Life's a Picnic!

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In the past few days we have continued to keep busy doing work around the school with both staff and young people. With the birthday celebrations over the visitors from around the world have returned home. Our new found Aussie friends have departed and the guest house has become quiet again. Except that is for four members of the Japanese Committee who have been visiting the school to inspect the greenhouse and visit nearby farms where Japanese rice is being cultivated under experimental conditions. The aim of the project is to increase the yield per field and it appears that this is being achieved.

Before our Australian friends left they took 117 children on a picnic beside the River Rilly near Kalimpong. The day was a great success although we did not arrive until the afternoon along with the lunch bought from a Chinese restaurant in town. We escorted the food down the worst road in the world and arrived just in time for the heavens to open and the rain to come pouring down. However the youngsters enjoyed themselves, especially the food served in the buses and in huts by the river. We left in a convoy consisting of a motley assortment of buses and vans, racing one another to get back first. At one point our jeep loaded with 16 kids and ourselves stopped to pick up the driver’s three female cousins who wanted a lift to the next village. They climbed onto the roof rack and were transported in the pouring rain to their destination!

And just to prove that life can be a picnic here, the staff at the guest house were treated to a day out and a picnic at the Teesta River. With all guests away for a few days we took advantage of the brilliant weather with fishing, the odd bottle of beer and chicken curry cooked in a roadside shack which the staff all tucked into with great gusto. We reserved our appetites for a visit in the evening to the King Thai restaurant in Kalimpong where we had a good dinner in the presence of a very loud band singing entirely in Nepali. We were told by diners that they were very good - we took their word for it.

Today is the start of the Durga Puja holiday and the school closes tomorrow after the athletics meeting. We had planned to go to Bhutan but our visas have not been processed in time so the next time we write will be from Sikkim where we are going for a short break. In the meantime here are some picnic photos.

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Photos

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Sheltering from the rain

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Adrian and Mendhup at the riverside

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Passing triver raffic

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Passing road traffic

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Nice catch, Adrian!

Comments

[Margaret Aitken]

Hi Philip and Eleanor You appear to be having a wonderful and busy time. There has been lots of rain in Scotland as well. I have just printed all your news of, so that I can read it all again later. The Temprature here in Scotland is now getting a lot cooler. I hope that you are both well. Love and Prayers Margaret