Blogs from Nepal, Asia - page 8
Visiting the volunteer placements, and becoming a local
Published: March 18th 2012Asia » Nepal » Pokhara
March 18th 2012
Had breakfast with the family who runs the volunteer hotel. The brother taught me all about Nepalise festivals, schools and their religion. Then we talked about Manchester United. The POD co-ordinator Phil met up with Lindsey and myself and showed us around the placements. We went to see a daycare centre which was very basic, but was fun running around with all the little children who were about 3-5. Next we saw a Street Children's centre where children with very rough pasts live together. They were mostly boys, but there is one girl and their English is really good. Decided that I would start at the Street Children's centre, so really excited to start there tomorrow. Philippha took us to get the material for our Kurta Suruwals, I choose purple then took them to get tailored. ... read more
March 18th 2012
Getting to the start of the Langtang Valley treks is not easy. It's only 121km but it's 8 hours of mainly gravel, single lane that winds up mountainsides with many hairpin turns carved out of the hillside, no guard rail and what looks like a thousand meters straight down. If you have ever watched the TV program Worlds Most Dangerous Roads you get the idea. The only modes of transport is the three time daily local bus or a private jeep rental for $150. Wanting to experience local, and being cheap we took the bus. What a trip! A third world "local" bus is a of junker of a vehicle with bald retread tires that transports everything from chickens, sacks of rice and salt, lumber and at least 10 times the number of people that ... read more
March 18th 2012
After another grueling 10 hour drive from Bardia National Park we finally arrived in an oasis of tranquility where they even served hamburgers, espressos and steak!!! I was in heaven; well actually, Pokhara. This place wasn’t only difficult for us to get to by driving along winding mountain roads and passes, the only way one was able to reach Pokhara used to be a 10 day pony trek that involved numerous deadly river crossings along the way. It used to be the place where in the 70s hippies came after having travelled along the south Asian overland route. Here they found peace along the lakeside and marijuana aplenty. Situated on Phewal Lake, nowadays it has a mountain resort feel with its hotels, bars, restaurants and shops. High above Pewal Lake, is the brilliant-white World Peace Pagoda ... read more
Bistari, Bistari..... A first trip through the Annapurnas - Dharapani to Chame
Published: May 10th 2012Asia » Nepal » Annapurna » Annapurna Circuit
March 17th 2012
How does porridge with a couple of spoons of jam sound? Mary and Dhana are not impressed. Tasted good- I was craving some sugar and something resembling fruit. Washed it down with a few cups of tea- we have graduated to ordering thermos pots of tea now- cheaper and you drink more fluids. Everyone seems to have gotten off earlier than us again today. We cut through a field leaving the village are in the shade for about 20 minutes, noticably colder each morning now- wool base layer, tshirt, fleece and "Survivor" buff (did I mention I love Survivor?). As soon as we hit the sun the fleece goes. We are rewarded by views of Manaslu, the views today are epically good, lots of snow capped mountain peaks. We climb through pine forests, lots of twittery ... read more
March 17th 2012
Thamel/ Kathmandu are really growing on me now; there was a bit of culture shock at first, but it is getting more and more comfortable each day. Today will be my last day of orientation. I am going to miss the group so much, everybody is so lovely and we are all getting along so well. The past couple days we have had language and culture classes in the morning, sightseeing in the afternoon then finishing with dinner. So far I am terrible at speaking Nepali, I am definitely going to have to do a lot of practice in the markets and day to day. We went to a temple yesterday and one the day before. They are very beautiful, but after the trip to Thailand with the over-exposure to the temples and pagodas, everything blends ... read more
March 17th 2012
As most of you already know, I've taken the plunge and jumped off the engineering ladder hoping to land in the family business pond... in June. If that doesn't spell 'sabbatical' I don't know what does!!! 4 months break sounds wonderful! Yes please! Dubai warps your mind, and your percetion of notmality, its a wonderful bubble but I'm very aware that we have it easy. I was looking for a way to put my tax-free money to good use when I stumbled across this School Reconstruction project in Nepal. For the next 4 weeks I'm going to a small jungle village not far from the Chitwan National Park, living with a host family and helping to build a school. There is something quite refreshing in the irony that there are over half a million Nepalis living ... read more
March 17th 2012
Wake up call at 5:45, then quick repack and run to the bus stop. Our bus left at seven after the street vendors had tried to sell us all sorts of fried breads and cadburys chocolate. The roads in Nepal are very, very bumpy. It was like driving over constant pot-holes, whilst motor bikes constantly over took you. If you can go five seconds with a few motor bikes beeping you then it's a miracle. Another thing about Nepal road safety, they don't have any seat belts. So imagine driving over constant pot-holes without a seat belt, and with a very low sliding window. That being said, I enjoyed the journey. I allowed me to see lots of Kathmandu and Pokhara and everything inbetween. The scenery was amazing, as long as you didn't look down. Half ... read more
March 16th 2012
**Paragliding in Pokhara and Everest Flight** At Kathmandu Domestic airport we sat on a bus meant to take us down the runway. Ready for the off the vehicle stalled, again and again. Fellow passengers looked at each other uneasily, and made simple, obvious jokes, “Let’s hope the plane takes off better...” It was a last minute decision for us to take a mountain flight, starting in Kathmandu along the Himalayan vista towards, and ending with, Everest. Dad, an aficionado of mountains and the outdoor life, suggested it and, although it is something I would love to do I hadn’t even considered it; as usual, the budget dictates! This one was on Dad, and probably one of the most unique gifts I have ever received. Once the bus had eventually fired up and chugged us down the ... read more
Bistari, Bistari..... A first trip through the Annapurnas - Jagat to Dharapani
Published: May 9th 2012Asia » Nepal » Annapurna » Annapurna Circuit
March 16th 2012
The plan is Jagat through Gsanje through Sattale then lunch at Tal Manang, ending up in Dharapani (about 15km). We almost pick up a friend- a little 16 month old kid called Aluk who decides he wants to follow us. We reluctantly hand Aluk back to his Dad, Aluk is not thrilled about this decision, particularly as he has grown attached to one of our walking poles. So, another late start - 0830. We try to beat the 2 large mule trains that are leaving at the same time as us. It's actually a pretty fruitless exercise as we encounter them pretty much all day and I think it is all a part of the experience. The manure, lots of manure, is a part of it too. They are very single minded beasts these 'kacar' and ... read more
March 16th 2012
Corbett National Park is a famous reserve that was established in 1936 as India’s first national park, named after the English tiger hunter Jim Corbett. He was considered a hero by the locals for shooting tigers that had developed a taste for humans. In the end, he shot more wildlife with his camera than his gun. When Jim Corbett, the naturalist first sounded the alarm in the 1930s that tigers would become a threatened animal, no one believed him. At the time, it was estimated that there were well over 40 000 tigers in India. When Independence occurred in India, many villagers came to own guns for the first time and many of these villagers pushed into formerly restricted hunting reserves to hunt for highly profitable tiger skins. By the time a census was conducted in ... read more
