Opening Ceremony

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Spent the morning relaxing by the pool at the Shangri-La Resort. It's a tough life but someone has to do it!!

We packed up at 12 and headed to the Australian Team's motel - The Pokhara Grande - where we met up with everyone else.

We decided to go for a walk into town to get some lunch. Some of the people left while I was dropping my bag in the room, so Pauline and I joined up with another group and headed off.

Big mistake!

5kms and 45 minutes later in 35C and 80% humidity these people finally stopped at a restaurant in Lakeside Pokhara.

We were dying of thirst and hunger so thankfully this restaurant served nice cold drinks and very yummy pizzas! Cold drinks are not very common in Nepal - you actually have to ask for your drinks chilled otherwise they come out at room temperature... even soft drinks! Beer is about the only standard cold drink served here and even though I'm not a beer person, it always seems to taste amazing!

After lunch, 4 of us made the call that we were getting a taxi back to the motel!

Myself, Pauline, Joan (a bigger lady) and Michael (6'8" tall) squished into this TINY cab, paid 200Rs and got back to the motel where we had just enough time for a cold shower before heading off to the International Mountain Museum for the official Welcome and Opening Ceremony.

There are over 500 international volunteers, as well as about the same number of local volunteers. It was amazing.

The food was delicious (even if it was a bit spicy!) and again the drinks were cold!

There was a big welcome for all the countries, as well as an extra special one for the Kiwi's who turned up late!

The Build was officially opened by 2 Nepalese celebrities and a German actress who is volunteering also.

Then came the traditional dance performances. They were absolutely sensational!! Followed by dinner which was equally impressive!

All in all the night was great - we got back to the motel around 8pm and Quang and I settled in at the bar for a few coldies... where we stayed until midnight! Oopsies!!

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