month?!), so we've spent most of the day with them. Whilst we're both really ready to come home, and are looking forward to it, there is a lot of sadness at the prospect of leaving the kids when we go. A number of them have been writing notes and drawing pictures to tell us that they love us and will miss us, and all of them are asking when we will be coming back. I don't honestly know whether we'll be back in Nepal at any stage (cost being the major obstacle) and it's hard having to say that we can't guarantee we'll see them again. We've promised to email and write, particularly to the 5 or 6 kids that have really befriended Alison, and we'll make sure we keep up with that. We've also decided to sponsor the two sisters that we've become very close to, Anu and Anita. Michael has offered to set up a separate bank account for us to put money into and to give us control over what it's used for - I've said I'd like to make sure that it's there for the girls to have things like new shoes or school books when they need them, or if it's more appropriate for them to save it up to go towards fees for any further education or training they might want to do when they're old enough.
Anu & Anita's mum died about 3 years ago, and their father came to NOH distraught because he couldn't manage to look after them and also work. Apparently there were no extended family to help out and without an income here you lose everything - there's no such thing as a Benefits system. Michael says that he's a good man, and that he sees the girls regularly - he took them home for the school holidays while we were here, although we haven't met him. We can't afford much every month, but a small amount goes further here than at home, and we hope that this will be a way to stay part of the girls' lives and to improve things for them as much as we're able to. It's been a difficult decision because there are other kids in just as much need, and if I could afford more, I'd happily send it to help them out too. We might try to continue some fundraising activities after we're home and send some lump sums to help out with other kids if we're able.
I'm going to post this just now and then download photos from the camera to put a separate post on for those.
Ann & Alison
x
We spent the last couple of days playing at being proper tourists. Yesterday we went to Patan with Pieter and Carlyn, two of the volunteers here. It is just south of the river and is now part of Kathmandu but it used to be a small city in its own right hundreds of years ago. It has a beautiful royal palace, part of which has been converted into a museum so we had a good wander round looking at everything, it was a good day. The Durbar Square there doesn't allow cars so it had the advantage of being fairly quiet and feeling relaxed.
The day before we went to the edge of Thamel to the Garden of Dreams - a beautiful garden designed in the 1920s by a very rich Nepali along the lines of English and Italian formal gardens. It had ponds and grass and flowers and fish and despite being right next to the main road was surprisingly peaceful - a mini haven in the midst of the madness.
The kids were off school today (and apparently have tomorrow off too because it's the last Sunday of the month?!), so we've spent most of the day with them. Whilst we're both really ready to come home, and are looking forward to it, there is a lot of sadness at the prospect of leaving the kids when we go. A number of them have been writing notes and drawing pictures to tell us that they love us and will miss us, and all of them are asking when we will be coming back. I don't honestly know whether we'll be back in Nepal at any stage (cost being the major obstacle) and it's hard having to say that we can't guarantee we'll see them again. We've promised to email and write, particularly to the 5 or 6 kids that have really befriended Alison, and we'll make sure we keep up with that. We've also decided to sponsor the two sisters that we've become very close to, Anu and Anita. Michael has offered to set up a separate bank account for us to put money into and to give us control over what it's used for - I've said I'd like to make sure that it's there for the girls to have things like new shoes or school books when they need them, or if it's more appropriate for them to save it up to go towards fees for any further education or training they might want to do when they're old enough.
Anu & Anita's mum died about 3 years ago, and their father came to NOH distraught because he couldn't manage to look after them and also work. Apparently there were no extended family to help out and without an income here you lose everything - there's no such thing as a Benefits system. Michael says that he's a good man, and that he sees the girls regularly - he took them home for the school holidays while we were here, although we haven't met him. We can't afford much every month, but a small amount goes further here than at home, and we hope that this will be a way to stay part of the girls' lives and to improve things for them as much as we're able to. It's been a difficult decision because there are other kids in just as much need, and if I could afford more, I'd happily send it to help them out too. We might try to continue some fundraising activities after we're home and send some lump sums to help out with other kids if we're able.
I'm going to post this just now and then download photos from the camera to put a separate post on for those.
Ann & Alison
x
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
On the home straight
After nearly a week of watching the internet news updates it looks as if UK airspace has reopened and we stand a good chance of getting home on Tuesday - for a while there I did wonder if we'd be stranded. I've been assured by Air India that our seats are confirmed and won't be given to anyone who's been unable to travel, so fingers crossed all will be well and both us and our bags will get home on time (even though I have the jinxed suitcase, Evelyn!).
Unexpectedly on Friday (after my last post), the New Year procession came marching up our street, just as we were waiting for dinner. We charged downstairs to watch and take photos - there were lots of people dancing and a band dressed in all their finery; women in bright blue saris with flowers in their hair; lots of red tikka powder all over everyone; and a large Ganesh statue draped in flowers and garlands. The statue was being carried on two long poles (like a sedan chair) by about 12 men on each side. There's a fair hill on the way up our street so they were sweaty and exhausted looking! I was busy saying how heavy it looked as it passed when the man at the back of the poles on our side of the road put his hand out and said Happy New Year. I took his hand to shake it and he pulled me off the step and put me in the line in front of him! The statue was incredibly heavy (I still have the bruises to prove it) but I managed to help carry it up to the temple at the top of the street (about 150 yards - yes, I'm a wimp). Everyone thought this was hysterically funny - I guess it's usually only men who are allowed to take this role - and loads of people were shouting, cheering and laughing and taking photos on their phones - ah, my 5 minutes of fame - ha ha! After having my face suitably covered in red tikka powder and being forced to dance around like a loony for a little while I was released back into reality. Carlyn, one of the other volunteers here, was also involved in the dancing and has pictures on her camera of us when we got back - she's away rafting at the moment but is due back soon so I'll post a photo and you can laugh at me looking ridiculous.
Life has been quiet following that excitement. The kids are back at school and we've been going up in the afternoon to help with homework. Well, I say help - one of the older girls asked me to help her with trigonometry yesterday afternoon and I hadn't a clue - school was such a long time ago....! Alison and I went into Thamel a couple of days ago to get photos transferred from the camera onto a DVD and to eat chicken satay (oh yummy, yum), and we're going in again this evening for dinner with Blake, a volunteer who's off travelling in Cambodia and Vietnam shortly. She left the volunteer house about a week ago to meet her sister and they've been trekking in Langtang, which is up near the border with Tibet and looks beautiful.
Well, I'll be off for now - away to wash the final two blankets and then pack all the rest up for the summer. The electric has been mysteriously on for ages over the last few days - not sure what that's about, but we're not complaining - so I'll try to post some photos later on if I can.
Ann & Alison
x
Unexpectedly on Friday (after my last post), the New Year procession came marching up our street, just as we were waiting for dinner. We charged downstairs to watch and take photos - there were lots of people dancing and a band dressed in all their finery; women in bright blue saris with flowers in their hair; lots of red tikka powder all over everyone; and a large Ganesh statue draped in flowers and garlands. The statue was being carried on two long poles (like a sedan chair) by about 12 men on each side. There's a fair hill on the way up our street so they were sweaty and exhausted looking! I was busy saying how heavy it looked as it passed when the man at the back of the poles on our side of the road put his hand out and said Happy New Year. I took his hand to shake it and he pulled me off the step and put me in the line in front of him! The statue was incredibly heavy (I still have the bruises to prove it) but I managed to help carry it up to the temple at the top of the street (about 150 yards - yes, I'm a wimp). Everyone thought this was hysterically funny - I guess it's usually only men who are allowed to take this role - and loads of people were shouting, cheering and laughing and taking photos on their phones - ah, my 5 minutes of fame - ha ha! After having my face suitably covered in red tikka powder and being forced to dance around like a loony for a little while I was released back into reality. Carlyn, one of the other volunteers here, was also involved in the dancing and has pictures on her camera of us when we got back - she's away rafting at the moment but is due back soon so I'll post a photo and you can laugh at me looking ridiculous.
Life has been quiet following that excitement. The kids are back at school and we've been going up in the afternoon to help with homework. Well, I say help - one of the older girls asked me to help her with trigonometry yesterday afternoon and I hadn't a clue - school was such a long time ago....! Alison and I went into Thamel a couple of days ago to get photos transferred from the camera onto a DVD and to eat chicken satay (oh yummy, yum), and we're going in again this evening for dinner with Blake, a volunteer who's off travelling in Cambodia and Vietnam shortly. She left the volunteer house about a week ago to meet her sister and they've been trekking in Langtang, which is up near the border with Tibet and looks beautiful.
Well, I'll be off for now - away to wash the final two blankets and then pack all the rest up for the summer. The electric has been mysteriously on for ages over the last few days - not sure what that's about, but we're not complaining - so I'll try to post some photos later on if I can.
Ann & Alison
x
Friday, 16 April 2010
Day to day life
Electrickery
The house and piece of waste ground across from where we're living. The waste ground seems to be used communally - the little boy in the picture goes to the toilet on it regularly (not what you want to see whilst having a cup of tea and watching the world go by, believe me!); people stop to read the paper; a board game is set up on a large oil drum; and people were singing and dancing here at New Year.
This elderly lady lives in a small house at the back of the waste ground and spends all her days sitting here, sometimes with a small black dog for company
The 'restaurant' (term used carefully, you'll notice) next door to us has its dish washing facilities on the waste ground too - nice.....You'll see all the rubbish that is everywhere - plastic bags are now embedded in the soil, they've been there that long. Everyone throws rubbish away here with no concern for where it lands. Having said that, the owner of the 'restaurant' next door does come out and sweep his bit of road, then throws the rubbish about two feet to the right!
Having posted quite a lot now, and not having too long left here, it suddenly struck me that we'd put up lots of pictures of the kids, and of 'touristy' type things, but not much that shows the day to day life here in Kathmandu. I'll try to take some photos of our local shops, and the busier shopping area down the road from us - the butchers' shops in particular are a sight to behold (complete with goats tethered outside and chickens in boxes waiting for their demise). There are also a couple of original houses left in the area, from before all the modern development, so I'll try to get some pictures of those too, and if it's possible to somehow show the bedlam and chaos that is the roads and traffic here if I can - although I suspect it has to be experienced to be believed! It's sometimes hard to take photos without feeling obtrusive, but I'll do my best.
The kids are back at school on Sunday, and those that have been away for the holidays will be back by tomorrow evening. We're going to spend our last week being tourists and getting to all the places we still want to see, and hopefully being able to help out with homework in the late afternoon after school. Strange to think that after tomorrow we only have one Saturday left to spend with all of the kids together. We're going to try to get small gifts for the girls that Alison's been playing with over the last couple of weeks - some have their noses pierced, for example, but don't have earrings to put in them, so they use pieces of stick! Although, talking to Sita today about her piercing it transpires that the school rules forbid jewellery - if they wear it, the Principal marks their grades down - they're also not allowed to have a fringe at school, and spend all their time trying to plaster my fringe across my head so it doesn't exist!
It's still really hot here, but we had another thunderstorm during the night and lots of rain, so it was a little cooler this morning. It feels awful to complain about the heat, but it makes it impossible to do anything or go anywhere because you just end up sweaty and tired - yuck.
I've been reading about the Iceland volcanic ash that's lingering over home - some days the heat haze and smog here are so bad you'd think we had it too! The hills across the road appeared yesterday after the previous thunderstorm, and I'd almost forgotten they were there.
Will try to post more photos as we get them.
See everyone soon!
Ann & Alison
x
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Bodhnath photos
Small temple dedicated to the goddess of smallpox!
Buddhist gompa (monastery) - there was a service when we were there; the monks were chanting and playing music on huge ancient horns. It made me quite emotional - Alison thought I was nuts!
The main stupa at Bodhnath, with the eyes of Buddha watching all four corners of the Kathmandu valley
It turned out that the New Year celebration is being held on Saturday at the site where we went for the picnic with the kids a few weeks ago - if we've got the energy to hike over there! There was a group of Nepali men singing and dancing on the bit of waste ground across the road last night which was quite funny - alcohol had obviously been involved and they were initially singing and dancing under their own steam. Then they all vanished and came back in a micro (minibus) which was parked on the waste ground with the doors open and music blasting from the stereo. When we went to bed we could hear a party going on in one of the houses at the back, with music from Kylie Minogue, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Beyonce and The Three Degrees - it sounded bizarre enough on its own but when you added the barking, howling dogs....unique!
We went up to see the kids yesterday afternoon and they were all dancing, it was great. Some of the girls did traditional Nepali dances and the boys were all trying to be cool - there was even some breakdancing going on! I've got some video but I don't think this computer will cope with uploading it onto the blog - I'll maybe try later if I get time to sit and be patient (it's sooooo slow!).
Breakfast calls again, so I'd better go. Only 11 days till home now - it's going to feel strange to be back - 24 hour electricity and a washing machine - it'll be like luxury!
Ann & Alison
x
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Happy New Year!
It's Nepali New Year's Day today and in their calendar it's the year 2067! There's a celebration tonight, I think, culminating at the small temple just at the top of our road.
We went to Bodhnath yesterday and it's beautiful. It's a Buddhist stupa surrounded by houses, cafes and little shops - really peaceful and gorgeous in the middle of the madness. My camera battery's charging so I'll get some photos on once it's done.
There was a massive thunderstorm last night - it lasted about 4 hours and the lightning was pink! In addition to looking amazing, it had the added benefit of frightening the life out of the local dogs so it was unusually quiet last night. Nepali dogs sleep all day and bark all night - it's like the dog chorus, you can hear them from miles away - it's a joy.....
Santoshi has just yelled that breakfast is ready - it's one of our favourites today, potato and chickpea curry with rice and dahl - so I'll disappear just now. Not sure what time the electric's on later but will try to post photos when I can.
Ann & Alison
x
We went to Bodhnath yesterday and it's beautiful. It's a Buddhist stupa surrounded by houses, cafes and little shops - really peaceful and gorgeous in the middle of the madness. My camera battery's charging so I'll get some photos on once it's done.
There was a massive thunderstorm last night - it lasted about 4 hours and the lightning was pink! In addition to looking amazing, it had the added benefit of frightening the life out of the local dogs so it was unusually quiet last night. Nepali dogs sleep all day and bark all night - it's like the dog chorus, you can hear them from miles away - it's a joy.....
Santoshi has just yelled that breakfast is ready - it's one of our favourites today, potato and chickpea curry with rice and dahl - so I'll disappear just now. Not sure what time the electric's on later but will try to post photos when I can.
Ann & Alison
x
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