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Published: August 21st 2014
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Kathmandu ValleyHi Everyone been staying in The Kathmandu valley now for the last two weeks with a lovely family and I have also been introduced to their extended family who live in a smaller village higher up in the hills. Such friendly welcoming people who cannot do enough for you. The walk into the hills was amazing, lots of terraced rice fields and corn with the forests in the background. I got caught in the monsoon rains on the way back, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so refreshing! although covered in mud. The area I'm staying in too is beautiful, surrounded by tree covered hills, a lot different from the chaos and pollution of Kathmandu city . Many people especially the children have recurrent chest problems due to the dust and the pollution. I have been volunteering at a local school, Him Rashi High School, daunting, but very enjoyable. The kids are absolutely amazing! Very advanced, speaking, reading and writing English from the age of four. Quite strange seeing a child of that age writing perfect English with beautiful handwriting and understanding it too. The school is a private one but also takes in approximately 150 poorer children from the surrounding area and
Road up to the village after a little rain!the classes are big, 27 to 30 in each. The classrooms are very tiny and the children sit three to a desk, they are in class the whole day and even eat their lunch there. The only time they leave the classroom is to go to the toilet, a very long day for them , especially the younger ones, so in between lessons I've been doing some stretching exercises with them which they really enjoy. I did want to do some yoga with them but there was no time due to there hectic schedule. They don't see many foreigners as they are in the valley so everyone wanted to talk to me , all I could say was " Mai le bujhi na" (I don't understand) The kids love to entertain and are very confident. They know many traditional songs and dances which I had the pleasure to watch. I move on today but I have enjoyed it so much. I have got some lovely photographs of the kids but for obvious reasons I won't be adding them to the blog.
I visited Kathmandu city on a couple occasions to catch up with email and this blog. Have had
to come by passenger on a motorbike due to the traffic congestion, the roads are horrendous and definitely not for the fainthearted. Mind you using the moped in Thailand too I've have lost all fear of motorbikes and have actually enjoyed it lol! Kathmandu has changed quite a bit since my last visit, the main one being the influx of Chinese businesses. A lot of the buildings have been knocked down and moved back to widen the roads. So there is building works and road works everywhere. One of the days I walked from the Thamel district to Swayambunath the huge Buddhist Stupa. With the aid of a map I found it no bother, took me about forty minutes, however when I got there I was quite confused. I had been before, dropped off by bus and had seen it from ground level. I wasn't aware that there was more than one entrance. The entrance I walked to had hundreds of very steep stairs up to it (393 to be exact), it looked incredible! and I managed only stopping once. My fitness level has been very good lately, all that physical work! The climb was so worth it, the views
Christina eldest daughter in the family I am staying with.of Kathmandu were amazing, it was sunny and clear and felt so peaceful even although there were lots of people there. Loved it, turned out to be a magical day.
Had taken some time out to do some tourist stuff and went to Pokhara (home of the Gurkhas) hoping to see Annapurna and Machulpuchare. Picked the wrong season, it rained the two days I was there and did not even get a glimpse of them, however I did get to the World Peace Stupa which sits at 2100 metres above sea level on the Ananda mountain and can be seen from all over the valley. The walk only took about an hour and the road was partly concreted so it was an easy walk. The rain never halted and the cloud was quite low so unfortunately I didn't get pictures of Annapurna in the background. If anyone is interested check it out on line, the pictures look stunning. I also visited the International Mountain Museum and could have spent the whole day there, so many pictures and so much information on the ascents of all the mountains over the 8000 metre range. I also learned that when they did
Kathmandu Valleythe clear up operation of Everest that they removed eight tons of rubbish, some of which they had in the museum, oxygen tanks etc. The museum also exhibits materials relating to the daily lives of the different people and tribes in Nepal, I didn't realise there was so many. I also visited Devi falls too, such tremendous force, even stronger because of the monsoon rains. They flow into an underground cave which you can normally get into to see but because of the amount of water that day the caves were closed. The drive back to Kathmandu (6hrs) through the mountains was quite hair raising too, lots of minor landslides and flooding on the road which is bad enough without it. So much traffic too, lots of lorries because it is the main highway between India and Nepal.
I also went to Lumbini the world heritage site and birth place of Buddha. Home of the world center for universal peace and the home of the eternal peace flame. The park covers an area of three square miles and is something special, lots of temples from different countries all unique in there own style, some monasteries and meditation centers too
Christina and her friend. A canal runs through it's center with the eternal peace flame at the head of it. The area is naturally beautiful and there is a crane sanctuary too within the grounds. Lots of wetland with different birds and butterfly's , mind you I couldn't believe how quiet it was. Another good day.! On my last day in Kathmandu I went to Nagarkort a beautiful mountain viewpoint that sits at 2195 metres. On a clear day you can see the Himalayas, the hills and the surrounding valleys covered in pine forests, the drive was stunning, however because of the cloud cover I couldn't see Everest or Tibet from the top. It was still well worth the effort. Nanu's relatives live in the area and we went to visit them too. I don't know how these people manage as the roads to their houses are non existent and sometimes treacherous. Life must be very hard for them. They are all so welcoming and friendly and asking me to come back and visit. I've no doubt I will at some point. At the time of the 2011 census 4751 people lived on the mountain. Nagarkot is an international tourist destination because of
A wee caterpillar climbing up the wallthe spectacular views of the Langtang range and the magnificent sunrises and sunsets. A fitting last day in the area. I leave today, my next placement is in Kuranda Queensland Australia in a few days time so in between I've decided to visit Uluru. So I'm off to Alice Springs and on to see Ayers Rock and Kings canyon. Ta ta for now.
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