Blogs from Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, Asia - page 5

March 14 - March 17 Up early and at the airport- bit chilly, no fog- a good thing for flights. It is a total bun fight at the airport, people and bags everywhere but it all gets sorted out and we are through to the waiting area. It is really nice to see so many familiar faces- the French from Angle are there, the German doctor and dentist are there, the Germans from Namche.... even the Korean guy on the horse from yesterday morning (horse is nowhere to be seen), it's pretty sociable. First plane comes in at 0710 then 3 more planes in quick succession, they all fly off again bar 1. Apparently it is foggy in Kathmandu so we're all running a bit late. I find it pretty exciting watching these little planes coming ... read more

... says one of a group of beaming children in this poor but tranquil farming area - their joy palpable, their enthusiasm infectious. A simple greeting, but a complex flow of thoughts and emotions ensue. Their words carry not a hint of judgement of, nor expectation from, this person who has come so far, from a land and life they can hardly imagine, and almost certainly never visit. I cannot know what I may have brought to their lives, more than a smile in kind - but they have given me something impossible to quantify: a ray of hope. And ... Nepal IS an impossible land: an impossible richness of natural wonderment juxtaposed against the impossible chaos that is Kathmandu, with its impossibly overloaded busses and the impossible burdens carried on the backs of women (a ... read more

22/10 to 29/10: Kathmandu and around Dhulikhel We arrived in Katmandu during the Dasain Festival - one of the biggest festival in Nepal. Celebrating the victory of the goddess Durga over the devil forces, they sacrifice a goat or a buffalo in her honour. They install swings at the entrance of villages and people will have a Tika on their forhead. Nepalese people were travelling back to their family home therefore shops were closed and not so many people in the streets. Streets have no tarmac and are very dusty but it was still nice to wander around. A good place for shopping if one need any trekking gear from The North Face, etc - fake of course ! but still ok quality. The architecture of the buildings is interesting and typical Newari Style: carved wood ... read more

Wow, ok so lots to update you on! We are back where we were last time we blogged and the scenario is very much the same...Dan is trying desperately to get the game to listen to and I have been left the task to recount our adventures to date. so left off on thursday so.... sunday: So we went to the apple academy school today...was amazing! we went around the whole school visiting each class and asking them how there were and how old they were...they asked us the same back..dan apparently looked like he was in his 30's and one cheeky sod said I looked 60 but he was joking...hopefully! After talking with the headmaster, we then were shown and joined in the national nepali school game called 'kubudee'; its quite similar to bull dog ... read more

Padmasambhavas cave. I could spend some days there.I am really attached to clean toilets and hot shower.... read more