Final chapter of Nepal trip

I didn't quite finish the account of my trip to Nepal - that is, I didn't include getting back home - so, for the sake of completeness here's what happened. From those of you who are familiar with the story I have had much sympathy, but I have to say it is largely undeserved for, though uncomfortable, the experience was very much part of the whole trip and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
To start with, I met up with a very interesting lady at the airport in Kathmandu, a Brit now living in Sweden who had just done the Annapurna trail. Like me, she had the feeling of time running out, and infirmity steadily approaching and felt it was "now or never".  She said it was extremely challenging and she definitely needed to have left it no longer - she was 65, by the way, and with no particular health issues. From her account, I am sure I was right not to attempt it. She was going on to a two week tour of Rajisthan, S India. We chatted comfortably as our departure hour came and went and announcements in Nepalese caused minor eruptions of activity. Seeing our confusion, a lovely Nepalese gentleman took it upon himself to interpret and to seek information. He was a Gurkha named Sher, returning home to London after a family visit. We eventually left 2 hours late, after waiting for the Kathmandu pollution to lift away and fortunately our connecting flight from Delhi was waiting for us.
But this was Friday December 17th and, as we approached Europe on Saturday 18th, Heathrow closed due to the snow and we were diverted to Brussels. This turned out to be just like all the acounts you've ever heard reported, the prime problem being lack of information. There was only one restaurant/cafe open and no fast-track for drinks only so the queue was never-ending, and it was several hours before bottled water was brought in by the Red Cross. Each flight looked for news from their airline and some were better than others at this. There were no tannoy announcements and the best way to find out what was going on was to follow any moving group of people. Often this would lead only to another airline's information provider but occasionally it would be general information about camp beds or meal vouchers, and if you were lucky you'd find yourself listenening to information from your own airline.
We managed to miss out on the first batch of camp beds and were told by our airline that there were no hotel rooms to be had in Brussels, so lay down on the tiled floor.  Sher was immediately asleep but I wasn't that efficient, so at 1a.m. I decided I might as well join the cafe queue with my meal voucher.  It took me till 4.30 before I had my meal on my tray!
Next day there were rumours of Eurostar tickets and connecting flights, but the worst situated were those passengers who were non-European, who could therefore not leave the airport and had no option but to wait for a flight.
We were told that there were 117 Eurostar tickets for EU passport holders and rushed to baggage claim to collect our luggage and tickets but after a couple of hours and no luggage appearing, it seemed there were only 54 tickets and I missed out. However at least I was
accommodated in a hotel that night, unlike Sher who couldn't leave the airport.
Next day there was to be a flight at 6.30 am but we sat on the tarmac for 4 hours as there was no deicing fluid available. Frequent texts from Jon telling me that Heathrow was going to close again and Was I on my way yet? No, still waiting. Anyway, thankfully we did eventually take off, one of the last planes to land that day, Monday 19th.
Quite an adventure, but I don't think I'd like to repeat it.

to Bakhtapur

Next day was really hard climbing steeply downhill, which is very difficult for my knees and made me feel about 102, feeling my way cautiously down and using my walking pole for support. But then once again we were passing through villages, where I was viewed with interest as foreigners are rare in these lowland regions. So all in all it was a good hike. 

The road ahead

Breakfast 8 am.  Can you just see the high mountain peaks?

Looking over towards Bhaktapur

One very disturbing thing I learnt from Nima was about road traffic accidents. I had already heard that a driver who injures anyone is responsible for their medical care for the rest of their life, which is given as one of the reasons drivers are so careful here! But apparently a result of this is that sometimes a casualty may be deliberately killed. For example recently a bus driver knocked a young woman off her motorbike and when she was lying in the road, he tried to reverse over her with the intention of killing her. A pedestrian tried to pull her clear but, due to the temporary barrier present in the middle of the road, could not move her out of the way completely. The driver thus ran over her legs, which had to be amputated. He will now be responsible for her ongoing care. I found this concept of killing rather than taking on long-term care hard to believe but Nima assured me that it is well known.

 French cheese farm

Pressing the cheese

On my last day here I went to Tokha by car and walked to a cheese farm in the woods. It is run by a French man whose sister and her friend, Pauline and Pauline (!) run a guest house there. It was a lovely walk, lovely cheese and on the way back I met some schoolgirls who were dying to practice their English.  After chatting for some time, and taking their photos, they asked if I had an email address.  To my surprise they all use email in their homes, so I have promised to send them the photos. 

Friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End of term

Load shedding

This is the term used for turning off the power, leaving everyone in darkness or using generators. The electricity supply simply can't cope with the demand, so a rota is agreed and the inconvenience is shared out. We keep up with it through the timetable posted in the foyer of the hotel.

After dark it's eerie. The traffic keeps up its relentless frenetic activity but bikes and rickshaws become more dangerous objects as they are unlit. You get dazzled by the lights of a motorbike or car and then suddenly there's a bike right beside you as you step around something. Shopkeepers on candle-light use the light of their mobile phones to find goods, but it's all very good-natured.

School update

Yesterday I finally gave in to my cold and stayed off work. I went gratefully back to bed and didn't get up until 2pm. There were folks sunning themselves by the pool and I went to join them (for the first time) but by 2.30 it was already turning chilly. It's really warm for an hour or two either side of midday but cools down rapidly. Sunset is about 5.15 and quite sudden.

So today was our last working day. We had fond farewells from the two teachers, Alina and Deepa, whose English is good enough to have enabled us to establish a good rapport. The other two, Laksmi and Sanu, are very pleasant but can't converse at all.

“The computer room” has finally been made secure, ie the ceiling had a layer of plastic sheeting inserted to prevent the dust and bits of crumbling cement from raining down when Uttam moved about overhead (his quarters are upstairs). For some reason Uttam seemed to think the best place to dry his washing was in the computer room, which seemed a little incongruous to us. Another of those little cultural differences?

Anyway, Rosemary [ I might not have mentioned that there are two Rosemarys and two Margarets in our group of 6 – we have still not managed to use the right names for each other consistently, so you can imagine what it's like for the locals] moved in like one possessed, as there were three brand-new computers sitting around in their boxes ever since we arrived, and she set about installing them.

A further two have arrived but the wiring needs extending round the room to include them.

I'm not sure which past volunteer funded these, but I hope she/he will be pleased to hear of this progress.

The Knitting Competition

Things are getting out of hand!

Brenda and Margaret E have been knitting with the children at the orphanage. It has proved very popular both with the children and the staff who look after them. However, Margaret F having offered to knit a muffler for a child, and Brenda having recently started one herself, this seems to have developed into life or death competitive knitting. All the talk is of the relative merits of different stitches, the yarn used and (most important) the length. A time extension has been reluctantly agreed because Brenda was out all day today on an excursion and the cut-off date is now Monday night.

Watch this space.

Orphans outing

Today they went out in the minibus along with 3 extra staff, packed lunches, skipping ropes, kites and footballs to Godavari Botanical Gardens. This is about an hour's drive from our residence but there is apparently no public green space in Kathmandu except the zoo, so this is the best on offer. Our volunteers told us the children were impeccably behaved and took full advantage of the open space. More than that I can't tell you – I would ask one of them to write here but we've all retired to our rooms.

Photos

Feeling guilty about the pupils who have not had their photos taken over the last 4 weeks, I have taken class photos, printed them at 16”x20” and block mounted and laminated, to be hung in the classrooms. They look great and will be given on Monday when we are going in for the assembly to say goodbye to the school. Margaret and I said goodbye to our classes today as we are going to Pokhara tomorrow on an early flight. It was very sad to think that we won't see these lovely children again. We had a long chat with their teachers at lunch time sitting in the sun. Pleased to hear that, despite the low pay and lower status of teachers here, almost half of those we were talking to intend to make it their profession.

Personally I have only recently become comfortable in the teaching role, though I still have a lot to learn about preparation, organization, and time management. My greatest achievement has been speaking and singing in front of a class of nearly 57. Way Hay I can do it!