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Published: October 9th 2012
GCAO Office
The walls of our main office are covered with Sarangis and drums.We have been in Kathmandu for about 2 weeks now and are settling into a bit of a routine. But, firstly, back to the beginning.
We had a good easy flight with a stopover in our favourite little "airport" hotel - The Floral Shire Resort - not fancy but clean, breakfast and free transfers to and from the airport. Thai Airlines had offered us an extra 10kg each free because we were volunteering but I completely misunderstood their regulations and all our baggage had to be booked direct to Kathmandu from Brisbane to get the extra kgs - so a mad dash around the airport to buy toothbrush, deodrant, etc for an overnight stop in Bangkok.
Met at Kathmandu airport by my very excited friend, Manoj, and Buddha (president of the Gandharba Cultural Art Organisation.....we were presented with fresh flower leas and bustled into a taxi - usual jockeying amongst taxi drivers made a little worse that we were with locals and stood out like the proverbal with the leas around our necks - "you my friend" etc. 3 large back packs, 2 day packs, 5 people including the driver set out for the city....I
Hindu Shrine
Shrine on our way into the old Kathmandu market decided to nurse my day pack when the driver thought the best place for it was on the roof (no roof rack of course!)
Our guest house is fine - only about A$7.50 per night (depending on the exchange rate which is continually dropping each day) - couldn't bargain down any further as it is peak tourist season. It is only 3 stores high and has a nice roof area to relax on. I think we have the only room on this floor with its own bathroom (very important when you get sick!!!!) and an area on the balcony to sit....bought a couple of those low wicker stools to sit on in the cool of the evening with a beer.
There are 6 guest houses in little laneway and we are supporting our local shop in the alley way for water (1 litre = 20Nrs) and he keeps a couple of cold bottles of Gorkha beer in the fridge for Michael (170Nrs - big bottle). Current exchange rate is approx 84-87Nrs = A$1. US$ is lower so we are using our aussie dollars first and Manoj has introduced us to his friend the money
Water
Old water spout still in use in a laundry. changer who is giving us a couple of rupees above the set rate....sweet.....
Still coming to terms with it being hot here - think of Nepal and think of mountains, cold, snow - but Michael was just talking to some people who have just come back from trekking to Muktinath and it is warm way up there. I packed so much warm clothing that I am probably not going to use at all...t-shirts and cotton pants for me and Michael is still in his shorts from Queensland.
Work started first thing the next morning - Buddha had called a meeting of all members to welcome us - just the sort of thing that I hate - but had to be done. We handed over Peta's old laptop and the girls old cameras (you are just hearing about that now Lucy and Peta) plus the president decided who would get the mobile phones at a later date. We were immediately offered the only 2 chairs with backs and the meeting commenced....25 men (speaking a combination of English and Nepali) and me....Michael was very quiet and didn' really expect to be part of this.
It was
Things Michael Likes
There carvings took his fancy. an open discussion about everything and anything - what happened to all that training and preparation that I did with the School of Social Entrepreneurs - out the window - go with the flow - and take notes. We covered issues like music preservation, culture issues, education, women's issues (very quickly raised and dropped), sarangi factory, alternative occupations and training.
I have been going into the office??? each day to see what can be done. Got a lot of work done the first week - broke all the issues down, typed up and printed out, ready for decision making and I noticed that it has been locked away carefully in the top drawer of the desk.....but each day I learn something new and get new ideas and suggestions.....so we will see.
However, I have met some amazing woemn that I had made contact with before leaving Australia and they are great and probably made some life long friends. They are positive and helpful.
Michael has been out and about in Kathmandu - walking everywhere - he has a better map now - so he is dangerous....I think he will know Thamel and
Things Michael Likes
He also has taken a liking to this sheep's head. surrounding area better than the locals before we leave here.
We ventured into the old market area in Kathmandu the other night under the guidance of my friend and it was great to have a look around...I think we ended up there when we were here in 2008 - but only because we got lost.
The internet is painful here - and we have found some cafes that have better service than our hotel so I will try to get this blog off ASAP with some photos.
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Debbie
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What an adventure!
Love hearing about everything you are doing. Keep up the good work! What a great walking trail. The photos bring it all to life. Looking forward to the next installment. x