Blogs from Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal, Asia - page 6

"I am here because of the wonderfulness of others." Those of you who read my last blog will know the excitement I felt at bumping into Dorje Gurung in a bar in Kathmandu last week. Yesterday evening we met up to discuss his incarceration, liberation and plans for the future... Dorje is an interesting character with a kind face and an admirable outlook on life. Hearing him speak about his experiences is not only inspring but incredibly humbling. As a teacher Dorje has worked in 10 different countries, most recently Qatar. It was in Qatar that, after receiving abuse from some students, Dorje was arrested and falsely accused of insulting Islam. Dorje was imprisoned and told that he could be facing a 5 year sentence (it turns out it could have been 7 years). After 8 ... read more

Kathmandu is a place of bizarre coincidence. From the moment I arrived I keep thinking 'what are the chances...?!'. The chances, it would seem, are quite high. In Kathmandu, at least! So, the first night I arrived I popped out to change some money and buy some cigarettes. It was pretty late but as I passed Tom & Jerry's, my favourite bar, I thought I would pop in quickly for a drink. Incredibly, the staff remembered me, due in part to my wedding photograph that remains on the wall by the pool tables. I met a few locals and one drink turned into several. On my third day here I was made aware of a google group called KTMKTM, a place where local people post about things going on in Kathmandu. This is where I found ... read more

When I first arrived in Nepal back in 2004 I was greeted at the airport by a smiley young man named Santos. Santos worked with VSN and Hotel Centrepoint to transfer volunteers and integrate them into the country. He won us over with his warm smile and good conversation and he took us for our first ever dahl bhat; rice, lentils and tarkari (curried veg), which most Nepali people eat twice a day, every day. On Friday evening I went for my first dahl bhat of this trip, at Helena's retaurant. I sat on the roof terrace by myself and looked out over the noisy streets of Thamel. I'm not sure why-perhaps it was the golden metal plates or the fact that I was using a fork instead of my hand-but I thought back to my ... read more

Since finishing our trek we enjoyed a few days chilling in the pretty lakeside town of Pokhara. A large town with a touristy lakeside suburb full of hotels, bars, restaurants and shops selling fake, outdoor gear......I couldn't resist the bargains and much to Donald's dismay i had to purchase a lovely purple north face jacket (and a dress, and two pairs of trousers! Donald bought a t-shirt though) We managed to wile away a couple of lazy afternoons soaking up the sun sitting in lakeside beer gardens reading, drinking lovely fresh fruit juice and eating the most delicious food we had tasted in 3 weeks! (doesn't take much) I took the risk and was loving the salads, tummies coped fine thank goodness! As the monsoon was coming the weather was extremely hot and humid with cloud ... read more

I woke up around 4:20am on Saturday and got ready for my bus rude to Kathmandu. As I was preparing to leave my room, I heard a low-pitched grunting sound from outside the back window. I froze, casting my mind back to the tiger attack story, although, from my expert experience of watching the Discovery Channel, the sound didn't strike me as tiger-like. As time was ticking by, I decided to make a run for it. It was no longer pitch-black outside, so I knew I'd at least see my attacker as it mauled me to death. I ran out with my backpack on, stopping off on Cindy's porch to leave some travel wash (since she actually has the motivation to do these things, rather than lazily paying for laundry services, as I do), before heading ... read more