Eleanor & the Elephants

My Love Affair with Nepal

2018-06-19T21:22:00.000+12:00

It has been a long time since I updated my blog. Almost four years! I've mostly been living and working in New Zealand, and just haven't felt much like writing. But I think it is time for me to share all the things that I love with about Nepal. Including my amazing husband. Yes that is right I am married to an amazing Nepali man who I met in Nepal back in 2013, and we were married in January 2017 here in New Zealand. I've never mentioned the hubby specifically on my blog or mero buda मेरो बड़ा as I would say in Nepali. He was normally referred to as "my friend" and has shared a lot of my adventures with me. Any way, I decided it really is time that I get back to sharing all the amazing things about my time in Nepal and why Nepal and it's people are one of the most incredible places on earth.

Goodbye Kathmandu

2014-08-18T19:49:00.000+12:00

As you may of gathered from my blog posts from Europe and the great length of time since I wrote anything about Nepal: I left Nepal at the beginning of March this year. I've been back home, in Wellington New Zealand, for several months and for what ever reason my blog has been sadly neglected. However, I've been missing Nepal every day and am becoming increasingly more cabin feverish sitting at home.

... So to fill you in on leaving Kathmandu...

My last few weeks in Nepal were extremely busy. Finishing up my work, completing as much work on the library I was setting up at Ambience International School and saying goodbye to my friends in Kathmandu.

I already can't believe that I spent almost 12 months living in Kathmandu. The hustle and bustle of Kathmandu seems so far away from the quiet and clean streets of New Zealand.

When I got back to New Zealand I realised that my country is very empty and quiet, but still has far too many cars. I also realised that once you've stayed in Nepal long enough no other mountains will ever look high again

The biggest farewell I had to make, before leaving Nepal, was at Ambience International School, where I had to say goodbye to all 200 hundred students. They had a surprise farewell for me at the school's afternoon assembly on my last day working on the school library. It was really difficult saying goodbye to the kids, because I had no idea when or if I'd ever meet any of them again. I promised some of the students from the younger classes that I'd come back before they graduated. But in Nepal you never know if the kids will leave school, or change school, or generally what will happen. I also don't know exactly when I'll be back in Kathmandu again, although I am hoping it will be soon.

The biggest surprise for me was the farewell I received from the Nepali family I had been staying with. I had to be at Tribhuvan airport at about 8.30 in the morning and thankfully had finished most of my packing in the the few days before my departure. We didn't live very far from the airport (only a 15 minute walk), so Kuldip was going to get my bag and I there by scooter. I was all ready to go when I was surprised by a traditional Nepali farewell. I was extremely touched as they gave me a farewell like they would normally give to a family member who was about to embark on a long journey. It was such a surprise to know that I really did have a Nepali family and amazing to have such a memorable farewell from Nepal.

Tikka (a mix of rice, curd and red colour) was place on my forehead to bless my journey.

Mala, or a traditional Nepali garland, was placed around my neck.

and I was fed sugar and fruit.

As I left the house two small jars were placed on either side of the front door. In each I had to drop a coin (luckily I hadn't given away all my small change before I left!).

Everyone would know that someone from this household had embarked on a long journey

When I reached the airport I felt like a Nepali with my tikka and mala and my rudimentary Nepali language that I'd been practicing over the last few months. I was really happy when the staff at the check in desk asked me if I could speak Nepali (in Nepali! I'll never get over people just speaking to me in Nepali straight up, because this bidesi girl knows how to look like a Nepali speaker!) The airport staff told me they thought I might be able to speak Nepali because of my mala and wanted to know if I had been living in a Nepali family.

I look very tired in this photo

Unfortunately, I had to throw away my mala before going through airport security. It seemed like such a waste for something so beautiful. I was very sad that I'd only been able to wear it for an hour, at the most! There an old cardboard box just before security, I'm convinced it was there specifically for discarding mala. Also look at my shoes all covered in Kathmandu dust.

The airport guard saw me taking a picture of my discarded mala in the rubbished box . So he took it out of the box for me and hung up on his chair so I could take a better photo. I shouldn't be taking photos of my mala in the rubbish (I miss how friendly everyone in Nepal is. Always ready to help out).

I cried while I waited for my flight from Kathmandu and I think that it has taken me so long to get back to writing up my blog because I hate that the whole experience is over. My time spent in Nepal was probably the most exciting, eye opening and enthralling experiences of my life. I couldn't believe that I had survived a year in Kathmandu and I couldn't believe that it was over.

When I reached Delhi I had thankfully stopped crying and was ready to see India again.

When I was going through customs in Delhi another security guard stopped me. He looked at me and called out "Girl you have come here from Kathmandu". I turned around and nodded to him that I had. He asked me if I knew how he'd guessed. I had to think about it for a few seconds and I pointed to my tikka. He smiled, laughed and wobbled his head "Those Nepali people have really unique Tikka, they make always so big and full of rice. I always know people who fly from Kathmandu"

Nepal and Kathmandu seem so far away now. However, I will be back soon.

Goodbye Nepal... Namaste....

See you again... Pheri Bhetaula…

नमस्ते। फेरी भेटौला।

French food made me fat

2014-06-06T22:09:00.000+12:00

There was no mistaking the fact that upon my return to New Zealand a few months ago I was significantly heavier than I had been a few months previously when I was living in Nepal.

Note: My weight had really been all over the place in Nepal between hospital visits and the mass consumption of paneer pakoda (possibly one of my favourite India/Nepali foods that is basically deep fried batter cottage cheese. yum!).

Anyway, I decided that my weight gain probably had lots to do with my weekend in Paris. Well I suppose it could of been the two and a half weeks of British pub food, but we'll go with it being Paris.

View of the streets of Paris through a cafe window.
This was how I spent a great amount of my time experiencing Paris.

I've been told that the food in other parts of France is much better than what can be found in Paris. So judging from what I tried in Paris the food in other parts of France must be incredible!

I traveled with Paris with my friend from university, who is living in London. She had lots of inside knowledge, because she had previously lived in Paris (lucky thing!). So I learnt quickly that you have two main options for eating: a set menu or buy something al a carte (a single meal). Both normally work out to being about the same price. However, a set menu will get you a starter, main and dessert where as something al a carte will just get you a single main meal. Every traveller loves a bargain, so set menus it was!

The set menus were amazing and made most meals last one to two hours. I both ate a lot and spent a lot of time eating in Paris. It was amazing; however, I'm not sure my waist thanked me!

Also we can't forget all the other treats lurking around Paris: crepes, pastries and bread!

So here are my steps to eating in Paris:

Find a suitably cute Parisian looking cafe.

The menu is likely to be displayed on a blackboard. Have fun testing your high school French to work out what you might be ordering.

Order a typical French drink: you could go with a French wine or try Orangina.

Choose your starter. There are snails or goat cheese if you want something slightly safer.

Personally I could live off French onion soup. I made a serious attempt to do so while I was in Paris.

There was also this pumpkin soup I tried at the Lourve. I found the frothed cream weird.

Next you choose your main

If you order duck and you are really lucky, it might even come in a duck shaped plate!

Most importantly a set meal includes dessert. Mmmm I love creme brulee

...and creme caramel...

...and chocolate mouse...

And don't forget to leave room for everything else there is to eat in Paris!

Chocolate Turtles!

For breakfast I'd recommend tartine over croissants. These seems to be the two breakfast options offered at most cafes in Paris (Both are served with a hot and cold drink of your choice, I found this odd as I felt like I was drinking more than I was eating at break. Not to mention this was far too much fluid to be starting a day off in a city with very limited public toilet facilties!). However, every time I did order breakfast from a cafe in Paris they were always out of one or the other so I didn't actually end up with much choice. But basically croissants are good but trying real French baguette is life changing; so I can't see anything better than starting off the day with sliced barguette with butter and jam.

Baguette makes me happy!

Brighton Beach

2014-04-17T17:34:00.000+12:00

I brought the Indian sun with me to England. Therefore I was in for a treat, seeing the English flock to Brighton Beach for the first time after a long-wet English winter. In the sun Brighton Beach was quiet pretty. However it was no where warm enough for me to decide it was a good idea to go down and sit on the beach. It wasn't even warm enough for me to take off my coat! But there they were, English men and women in droves sitting on the beach, eating ice-creams and fish and chips, and sometimes even daring to remove their coats. I've never seen so many people sitting on a beach fully clothed in my life.

Even if I thought the English were half mad in their enthusiasm for beach-going when I was still in a winter coat and scarf, I did appreciate that their was a pretty good vibe at Brighton Beach. There is a time to get away from it all on an isolated beach, or up in the mountains in Nepal. However, there is something amazing about being in a crowd of people relaxing, enjoying the sun and their day off. The beach was buzzing with families, children, couples, teenagers, musicians, tight-rope walkers, fish and chips.

Silhouetted against the sun, the remains of the burnt down West Pier (nothing but a blackened shell, following the 2003 fire) only added to the charter of the Brighton Water for me.

I wanted to eat fish and chips on the Beach because it seemed like a rather English idea to me (Well actually fish and chips on the beach is also a kiwi as idea and I'd been generally deprived of seafood in Nepal, so it was just an all round good idea in my opinion). Unfortunately, my cousin, who I was with, once had a bad fish and chips experience. Therefore, we instead ate lunch at an Italian restaurant on the Brighton Waterfront that over looks West Pier: Alfresco Bar and Restaurant . The meal was pretty tasty, I got my seafood (even if it was pasta), and the location is good for a tourist lunch as you get to enjoy views out over the ocean.

Oh, yum, look at me! I want to be eaten!!!

A few days later I was back at the Brighton waterfront because I'd almost forgotten to have the most iconic of Brighton Experiences, Brighton Pier. It was all lights and tacky-ness. Overall I thought it wouldn't of been a bad spot to hang out when you were a child or a teenager. However, I was informed that the only people who go to Brighton Pier these days are tourists. But tourists got to do these things.

We visited the Pier at around 5.30 on a Monday evening, just as the sun was setting. We'd planned to visit one of the pubs / family restaurants on the Pier for our dinner (so that I could finally have my English fish and chips). Unfortunately, when we got onto the Pier we were greeted by lots of closed signs. I'm not sure if the Pier normally shuts early, or if it was because it was a Monday night, or because it was still the end of winter. Anyway, it made for a disappointing visit. Except for the gaudy lights, I got to enjoy lots of gaudy lights.

My favourite thing about Brighton Pier was watching a flock of starlings flying around the Pier and over the ocean.

.... and don't worry I got my fish and chips in the end, from a restaurant across the road. They even came on a cool old-school news paper print plate ...

Birling Gap

2014-03-24T11:17:00.002+13:00

My first taste of the UK was the South Coast. I was picked up from the airport by my uncle and we drove down to Brighton where I spent the first part of my trip. My first afternoon in the UK we drove from Brighton to Eastbourne along the southern coast and through the southern downs. I find the UK to be extremely quaint and cute with it's rolling green hills and little villages.

On the way to Eastbourne we stopped at a place called Birling Gap, not far from Beachy Head (a famous chalk cliff on the Southern Coast of England, notorious as a suicide point). Birling Gap was a cute collection of buildings perched right on the cliff edge of some beautiful chalk cliffs. Some of the buildings are actually unoccupied as the cliffs are rapidly eroding (especially following a recently very wet winter). However, there are still tea rooms where you can stop and enjoy a cup of tea and enjoy the views. You can also climb up on some hills above the buildings and enjoy stunning views over the the cliff edge and walk out towards an old light house.

Enjoy my pictures!

Oh this last picture was taken in Eastbourne. But isn't the UK picturesque!

Oh! I'm in England.

2014-03-14T05:53:00.003+13:00

I left Nepal on the 3rd of March, stopped over in Delhi for two nights and have now been in England for just over a week (except the few days I visited Wales).

It's taking me awhile to readjust to life outside of Nepal and I'm missing Kathmandu everyday. However, here are some of the things I've discovered about the UK: it is really cold; I do appreciate British humour, however their TV ads are not that funny; I love all british accents (but then again so does everyone else; the UK does get sun after all; it's very green; the only people who eat mushy peas are crazy people; it's normal to go to the beach even if you need to wear a jacket and scarf; and it's expensive to travel by train.

Overall I haven't found the UK that different from New Zealand. It is a little colder, the hills aren't as big and the buildings are much much much much older (I mean New Zealand doesn't have castles!); however, "culturally" or something it's really not that different. I feel at home. That's good as I came down with a bad head cold my first few days here, so it was nice to be somewhere that didn't feel too foreign. The things I found most surprising so far was seeing a drive through at a supermarket. Apparently you order your groceries online or over the phone or something, then drive-through to pick them up! We don't have that system at home.

Talking of supermarkets, one of the greatest things about being here has been the food. My ancestors moved out from the UK to New Zealand (I'm a mixture of Scottish, English and Irish), so the food I've always eaten has been British inspired. After months of Nepali food it's been amazing having lots of familiar dishes from home. Fish and chips; bangers and mash; roast beef; bacon and eggs; cheese, pate and crackers (well it was french and swiss but we eat that in New Zealand too); crumpets; toast.

Will update you about the places I've been visiting soon! For now you can enjoy these picture of what I've been eating.

The Royal Trek Part 4: Boating on Begnas Tal

2014-02-24T16:36:00.002+13:00

राम्रो बेगनस ताल

Tal ताल is Nepali for Lake.

On the third evening of the Royal Trek, my sister and I were in favour of shortening our trek (by skipping going to Chisapani, and instead staying by Begnas Tal for our final night) and going back to Pokhara early the next morning. We only had one night in Pokhara after our trek before heading to Chitwan, and we wanted to use our afternoon to go boating on Fewa lake. However, my mum was really keen to visit Chisapani for it's famous sunrise views (worth it!), which would mean we'd be arriving in Pokhara late afternoon (with no time for boating on Fewa Tal). Luckily, our guide Shiba had a brilliant idea. We would go to Chisapani, wake up early to enjoy the sunrise then walk about three hours to Begnas Tal. Rather than walking though the hills around the lake, as is normal during the Royal Trek, we would instead go boating across Begnas Lake (only after enjoying a delicious meal of fresh water fish curry by the lake and a refreshing cold drink). From the other end of Begnas Tal we would be able to walk and catch a public bus back to Pokhara city.

At lunch we met a young English couple who had been staying at Begnas lake for several days. They told us they hadn't seen the sun in days (they were beneath the fog we'd been looking down on from the hilltops). Lucky for us we brought the sun down with us, and the fog cleared just after we arrived at the lake.

Begnas Tal has to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited (I'm not over exaggerating). The boating was also more than I had expected. The water was so calm it was like a mirror for the surrounding hills. I still haven't been boating on Fewa Tal (from Lakeside in Pokhara); however, I don't believe it would rival the experience at Begnas. Except for the English couple at lunch we didn't see any other tourists. When we were on the lake there were almost no other boats insight, except a few locals fishing and crossing the lake. There is a big resort on the lake shore, which apparently is filled with wealthy German tourists during peak season. So I'm not sure if Begnas is always such a peaceful place, or if it was just because we visited during the off-season.

I would recommend a visit to Begnas lake for anyone doing the Royal-Trek. The peaceful, tranquil relaxing boat ride was the perfect way to finish our four days of trekking. Even if you are not trekking and just visiting Pokhara, again it's worth catching a bus out and spending a day or two next to Begnas. It's more secluded and tranquil than bustling lake side and Few Tal.

A story in Photos:

This is the view we enjoyed during our lunch of fresh Nepali style fish curry

I was happy we visited Begnas Tal

The rest of these images explain themselves! Enjoy!

The Royal Trek Part 3: Wildlife

2014-02-24T03:35:00.001+13:00

During our Trek we encountered all sorts of wildlife.

There were baby cows ...

... and buffalo ...

In one village we stayed in the local women got up extra early to milk the buffalo, believing that the smell of white people might frighten them and stop them from letting their milk down.

We Ofcourse can't forget the goats (especially the baby ones!). They are so cute... well this baby goat actually looks slightly demonic....

... This one is definitely adorable ...

... So is this guy...

... and this guy...

... and this little one...

These guys have the right home.

Chickens!

I befriended a number of local dogs (although in some villages we had to take alternate routes because of vicious badly trained guard dogs).

This boy knew where his territory was. Where ever we walked on his hilltop he'd join us (and probably all the trekkers that come through). As soon as we started to walk down the hill, he turned around and went home.

From the top of his hill he did get to enjoy a view any dog would envious of surveying.

This boy joined me for lunch.

Nepali village dogs are living the life.

Or catching up on some sleep next to our bags

There was even a cat or two!

Where there are cats there are always birds (or maybe not?)

Also we can't forget the monkeys!
(stealing fruit from the villages gardens)

Read more about our experience on the Royal Trek, in Pokhara Valley:

The Royal Trek Part 1: Culture

The Royal Trek Part 2: Scenery

The Royal Trek Part 4: Boating on Begnas Tal

The Royal Trek Part 2: Scenery

2014-02-24T02:23:00.000+13:00

Sometimes when I'm staying in Kathmandu I forget that Nepal is one of the world's most beautiful countries. So it was amazing to get away from the dust and dirt of the city and into the hills to enjoy the amazing scenery and clean environment that Nepal is famous for!

As with my last entry I'm going to let the pictures tell the story. We started in the low river valleys walking through rice paddies and climbed through Nepalese jungle to villages situation on hill tops. Enjoyed stunning views of the Annapurna range, and took in the idilic Nepali countryside.

Prior to starting our trek we spend one night in Lakeside, Pokhara. In the morning we took local buses to the country side just outside of Pokhara city.

Above the Clouds

We started climbing immediately during our trek. So for the next four days we got enjoy spectacular views of the mountains throughout our trek.

This is the hilltop on which we spend our first night.

Just imagine enjoying this sunset every-night...

Can you see the sunspot? This is a photos taken by my sister. We noticed a strange dot on the sun in this picture. Amazingly when we returned to the world of internet connections, we learnt there had been a giant sunspot present on the sun (that was visible to the naked eye) the day this sunset photo was taken. Guess we were in the right place to see it! (Read about it Here!)

Because of the spectacular views we also got up early every morning to watch the sunrise. I'm talking before 6am! For those of you who know me personally you must know be impressed that I managed to get out of bed at all. Here I am forcing a smile with the mountains, it was gold and I desperately wanted a cup of kalo chiya कालो चिया (black tea!)

Although it turned out to be worth the early rise.

More often than not we were above the clouds. Mist filled the valleys below, especially during the morning. It was impressive to see the Annapurna rising above the clouds.

The mist itself was pretty impressive, even without the mountains (This stunning photo was also taken by my sister).

In the Jungle

We weren't always trekking in the open. We also walked through the jungle. Throughout Nepal you will find stone steps like these. They have been made by the local to be used to travel between villages (on the hill tops and the valleys below). As we trudged up step up step or slowly ambled down, trying not to fall flat on our face, we were often taken over by countless children on their way to school on paths through the jungle like this.

However, the jungle didn't stop us from enjoying the Himalayas. Here the mountains visible through a hole in the foliage.

Beautiful Plants

Despite the beauty of the Himalayas, they are not the only thing to enjoy in the Nepali countryside. We were amazed by the beautiful flora.

Sometimes it reminded me lots of New Zealand.

This definitely looks like New Zealand

However, other times it was strikingly different. I love Banana Trees, I think they are so beautiful.

There were also all sorts of interesting and beautiful flowers. Please forgive me that I'm not researching exactly what they are!

You have to thank my sister for these next two photos. My Camera would never be good enough to capture a shot like this.

This photos is totally stunning, so I have to credit my sister!

Where the Earth Bleeds Red

One Thing that has always amazes me in Nepal is the colour of the earth. The clay is sometimes an amazing shade of red. This type of clay is traditionally collected and used to decorate houses.

A Place to Rest

On all the paths traditional stone walls can be found, that were built specifically to allow walkers to rest. The wall is built at the exact height that a person can easily rest their load on the wall. These resting places are usually beneath a tree to also provide the traveller with shade.

For a trekker they were the perfect place to take a rest and feel at one with beautiful Nepal.

In the Clouds

On our last day of trekking we finally descended down into the clouds again. We were sad about saying goodbye to the mountains. However, the thing about Nepal is, that no matter what, it's always beautiful.

Beneath the Clouds Again

Our final morning of trekking we ended up in a Valley. We were below the cloud layer again. We walked through rice paddies. It was amazing how different everything looked compared to the hill tops. The hill tops were dry where as the valley floor was swampy and fill of small ponds and lakes.

This is a small Lake called Rupa Tal

A dried up river bed. Nepal is full of small river beds that fill up only during the monsoon season. There is actually a special word in Nepali for a river or stream that only flows during the monsoon (Our guide taught me the word. But I've already forgotten! I should write my blogs more quickly).

The Royal Trek Part 1: Culture

2014-02-23T08:04:00.002+13:00

The mighty Himalayas are the first thing most people think of when you say Nepal. Lots of tourists come to Nepal solely to go trekking, they fly in and head straight to base camp or off on the Annapurna Circuit. I on the other hand was living in Nepal over 9 months before I went trekking, and I still haven't made it to the Himalayan Region (Unfortunately!).

Nepal is an extremely beautiful country. However, large portions of it are inaccessible by road; making trekking the ideal way to see the beauty Nepal has to offer (In the Himalayan Region, but also in lower altitude areas). There is also just something special about getting away from everything that the isolation of rural Nepal holds.

When my family visited in January we decided to go trekking. We were slightly constrained for time. Furthermore, I was worried about my health (having been in hospital in December) and how I'd manage a trek. My parents had previously been trekking in the Himalayan Region in 1985; however being slightly older now, they were also unsure how trekking would go. So we choose a relatively easy 4-Day trek in the Pokhara Region, the Royal Trek (so named because it was famously walked by Prince Charles).

Once we started walking I felt amazing. My health felt better than it had in months. I guess it was getting away from the pollution in Kathmandu and get some good exercise. I even got a tan! After 4 days, I felt like I could of kept trekking for a month! However, I didn't regret out choice of the Royal Trek. There were almost no other trekkers on our route, which made our trek extremely peaceful. Also the scenery was beautiful, and the climate was warm and pleasant for walking during the day.

The Royal trek is a good option for anyone who wants to enjoy the beauty that Nepal has to offer, but doesn't have the time to do one of Nepal's longer more famous treks. It might also be a good option if you are looking to do something that's not too hard.

Between myself and my family we must have taken over a 1000 photos during the trek. So I've decided to share the trek with you through pictures. So I'm now going to let the photos do the talking. I managed to select the best 100 photos (mostly from what I personally photographed, but also stole some from my dad and sister). Because of the large number of photos I'm splitting my write up of the trek into four parts: A Cultural Trek; The Wildlife; Beautiful Nepal; and boating on Begnus Lake. (I've mostly split up the entry because my Nepali internet wont handle that many posts in one entry).

A Cultural Trek

The beauty of the Royal Trek is that it is not only an amazing trek in a beautiful country, it also provides the opportunity to experience the culture of Nepali village communities. I think the degree to which you are able to experience the local culture during the Royal Trek really sets it apart from other treks in Nepal. On more popular routes, or the tea-house treks you'll be staying in tea-houses and guest houses throughout your time. However, on the Royal Trek you will spend every night in a local home-stay. The accommodation in home-stays is much more basic than a tea house (and you will have to carry sleeping bags!). However, if you don't need all the comforts at home it's fine (it's only three nights!).

Our amazing guide Shiba Adhikari really helped us to understand the local customs and traditions, being a local of the Pokhara region he was an expert on any questions we had. When the opportunity arose he always tried to introduce us to locals, and show us what they were doing weather it was sharpening a knife, weaving traditional baskets, or making a traditional mattress.

Here I am enjoying breakfast of boiled eggs and whole wheat pancakes with Shiba. If I don't look happy it's because I hate mornings.

A majority of the Royal trek is spend walking through local communities and farmland.

The most obvious sign to me of the impact of the Nepali people on their landscape is that almost every hill has been terraced. When I see these terraces I always wonder who made them, and how many generations have grown their crops on them. I assume the terraces were built and maintained over generations.

Yellow Mustard Flowers. Mustard is widely grown in Nepal. The seeds are harvested to be used as a spice, but also to produce mustard oil.

I love taking photographs of nepali washing. The colours!

Passing through the villages we saw many interesting insights into how people were sustaining themselves. On the hills we say fields filled with vegetables and fruit trees. On the low lying flat ground we walked through rice paddies (dried rice paddies, as it is now the dry season).

We passed by and conversed with people carrying out their every day tasks.

This old woman was returning home after visiting relatives in another village. She was walking up the same hilly steps us as. As she passed us she said in Nepali "I am so old. I am almost 100 years old!" Our guide, Shiba, ask the woman how old she was and she said she was 80. It was amazing watching her climbing in front of us, at a pace we couldn't even match.

A number of the houses throughout the trek had large concrete tanks for storing rainwater collected during the monsoon. Nepal has plenty of water, during the monsoon! However, it can be difficult for communities to sustain themselves and their agriculture through the dry season. Therefore our guide explain that these concrete tanks had been donated to the community by NGOs, because the region had previously suffered from a water shortage. Even though it was the dry season, with the help of water storage and irrigation systems it was amazing to see all the vegtables being produced year round.

The Nepali are extremely cultural and religious people. So of-course the country side was scattered with temples and shrines. On the first day we mainly observed Hindu culture in the Brahmin community. On the later days as we entered villages where the Gurung community lived we saw mainly Buddhist temples.

The Religious culture of Nepal is alive and active. Here the locals are building a new temple next to an old one.

Small Buddhist Monastery in Chisapani

These are the remains from a healing ceremony conducted by a local witch-doctor.

Throughout the trek we stayed solely in home-stay accommodation with members of the Brahmin and Gurung communities. Staying in a home-stay is basic, but you have a bed, food, water and a toilet (what else do you need!). You get a taste of what life is like in the villages of Nepal.

Everyday you can try traditional Nepali Dal Baht and famous Nepali hospitality. All the food we ate was organic and made from local produce.

Every morning the home-stay families prepared us organic millet pancakes and boiled eggs

Two cute blue doors at our first home-stay. One for my mum and dad, one for my sister and me.

Inside our first home-stay room. Not bad for a budget traveller.

In the Gurung Village the local woman's group welcomed us to their community with flowers. They also performed traditional dancing and singing for us to raise funds for their group.

Nepali homes are really pretty cosy....

Even if the sound proofing isn't the best...

But you get to wake up to this every morning!

This is a traditional game played in the hilly regions of Nepal. Something about Tigers and Goats (I don't know the rules. Shiba did explain them, and my sister brought a set to take back to New Zealand).

This was just interesting....

Throughout our trek we enjoyed delicious organic Vegetables produced within the local community. Look at these beautiful cabbages!

This family are growing organic pumpkins on their roof!

Noodle soup prepared by our guide Shiba made from freshly picked spinach.

Dried Turmeric

When we walked past some glorious looking Sugar Cane I asked if we'd be able to buy some (because Sugar Cane is not available in New Zealand, so my parents had never tried it). We brought a whole cane (freshly cut!) for less than 50 rupees. After enjoying it ourselves, we had enough left over to gift to our next home-stay family.

It's a lot of fun stopping and buying fresh fruit during the trek. It also productively provides support to the community you are visiting (rather than just handing out money to children).

We even had some organic village pop-corn. My favourite!

Not to mention plenty of traditional Nepali tea (Chiya).

Keep Our Kathmandu Clean

2014-02-22T20:57:00.002+13:00

Everyday while traveling to campus for my Nepali class I would pass a building with a large sign on it saying Keep Our Kathmandu Clean. It's something everyone in this valley needs to hear. But it's sad to see that proclamation day after day in an unchangingly dusty, muddy, rubbish strewn street.

It doesn't take very long in Kathmandu to notice that this city is filthy. The pollution will hit you first, as you get in your taxi or shuttle bus to your hotel. You wont know if you should open your window to cool yourself down, or keep it tightly shut to protect yourself from the dust. The pollution and rubbish in Kathmandu, spoils what is otherwise a beautiful historic cultural city.

Most conversations I've had with other tourists in Kathmandu somehow end up complaining about the pollution and rubbish. Tourists love to complain about how awful there stay in Kathmandu was because of the pollution and are quick to blame the habits of the local population for their discomfort.

The pollution is uncomfortable for tourists, many who struggle to adjust. However, for the locals it's a horrifying reality.

Kathmandu ranks in the top five most polluted cities in the world (source Here!). In 2007 Kathmandu air was shown to contain 173 micograms of particulates per cubic meter ( 173 ug/m3 ). Slightly less than the 2003 measurement of 183 ug/m3. (Source Here!). However, it should be noted that the pollution levels in Kathmandu can rise as high as 900 ug/m3 (Source Here!). To put this in perspective: WHO standard for air quality is 20 ug/m3 (Source Here!); Los Angeles (a city I remember considering polluted when I visited) has around 40-50 micrograms of particulates per cubic meter (Source Here!). The most polluted city in New Zealand is Auckland, which has 23 ug/m3 (just above the WHO standard for air quality). Wellington (my hometown) has 22 ug/m3, and Dunedin (where I lived for 5 years) 19 ug/m3. (Source Here!)

The high levels of pollution have a devastating affect on the health and wellbeing of those populating Kathmandu Valley. The health problems associated with pollution are broad and include, penumonia, asthma, bronchitis, cardiovascular health, skin disease, allergy, wheezing and coughing. Basically everyone in Kathmandu suffer from smokers cough, and a chronically sore throat. I haven't even started on the quality of the water and the food in the city (however, I probably don't need to, because those who read my blog frequently will know how many times I've suffered from food poisoning in Kathmandu).

Police Officers Ready for work. Facemasks are essential.
Source: http://nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Sick-city,108

A face-mask is a must for the locals of Kathmandu if you want to avoid illness (or attempt too). Between July and December 2013 (A period when I was continuously living in Kathmandu), Tribuvan University Teaching Hospital recorded 831 admissions for pneumonia, 676 for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 114 for asthma and 144 for bronchitis (Source Here!). I don't know what the stats are the whole of the Kathmandu Valley, but you should bear in mind that there are over 100 hospitals within Kathmandu Valley, that could be a lot of illness (Source Here!). Every year the Nepali government spends more than $21 million in medical compensation for pollution related morbidity (Source Here!). Those at greatest risk are of-course those working outside such as construction workers, traffic police and street vendors. People who's homes, schools and work-places situated next to busy roads would also be more drastically affected. On average, four traffic police officers become ill from air pollution everyday in Kathmandu.

On top of air pollution, you only need to look around to see the countless piles of rubbish clogging the streets and the rivers of the city. Rubbish seems to pile up in any empty space in the city, like unplanned city dumps springing up all over the place.

As a side note I saw the biggest rat I've ever seen inside a pile of rubbish near where I work, it was as big as a cat!!!

So where did this big mess come from? That's a tricky question. It's easy to jump to the conclusion that the Nepalese are ignorant and poisoning themselves. Especially when you see them carelessly throwing rubbish in the streets and spitting any where they want to. It's easy to blame the problem on ignorance. However, this is definitely not the case. You only have to live in Kathmandu for a few days to know what it's doing to your health, and the Nepali know more than anyone how detrimental the pollution is.

You only have to ask any school student about the pollution to be informed what we should do to clean up Kathmandu. They'll quickly tell you about reducing car emissions, and not throwing rubbish and respecting the environment. Ambience International School (where I volunteer) held a rally on World Environment Day (5th June 2013), to raise awareness in the local community about protecting the environment of Kathmandu Valley. They made beautiful handmade signs displaying motos such as: "Only One Earth. Care & Share it. Go Green"; "Avoid the Pollution"; "Keep Your City Green"'; "The quality of our life is measured by a clean environment"; "Don't throw waste in River"; "Plant Trees"; "Save Natural Property".

Ambience International School, Kathmandu, celebrate World Environment Day, 5th June 2013.

Ambience International School was not the only Kathmandu school I saw holding rallies and activities for World Environment Day. The Day was probably highlighted more in Kathmandu, than it would have been in New Zealand. So awareness is not the problem (except perhaps in the elderly or those coming immigrating into the city from remote regions).

Of-course rallies and awareness campaigns are important. However, in Kathmandu you often tend to see a great amount of talking and a great amount less doing. If you stay in the Valley for awhile you will start to notice many signs that the people really wish to clean up the city. I saw a dusty abandoned car next to Bagmati River, into the dust someone had written CLEAN OUR BAGMATI. So what are the every day people of Kathmandu doing to clean up the Valley?

Street Cleaning in Sinamangel, Kathmandu. 3rd November 2013

In November, the local Sinamangel Youth Society ran a street cleaning program. They collected youth from the whole suburb of Kathmandu to clean the main street. Picking up and disposing of rubbish. I joined the group, and it was extremely rewarding. However, I was slightly disgusted that a number of people seemed to be joining for show, rather than to get dirty and clean things up! It was crazy, we were finding plastic bags that were half buried in dried mud (November is just after the rainy season. So the mud situation during the monsoon only compounds the rubbish problem. Even thou there is less air pollution that time of year). The most disgusting part of the street clean was when we got near a teaching hospital, and found that some of the hospital waste was being disposed of on the street! This included Needles being inappropriately disposed of, which were then being picked up by drug users and again dropped on the street. Because of the health risk we weren't able to clean up the rubbish near the hospital, and instead the youth group issued a complaint to the hospital to insure the correct and safe disposable of needles and other medical waste.

The local area looked amazing for about a week after the clean. But without constant cleaning efforts, it's ofcourse back to normal. The youth group were brainstorming ideas about how to keep the road clean permanently. There were suggestions of installing rubbish bins, however this was followed by concern about finding the money to install the bins and the likelihood that they would be vandalized and destroyed as quickly as they were installed. I suggested that they make the effort to clean the street more often. The first saturday of every month, something like that. If the locals saw regular cleaning efforts, it might encourage them to keep it clean. Not to mention cleaning every months there would be a much smaller amount of rubbish, and therefore much less work to do, than cleaning once every 6 months to a year!

A patch of green in a brown city

About five minutes walk from where I stay a school initiative has cleaned up a section of the Bagmati river bank and built a landscaped garden. The garden is open to the public for a small donation. I think it's an amazing idea, as there are very few open and green spaces in the city. Also for the small area of the river where the garden is, you feel like your in a new city. One school can only clean up a small area of the Bagmati River. But I keep thinking if only different schools, institutions and businesses could copy what this school has done. Each group could sponsor and maintain a small section of the Bagmati river, and the whole river could be maintained free from rubbish.

Ultimately, however, there really isn't much that the people of kathmandu can do. Sure they could stop dropping rubbish on the street. But it's not always their fault. With no public rubbish bins sometimes it's all you can do but drop the rubbish if you are not carrying a plastic bag on your person, and it's something yucky like orange peel. Then there is a matter of where the rubbish will be disposed of once we put it in the bins. The Government needs to take responsibility for the people of Kathmandu and Nepal. They need public bins and an efficient garbage disposal system. Getting rid of the litter will do lots towards beautifying Kathmandu. However, it's the air pollution that's really doing the damage. More trees will help. But they wont fix the problem.

Emissions need to be decreased. Most of the air pollution in kathmandu is coming from cars . There are 60,000 vehicles in Kathmandu Valley. However, when you think that the population of Kathmandu Valley is around 4 million, this really isn't an unreasonable number at all. In the United states there are 797 motor vehicles per 1000 people, New Zealand is not far behind with 712 motor vehicles per 1000 people. In Nepal there are merely 5 vehicles per 1000 people (Source Here!). So how can we tell the people of Nepal that they are the problem? We can't expect them not to want cars and bikes. So again the responsibility lies in good legislation. The decommission of old dirty, smokey vehicles (nothing like getting a mouth full of black smoke coming from an old bus when traveling on a bike). Vehicle Emission Standards Testing (VES) was introduced to Nepal in 1995, and in 2000 they introduced a ban on motor vehicles more than 20 years old. However, people in Nepal are able to easily get around these regulations with bribery. On top of ensuring vehicle quality the government needs to introduce (and enforce!) standards on business, such as the multiple brick factories scattered throughout Kathmandu Valley. (Source Here!)

I wont even start on the road widening disaster that has over taken Kathmandu in the past two years. Widening the roads was a good idea. But roads, foot paths and buildings were simply dug up and demolished, leaving the majority of the city unsealed. This has engulfed the whole city in a cloud of permanent brown dust. Every surface in Kathmandu is permanently covered in a layer of dust, giving the whole place a run down and destitute look. Even the trees and plants are covered in brown dirt. The whole city is brown! If you wash your face after a day walking around outside, it'll come off black. If you blow your nose... yip that's black too.

Clean Kathmandu Models

At the start of January, Ambience International School held a Science, Maths and Technology fare. Several of the children choose to make models of their ideal Kathmandu outlining their solutions to the city's pollution. I told my students to imagine that the they were advising the country's politicians and tell them what they need to do! The Models showed water purification systems, the removal of rubbish, greenery and trees planted on the side of busy roads, the removal of factories from residential areas, green transport alternatives, the production of bio-bricks from rubbish among other innovative ideas.

So be prepared for the pollution when you visit Kathmandu, but don't be too quick to judge the people of the Valley. Trust me they want it to be clean much more than any of us tourists do. Pack your favourite lozenges, and maybe think about buying a facemask while you are here. And Asthmatics, make sure you come prepared!

I hope to keep seeing small initiatives such as the garden planted by Nepal Soka Gokkai International School. However, I hope that the the Government of Nepal recognizes the urgent needs of it's people and starts cleaning things up!

Pollution in Kathmandu

Lost in the Smog

Sick City

Air Pollution Giving Capital Denizens a Cough

Updating Air Pollution Measurement Methods

Air Pollution off the Charts in Kathmandu

Air Pollution in Kathmandu Can be a Serious Problem for Travelers

The Valley Chokes: Pollution in Kathmandu

These girls made a home water purification system for the Ambience International School Science, Maths and Technology Fair. A good solution for managing clean drinking water in Kathmandu Valley.

Opps

2014-02-15T20:10:00.000+13:00

You see all sorts of odd things and crazy driving in Kathmandu. It's not uncommon to see buses and other vehicles in all sorts of interesting places, that leave you wondering what the story was behind the crash. So when I saw this bus crashed in a river it wasn't that much out of the ordinary. However, it was enough out of the ordinary to have collected a group of Nepali onlookers.

I was with my Nepali friend when we saw this bus in Bagmati river just next to a bus stop, near my house. He went and asked what had happened. The story was that the bus conductor (all buses in Nepal have a driver and a conductor) has been asked to park the bus at the end of the day. Well instead of parking, he drove the bus through a barrier, down a bank and into the river. Adding it to the assortment of interesting things to be found in the Bagmati river. Opps!

I was glad to hear that the story didn't involve anyone getting hurt. It appeared the conductor had just had to climb out of the bus and back up the bank.

Just one of the things to be seen when you live in Kathmandu.

Toilets in Nepal - Keeping Things Clean Pt 2

2014-02-06T05:38:00.001+13:00

We're not in kansas anymore Toto. Nothing is the same in Asia, even those things we do behind closed doors. This is a series of blog posts to hopefully enlightened and help other people to understand how to deal with bathroom matters, and personal grooming when traveling in Nepal, India, or maybe even other parts of Asia

Not so long after I first moved in with my Nepali family, I took a trip to the local department store to buy a big bag of toilet paper for my personal use. For whatever reason I ended up chatting with some of the family members with the toilet paper still in sight, when one of the sisters asked me what it was for? Her older brother, who was well aware of western toilet habits after living in Australia, just started to laugh. We explained to her how western people use paper to clean themselves after going to the toilet, the look of surprise on her face was priceless. It was strange to see a Nepali looking to horrified by our toilet habits, when I've seen so many westerners become mortified by Nepali toilet habits.

Toilet block at the Language School Campus

Ok, so you are about to visit Nepal, what do you need to know about Nepali toilets?

What to expect

In Nepal you can find a mix of western (sitting toilets) and eastern (squatting toilets). All the hotels and guest houses I've seen in Kathmandu have had sitting toilets, so do all the restaurants in Thamel. However if you venture outside the comfy tourist spots the more likely you are to encounter the squatting toilet. 99.99% of public toilets and restrooms in general restaurants will be squatting. Also if you are staying in a Nepali home-stay prepare yourself for the squat toilet.

So I've found a few disastrous toilets in Nepal. Namely, one I went into two weeks ago that was completely flooded. The water was deep enough that it soaked through my converse and into my socks. I couldn't wait to get home and wash my feet, I felt really dirty. The other toilet nightmares are mostly those that just really need to be cleaned. Your face-mask or scarf is always handy for covering up the smell (especially during the hot summer).

I once asked a Nepali friend why Nepali public toilets are always so dirty. He told me it was because toilets were not considered to be clean places, so people neglected to keep them clean (like they would a kitchen). However, in my experience this isn't true and when using a bathroom in a restaurant or private home they are just as clean and tidy as a bathroom anywhere in the world. The mess in public bathrooms I'm sure is down to a lack of funding from local governments to maintain public bathrooms. Most public bathrooms in Kathmandu seem to be privately run for profit.

You can expect to have to pay for the use of public toilets. The cost can be between 2 rupees and 10 rupees. But also note, that inside places you have paid to enter you shouldn't have to pay for the toilet facilities, and don't let someone tell you that you need to pay.

Don't be afraid of squatting

So I've commonly found that people seem to be some what frightened of the notorious squatting toilet. I remember a group of young travels in India not using the bathroom on a 12-hour plus train ride, because they didn't want to squat. I was nervous the first time I had to use a squat toilet (I remember it was at the Red Fort in Delhi). In preparation for my trip to Asia I'd googled "how to use a squat toilet" where I found lots of confusing diagrams. So now I want you to think about all those squats you do at the gym. This is how to use a squat toilet, but you have to get right down so you are suspended over the toilet.

So I'm completely serious, if you are going to travel to Asia practice squatting (you don't need to go to the toilet from this position). Just do some squat training so you are able to sit like this and do your business. So when my family were trekking it was four days three nights of squat toilets in village homes, and in the jungle. On our third night I was amazed to see a rope hanging from the ceiling of the toilet room. I was baffled by it's presence, but my parents were completely over the moon. Apparently it was for western folk like us to hold onto while they go (actually a genius idea for those accommodating westerns in humble accommodation).

Toilets I use most days in Kathmandu.
Clockwise from top left: Office toilet, school squatting toilet, school western toilet, home toilet.

Will there be toilet paper?

Most of the time in Nepal toilet paper will not be provided. The only reason you can see toilet paper in the above photos is because I either put it there or it was being provided for me because I visited regularly. As a result, it is always essential to carry your own toilet paper everywhere if you want to use it.

If toilet paper isn't provided what do the locals do?

So generally speaking people in Nepal do not use toilet paper, and they are just as puzzled by our use of paper as we are of their lack of use. So how do they clean up without using toilet paper? Water! The whole idea of only using water to clean myself caused me lots of intrigue; however, I was too shy to actually ask anyone what to do. It wasn't till I randomly saw a video after someone posted it on facebook. It's from a man in Tamil Nadu, but the same general idea applies to a Nepali toilet.

It is inevitable that at some point or the other while traveling in Nepal you are going to end up having to use a Nepali style toilet (without toilet paper). So I'm going to give you a quick run down on how things work.

1) If you find yourself in a squat toilet. Identify which side is the front and which side is the back. The back is the side with the hole. So squat over the toilet with your back facing the hole. So everything goes down nicely!

2) When you are all finished. This is the tricky part (if you don't have any paper). You will find a bucket and a cup or pitcher. The bucket will often be filled with water; however, if there is a tap at hand I prefer to fill the pitcher directly from the tap as I worry about the cleanliness of the water in the bucket. This is what you have to use to clean yourself.

3) Cleaning yourself with water. Fill the pitcher with water. Hold the pitcher in your right hand, and use your felt hand to splash the water onto where ever you want to clean. You also have to use your left hand to clean everything up (the part that grosses everyone including me out).

4) Far as I can guess people dry themselves off by taking a quick shake before pulling their pants up.

To use toilet paper or not to use toilet paper???

Early on during my stay in South Asia I often found myself wondering if I should give up using toilet paper and go with local habits. Even if I supply myself toilet paper, I'm never sure if it can be flushed in Nepal (I've been told varying stories). In the first house I stayed in we had the unfortunate experience of a blocked toilet pipe (somethings will never been unseen or unsmelled); I suspected my toilet paper use might have been the number one course, so after that I used a small bin to dispose of my toilet paper. In my new house we flush toilet paper and there doesn't seem to have been any problem. However, I started wondering again recently after we went trekking and many places requested toilet paper to be thrown in a bin not down the toilet. This got me thinking all over again if I should give up the toilet paper (people in Nepal seem to survive fine without).

My final decision is that I will not be giving up toilet paper any time soon. However, I do think we should all consider minimizing our toilet paper use. Toilet paper can clog the drains, and especially during tourist activities like trekking, throwing away all that paper (especially if it can't be flushed) is wasteful and not good for the environment. Why am I not giving up the toilet paper? Because I can't handle the wet feeling of using water and not drying yourself before pulling up your pants. Not only is it uncomfortable but I don't believe it's particularly good for my female health. It might be fine for men to forgo the toilet paper use in Nepal. However, if us girls don't dry to keep things clean and dry we are going to run into all sorts of feminine hygiene nightmares. I suffered from a terrible case of thrush at the end of my stay in India at the start of 2012, and I believe this was because I was experimenting with giving up toilet paper.

These days I go for something in-between paper and no paper. I use the water to clean myself up, then dry myself off with paper. It minimizes my paper use, which makes me feel better about the environment. However it still keeps things dry and happy down there, so I don't get any UTI or thrush infections. This is what I'd also recommend for my fellow travelers, especially girls.

Sometimes there just wont be a toilet around

Just a warning for anyone traveling in Nepal. Sometimes there just wont be any toilets available. Especially during trekking or while traveling my local bus. So you might have to get used to the idea of doing your business out in the open. A natural toilet as the locals would say.

Nepali toilet terminology and gestures

Just one last quick note on how Nepali refer to going to the toilet to help you navigate the whole system. To indicate that they need to go to the bathroom they do a hand gesture which involves only holding up their small (pinky) finger. Knowing this hand gesture is extremely useful when traveling by bus, it means you can indicate to the bus conductor that you need to a toilet break (even if you don't speak the same language. Also Urinating is referred to as short toilet and defecating is referred to as long toilet. This confused me the first few times when I got asked if I needed to go "long toilet or short toilet?". You should also not be surprised if you are asked if you are going long or short toilet in Nepal. Was frequently asked this by people I didn't know that well (mostly to find me the appropriate bathroom I guess). Took some getting used to because I don't feel like even my closet family members would ask me that back in New Zealand.

Durbar Square (vs Durbar Square vs Durbar Square).

2014-02-05T00:09:00.001+13:00

There are three ancient cities located inside Kathmandu Valley; Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur. Each with their own cultural heritage and spectacular Durbar Square. Throughout the history of Kathmandu Valley each city has in it's time been the capital and have their own Royal Palaces. At this point I been thinking to write a history of Kathmandu Valley, when I realised my blog has never been about that. However the basic idea I've got is that Kathmandu is the business city, Patan (Lalitpur) is the cultural city and Bhaktapur is the agricultural city.

Durbar Square, February 2012. I was so skinny!

The first Durbar Square I visited was Bhaktapur Durbar Square during my first trip to Nepal, in February 2012. Bhaktapur Durbar square I believe is the largest of the three, and you are also able to visit the nearby. I really enjoyed my first trip to a Durbar Square; however, on the advice of my guide I decided to forgo visiting the other two. He informed me they were all much the same and I was better off visiting other parts of Kathmandu Valley. Not only are they all similar, each has a large entry fee. So you might feel your money is better spent seeing a variety of attractions.

This was a sentiment I held true during my time in Kathmandu in 2013. I visited Kathmandu Durbar square several times, mostly during festivals, because of it's location nearby my college and not to far from my home. Having been to Kathmandu Durbar square frequently I didn't feel the need to visit the others. However, when my family visited they insisted visiting all three (so we could compare them). Admitely I've become all confused now over what I saw in which Durbar square. Where was that palace room full of beautifully painted walls? Which square did they hang up dried buffalo intestines? Anyway so here I am comparing the three Durbar Squares of Kathmandu Valley, from my humble opinion.

Basantapur Durbar Square (Kathmandu)

How much does it cost for foreigners? 1000 Nepalese Rs

यहाँ मिठो लस्सि पाइनछ । "Here tasty lassi is available."

Basantapur is located in the heart of Kathmandu city, surrounded by a maze of narrow streets (you walk directly to Durbar Square from Thamel through the old streets. It's really fascinating. If you have a good sense of direction). What I love about Kathmandu Durbar Square is that it has remained a living space, not just a tourist attraction. In the streets surrounding Durbar Square you can enjoy local markets.

Taste some locally produced lassi. The world's tastiest lassi are found in a shop just down the road from Durbar Square. The sign above the shop is in Nepali and reads. "यहाँ मिठो लस्सि पाइनछ । " which literally translates into English as "Here Tasty Lassi is available". I love how specific and true the shop name is! Also If you are worried about getting sick from local food, Lassi is a great option because of all the probiotics from the yogurt!

The Museum inside Durbar Square is also worth visiting (price included in your entry ticket). Actually the museum is mostly filled with photos of the Royal family that are only mildly interesting. But the architecture is so unique, it's worth visiting to go inside the old buildings.

Perhaps one of my favourite things about Basantapur are the pigeons, they are everywhere and make for some great photo opportunities. Also who doesn't love running with the pigeons? Except for my ornithophobic mother.

What I also appreciate about Basantapur Durbar Square is that with my student card they would give me free access (so I can visit as often as I like without having to pay). But if you are a tourist, multi-day passes are available if you take your passport and passport photo. If you really don't want to pay, try visiting on a public holiday.

Also just note that there are lots of babas around Basantapur who will pose for photos, but be warned they will expect around 100 rupees for a photo!

Bhaktapur Dubar Square

How much does it cost? 1500 Nepalese Rs

I loved Bhaktapur the first time I visited in 2012. I loved the old style street and that the place has been well kept and restored. However, I can't say I felt so positively this year. I asked for a discount on the entry because I was enrolled at a Nepalese university. They wouldn't budge at all, and said the only foreigners who got discounts were diplomatic officials. This just made me angry because diplomatic officials are probably getting nice juicy foreign salaries. Students have to support themselves in Nepal, and are paying fees and taxes to the government. My impression was only worsened by the number of people begging for money inside the square. When we visited the potter's square the shop keeps instantly jumped on me, and wouldn't give me two seconds to breath. The pottery in Bhaktapur is beautiful, but the shop keepers behaviour only made me grumpy.

However. I still think that Bhaktapur may be the most beautiful of the Durbar Squares, and the surrounding area is stunning. Find the peacock window! The 55 window palace is also beautiful (and worth going inside).

With the price to visit I think it's worth staying in a hotel there for a night (as I did on my first trip) and enjoying the atmosphere.

The curd in Bhakatpur (King's Curd) is suppose to be the best in Kathmandu. However, I've never tried it! Let me know if you have.

The best thing about Bhaktapur was when my Nepali friend suggested we pay a local kid to be our guide. We first offered to pay two small boys (around 8 and 9 years old). Unfortunately, a few older boys hung around and taunted them (I wouldn't have suspected anything that bad, if I couldn't understand Nepali. But they were calling to our Nepali friend. Don't go with him, he's a baby, he can't speak English, you wont be happy. Probably not suspecting that one of the bidesi people could also speak Nepali). The boys were mostly sweet, but in the end one of them suggested we let his older brother guide us instead. So his 13 year old brother took over the tour, and we got to watch him bashfully pointing out the erotic artwork decorating some of the temples. We paid the boys about 300 rupees in the end I think. However, if you are thinking to hire some local kids to be your guide, I'd recommend being vigilant. At one point the middle aged boy (about 9) tried to convince my mum to buy him a dictionary for extremely marked up prices. The dictionary looked old and battered to me, so I suspected it was a con to give the shop keeper money. Otherwise the boys were fine.

Patan Durbar Square

How much does it cost? 800 Nepalese Rupees

Patan Durbar Square is perhaps the smallest, but I think it might be my favourite. Of all three Durbar Squares it seemed the cleanest to me. Furthermore, there was a whole room explaining their restoration plans. This made me feel positive about the 800 rupee entry free (because you know where the money is going). Patan also has a more relaxed feeling than Kathmandu, while still feeling like a living town square, but didn't feel like a tourist trap like Bhaktapur.

There are a few nice restaurants nearby the square where you can enjoy a cup of chiya (tea) and watch the square. Or if you want there are street tea sellers in the square selling tea and coffee for a really authentic experience, buy your tea and enjoy sipping it on the steeps of one of the temples.

I had to pay the 800 rupee entrance fee at Durbar square when I visited with my parents, but the woman on the desk wrote a note on my ticket so I could reuse it until I left Nepal. Which I've already used for a revisit, and plan to do so again. Patan durbar square didn't feel like a tourist spot like Bhaktapur. Kathmandu also doesn't feel too much like a tourist trap, but you do tend to get hassled by guides and rickshaw drivers. I wish I had discovered Patan durbar square sooner!

There is also some great erotic art on the temples in Patan. Can you spot the naughty monkey? (See below)

Can you spot the naughty monkey?

How to take a bucket shower the Nepali way - Keeping Things Clean Pt1

2014-02-01T06:59:00.000+13:00

The first time I visited Nepal (in February 2012), I think I took one shower in the 10 days I was here.

That shower followed 4 days of trekking, and was a necessity. But it was just too difficult to work out when to shower with load-shedding and poor water pressure (and hey I was going to be back in New Zealand soon anyway!).

So this time living in Nepal for a year, not showering was not an option. Unfortunately, it wasn't till October that somebody actually taught me one of the most useful skills I've got for living in Kathmandu, how to take a Nepali bucket shower.

When I stayed in India I felt hard done by when the hot water was only enough for a 7 minute shower (and the hot water had to be turned on 30 minutes in advance). However, in hind-sight, the western set up at the Ispiice camp (the NGO I volunteered with in Dharamsala two years ago) was complete luxury. I was also pretty lucky for the first 5 months I spent in Kathmandu, with a decent shower head and a gas system to heat the water. In recent months I haven't been so privileged, and I've been learning what it's really like for a local in Kathmandu.

I only learnt how to take a bucket shower in October, 2013. By this time I'd had about 10 months total living time between Nepal and India, and had no idea how to take a shower using a bucket and cup. Perhaps the whole thing is obvious to everyone else, but to me it was mind-bogglingly confusing process to which I was yet to be enlightened.

In October I travelled to my friend's village in Bardia, for Dasain. We stayed at my friend's uncles house, which was lovely. However, when the time came for me to take a shower I didn't know what had hit me. I was about to shut the door and do the best I could; however, I must have hesitated long enough that my friend's grandmother came to my rescue. She didn't speak any English, and my Nepali is very limited. However, somehow she finally explained to me what exactly I was suppose to do with a bucket and pitcher.

Why is it important to learn how to bucket shower? The answer is simple. Kathmandu has a severe water shortage. On top of that there is also an electricity shortage. End of story hot running water is a hug commodity for those living in this city. If you are staying in hotels you will probably find yourself with a shower with ok pressure, but finding hot water will be another story all together (unless you are staying somewhere more upmarket with electricity 24-7). A bucket shower will help you to affectively utilize what hot (or maybe luck warm) water is available to you; a bucket shower will save water and help you become an environmentally friendly traveller; a bucket shower will keep you clean when there are no other options.

1. The first thing you need to know about taking a shower in a Nepali (South Asian Bathroom) is that there is no designated area for shower. I like think of all bathroom is this country as being wet zones. I wouldn't attempt to enter one in socks and you always have to be careful of slipping. Luckily all bathrooms in Nepal come with a pair of bathroom slippers. So locate your slipper and get them on (we don't want any tasty falls).

2. In all Nepali bathrooms you will find a large bucket and small plastic pitcher. The bucket will be used for collecting the water required for your shower, and the pitcher will be used for the showering part.

3. Fill the bucket with water. If there is hot water available in your hotel room or where ever you are staying, you might need to run the water for 5 - 10 minutes before it heats up (depending on how exactly the water is getting heated). Ask your hotel staff how the water is heated. Is is heated by electricity? Will the showers run cold during load-shedding? Are you best to shower after the power has been on a couple of hours? Is the water heated by a solar system? Is it better to shower at a certain time of day? If you are living in a home like mine that has very limited hot water you might need to boil some water for your shower. If you are staying in a Nepali home stay you might also have to ask them to boil you a bucket of hot water for your shower.

4. Somewhere on the floor of the bathroom will be a drain. It's best to take your shower somewhere near said drain to avoid flooding the entire room.

5. Fill the pitcher with water. (Note if you are using boiling water you will need to mix it with cold water to get the perfect showering temperature. This is of course common sense). Then pour it over your body till your nice and wet.

6. Apply soap. I prefer to use liquid body wash as it's easier than using a bar of soap (and my skin is sensitive and doesn't do well with normal soap).

7. Then again use the remaining water to rinse yourself off.

There are two main pouring techniques that I apply in a bucket shower. The first being the direct pour. Left the pitcher directly over your head and pour the water over yourself (I find this easier using both hands to hold the pitcher). Not unlike taking a conventional shower. The second being what I'd call the hand back-splash pour. Place your hand close to and angle your palm towards the region of your body that you want to wash (making sure your hand is slightly cupped), then pour the water into the palm of your hand. The water will splash of your hand and directly onto your body. This is a good technique for making sure all your soap is rinsed off. It's also good for cleaning difficult to reach places such as under your arms and your bits down below.

As I wrote these instructions I've been left wondering where I was going wrong for so many months. It's hardly rocket science, but yet it took me months to master the bucket shower. It's simple in theory but in reality it takes practice. The first time I attempted to pour water over myself I think I completely missed my body about four times and just emptied the pitcher all over the bathroom floor. I soon realized my major mistake was using a single hand to hold the pitcher by the handle. The weight of the water was confusing my aim and I really wasn't getting any where with my shower. I find it's easier to aim the water if I pour with both hands when pouring from above my head.

In all honesty I only take a full bucket shower around twice a month. When I first came to Nepal I was showering daily, as adjusting to not shower is difficult. However, having to boil the water from scratch makes the whole process time consuming and not possible every morning. Furthermore, the longer I've stayed in the Nepal the more I've come to understand the reality of the water shortage in Nepal and I'm no longer comfortable taking daily showers (knowing that water is in high demand and I shouldn't be wasting it every day).

Saying this I do wash daily (in cold water). I can't imagine not trying to keep myself clean in Kathmandu (the pollution is terrible a wet wipe will come back black after one or two days walking around the city). I wash my face twice daily morning and night. As for everything else, I try to wash all the important parts every morning. This isn't easy when the water is icy cold. I find the best thing to do wash myself using the same plastic pitcher. Again using my hand to splash the water onto my body. You then use a quick rubbing motion, where you have splashed the water, to keep yourself warm.

Hopefully these instructions are helpful for other people who are struggling to workout what to do with their bucket and pitcher, or just want to make a little hot water go a long way.

8 ways to look like a local in Kathmandu

2014-01-30T06:27:00.001+13:00

Nepal, and Kathmandu in particular, can be a real tourist trap. This isn't a recent revelation for me; however, it was certainly put into sharp relief during my parents recent visit.

Upon their arrival in Tribhuvan International Airport an official porter helped them with their bags. Now these porters are suppose to be official airport porters, yet they demanded a $10 tip (1000 rupees) for their service. Not only did they demand $10 they refused to be paid in anything but US currency. I was disgusted by the tip being demanded and so immediately started arguing with the porter in my best attempt at nice Nepali. I offered him 300 rupees local currency (a more than generous amount of money for what must of been 10 minutes work for him). When he wouldn't budge I offered him 500 rupees, and said that was as much as I would possibly pay him (I will again emphasize that this was already an exorbitant amount to be paying for someone to carry your bags for 10 or 15 minutes. Not even carry, push in a trolly). He then said to me (in Nepali) "I don't want money from you. I want money from foreigner". So apparently the porter knew that I wasn't tourist, or in his words a bidesi (the Nepali word for a foreigner).

The longer I stay in Nepal the less often I'm assumed to be a tourist. A few months ago I visited a book shop in Thamel and to my surprise the shop keeper spoke to me in Nepali directly. I asked him how he knew that I could speak a little Nepali. He said it was just a feeling. So I've been trying to put my finger on how I manage not to seem like a tourist and have put a short list together for you.

Left: typical tourist trekking get-up

Right: comfortable everyday city wear

1. Dress like a local

Tourist Alert!

You could go all out and adopt a Kurta Salwar (Typical South Asian dress of a long tunic top with loose fitting pants). I never went this far in Nepal, and instead preferred to match a kurta top with leggings (as is fashionable for lots of the young Nepali women).

Attempting to dress like a local isn't always easy. You have to spend money on news clothing. Also it's not always comfortable wearing a new kind of outfit. The loose pants are far too awkward for me, however the kurta are comfortable especially during the hot summer.

So if you don't want to wear traditional clothes just look around and see what type of western get-up the locals are wearing and go with that.

I recently bought a new jacket and head wrap to keep me warm (particularly because I was going trekking with my family). One of my close Nepali friends informed me that when she saw my photo she was amused to see me dress up in tourist gear. Clothes really do make a big difference. So no trekking gear, or slouchy I'm not adapted to this hot climate clothing.

Left: dressed in the comfy tourist clothes I packed from NZ

Right: A Kurta top matched with black leggings (purchased in Nepal)

Then there are other extremely typical local fashion trends you could copy and you'll fit right in. Wear a facemask. They are not only a fashion statement but a necessity if you are going to living in Kathmandu long term and want to attempt to minimize long term damage to your respiratory system. You can also buy some really cute face masks. If I was living here permanently it'd be difficult not to own serval to match with my outfit. Or you can get a colour that makes your eyes pop. I currently own a black mask and a navy blue mask with white polka dots.

If you really want to go local match a pair of socks with a pair of shoes you'd never dear to wear socks with when you are at home.

There is also the typical Nepali style of wrapping your scarf over your hair. This one is great because it also hides the fact you are white. Try pairing a scarf with a face mask, it's not only fashionable but you'll hardly even have any white skin or blonde hair exposed.

2. Wear High Heals

So this is practically the same as my post before but specific to shoes. Wear shoes that look smart. People always say you can tell a lot about someone from their shoes. Honestly, I never ever look at other people's shoes. However, apparently some people do dedicate time to looking at and judging others based on what shoes they are wearing. If you are wearing obviously comfortable (and extremely practical for the state of Nepali road) shoes you will look like a tourist.

Personally I normally opt for wearing jandles (that's kiwi for flip-flops) or a pair of converse. This is my footwear of choice no matter which country I'm in. However, I believe that if you wear a nice pair of shoes it goes without saying that you are living in Kathmandu (because realistically tourists don't carry nice shoes overseas with them. Generally. Especially when visiting a place like Nepal).

So the reason I said high heels specially is that they not only look nice, but you have to be a Kathmandu pro to actually walk through the rubble that is considered to street in some parts of the city.

I own a cute pair of wedge ankle boots. I only rolled my ankle once in them.

3. Keep yourself clean, presentable and put together

This was a lesson I learnt when I was traveling in India. It's always tempting when you travel, especially in places like Nepal and India, to put aside your make-up and luxuries when you travel. When I went to India I left almost all my make-up and nail-polish in New Zealand. Now, I'm not that much into make-up in the first place, I normally just wear a little eye make-up and that's about it. Anyway, when I went to India I decided to forgo my make-up. However, I quickly realized I only ended up making myself feel ugly and not put together. Not only that, but South Asian girls are make-up crazy, so I just ended up looking like another messy white-girl. Basically, make-up or no make-up just keep yourself looking presentable to the standards you would at home and you'll look less like you are traveling. Tourists often look like they need a good bath.

Talking of baths, it really is difficult to find a hot shower when you are Nepal. I know this was one of the things my family struggle most with coping with in Nepal. Load-shedding means that hot water tanks often go unheated. Some hotels and homes have solar heating on their water, however solar heated water is best in the afternoon and cold the rest of the day. I haven't had a hot shower since I spent a night in a three star hotel in Pokhara. Don't not wash!!! It's very common to meet tourists who forego washing all together because of the difficulty of finding a hot shower, or concern to save water. But I've actually heard locals complain about how often tourists smell bad because they haven't washed (I'm not joking I've heard this as a genuine complaint in both Nepal and India). Learn how to take a Nepali bucket shower. You'll be able to shower easily and quickly, a cold shower will be less painful (and you'll save what hot water you have, if you have any!), and you will be saving water. Every bathroom in Nepal (and India) has a small plastic cup somewhere inside it, learn to use it (it took me months to master how to take a bucket shower. I think I should write a post on bucket showering also).

So things might not be up to the standard they are at home, just learn how to get around it and cope and keep yourself looking nice (might make a blog post soon about to keep yourself looking good in Kathmandu).

4. Know how much things cost

This is an obvious one, and goes for traveling anywhere in the world. If you know how much something is suppose to cost before trying to buy it, you'll look like you know what you are doing and not be messed with.

5. Talk Nepali

Easier said than done. I've been living here for 10 months and I'm still struggling with the language. However, learning the basics has really helped me to fit in. These days I know enough to get a taxi and do my shopping in Nepali (if you want to save money in Kathmandu these are the two times you are most likely to be ripped off). I've found that if I start talking to taxi drivers and shop keeps in Nepali they are usually keen to talk to me and often give me a decent discount for speaking the language. Unfortunately, a few times I've been tricked into believing I was getting a discount for speaking Nepali, when I was still being ripped off!!!

Here are a few words and phrases I commonly use in Kathmandu:

Hello Namaste
My name is [Eleanor] mero naam Eleanor ho
I'm from New Zealand mero desko naam New Zealand ho
Do you have [insert what you want here]? [what you want] chha?
Can you take me to [insert place name]? [place name] jaani ho?
how much? kati rupiya?
that's expensive! mahango Chha!
Tasty mitho chha
good ramro chha
ok teek chha
thankyou dhanyabad

6. Find yourself some Nepali friends

This is probably the most fail-safe way to look like a local in Kathmandu / Nepal. If you are out numbered by Nepali people, then people will automatically assume that you live here (If white people outnumber Nepali people then they assume you are a group with a tour guide). Also Nepali friends are great for bargaining and helping you to get discounts!

Thank you to all my Nepali friends that have taken me shopping and sight-seeing or helped me to catch a taxi when I was too tired to bargain for myself!!!

Left: I'm all alone, there's no-one here beside me-eee...
Right: Oh look I have friends, I must live here!

7. Don't shop / eat in tourist areas

The reason behind this is obvious. If you are in an area that is not a tourist destination and you don't look lost or like you just got off a bus that took you to a totally different part of town to what you were expecting (this really has happened to me more than once in Kathmandu), you will look like you live here.

It's uncommon, but not unheard of, to see white people in the area of Kathmandu where I live and work (although I've seen white people, other than myself, around this area a few times). Nobody ever rips me off in the shops, and the restaurants are much cheaper than in the tourist area (although their hygiene is questionable).

The same principle applies to taking public transport. If you are doing something tourists don't normally do or are somewhere far from tourists, people will assume you know what you are doing and where you are going.

8. Walk with confidence

Someone wisely told me that you and go anywhere and do anything you want in life if you walk with confidence.

I'm never going to not look like a bidesi (foreigner). Nepali people will always mistake me for being American (because yes all blondes are American). People will always judge me by the colour of my skin and my hair only makes me stand out more. I have some other bidesi friends in Nepal with dark skin and tanned skin, and they manage to successfully disguise themselves as Nepali; but for someone who looks like me, it'll never happen. If you are like me, and you just don't look Asian anyway what so ever, then you just have to accept that you do not and never will look like a local.

Take my first seven pieces of advice with a grain of salt; number eight is your golden ticket. If you look confident people wont question what you are doing or where you are going. I've managed to walk directly into Kathmandu Durbar Square and Patan Durbar Square without being asked to buy a ticket because I just confidently walked in like I was allowed to be there. When I was with my parents and we visited the Narayanhiti Royal Palace I asked if I could have a student discount on my entry ticket (in Nepali, because I can do that now!), and I believe it worked because I worked up the confidence to know when and where I deserve a discount.

So if you have been staying in Nepal for 1 day or 1 year, don't be afraid to be confident. If someone is ripping you off, just walk away from them. Don't let a taxi driver convince you that it's going to cost 600 rupees to drive you from Thamel to Kathmandu Durbar Square. If you don't want to pay for a guide, walk with purpose and prove to them that you know where you're going.

If you act like you belong, then nobody will question it.

Here are a couple of bonus tips.

Bonus 1: Surround yourself with Nepali flags. You are bound to look like a local.

Bonus 2: Borrow a Nepali Child and pretend he's yours. This child doesn't look like mine? Can't you see that I'm Nepali???

Women's Issues

2014-01-20T07:23:00.000+13:00

I often feel that traveling would be easier if I was male. Being female makes traveling a greater hassle for a number of reasons: sexual harassment, assault, strict dress codes, and adjusting to life in a patriarchal society. However, the women's issue I really want to talk about today is menstruation. So if you don't want to read about periods, stop reading now. Although, I promise to try and make it interesting.

Periods are uncomfortable and a nuisance at the best of times. They are even worse when you are traveling or away from your normal comforts. I understand why lots of women use contraceptive pills to manipulate their menstrual cycle during short trips. Obviously that isn't an option when you are relocating for a longer period of time.

I was still terrified of having to deal with my period in Nepal. So I packed myself around four months worth of sanitary products to put off the inevitable. It all seems silly now; but when I first need to buy sanitary items in Nepal I was panicking. I let myself get down to my last sanitary pad when I realized I didn't even know where to find sanitary items in Kathmandu. I assumed they'd be sold in department stores, as we buy them in supermarkets at home. Being the silly girl I am I didn't want to ask anyone about where to buy them, but eventually gave in and found out that in Nepal they can mostly be found in pharmacies (just in case anyone wants to know where to buy sanitary items in Nepal). I've never worked out where you can buy tampons. I've asked a few Nepali women, who didn't even know what a tampon was. Then their is the quality of the products available; they are uncomfortable and irritating. So uncomfortable in fact that when my mum came to Nepal I asked her to bring me some more from New Zealand. The prospect of silky soft comfortable sanitary items from New Zealand almost left me looking forward to my menstruation this month. It has reminded me of the small comforts of home.

New Zealand sanitary pad (right) vs Nepali sanitary pad (left)
Not sure if a picture does the difference in quality and comfort justice.

Adjusting to sub-quality sanitary products were not the biggest shock for me having my period in Nepal. Nepali culture has strict customs surrounding menstruation that I've had to learn about. During the first four days of my menstruation I'm not allowed to go near the cooking area of the kitchen or prepare food, sit at the kitchen table, collect my own water from the kitchen, handle prepared foods, tend the garden, or enter the room of the house which contains idols of the Gods. I was also told that in Nepali they consider it bad luck for a women to travel during her menstruation. After four days I have to take a shower before taking my breakfast. I'm continually getting confused over things such as: can I carry that bag of vegetables home? can I share this bag of pakoda (a type of fried south asian snack) I've been given as a gift now that I've touched it? Can I fill up my drink bottle myself or do I need to find someone else to do it for me? Wait how many days have I been menstruating now, can I go back in the kitchen? This is the part I find the strangest. Because of my exclusion from table eating it seems that everyone in the whole household knows how many days I've been on my menstruation, and I often know when the other female members of the household are on theirs (in New Zealand we usually try to keep our menstruation top secret each month).

At first I found these customs surrounding menstruation to be frustrating and sexist. However, as I've got used to them they are not so bad. I get my meal served in my room if I ask for it to be. When I need to take a shower after four days someone will normally boil the water for me to have a hot shower (a treat for anyone living in Nepal). One of my friends who I stay with told me that her menstruation time was her "holiday" as it was the time that she got to take rest and had no cooking responsibilities within the family. I can also understand the hygiene concerns which might have lead to these customs. However as with all customs as long as people are thinking logically about why they are not allowing women to cook or travel I guess it's ok and naturally nobody should be forced to not do anything against their will. I can see the logic behind many of the practices surrounding menstruation in Nepal. But it seems to me that things that were just common sense have instead become restrictive doctrines.

My family are reasonably lenient and a women's menstruation is treated as a rest time more than anything. Christmas day was the fourth day of my period and I was extremely disappointed as it meant I could not prepare a Christmas dinner myself. Knowing it was important to me my Nepali family allowed me prepare the food in a designated section of the kitchen, as long as I showered before preparing the food.

Unfortunately, the sobering reality is that the situation during their mensturation is far worse for many Nepali women. In remote villages of Western Nepal women follow a practice known as chaupadi pratha. This a tradition in which menstruating girls and women are banished from their own homes, and have to live in a hut of cave during their monthly period. These huts often lack appropriate food, ventilation and sunlight. What is worse is the lack of safety measures put in place for the women. Leading to attacks from wild animals and accounts of rape while staying in Chaupadi huts. Read more about Chaupadi here and here

A teenaged girl sits in her family's Chaupadi Shelter
Photo by Allison Shelley (source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2013/02/26/172983863/in-hindu-ritual-nepali-women-are-banished-once-a-month)

My Family

2014-01-18T22:14:00.001+13:00

One of the biggest cultural differences I've found between New Zealand and South Asia are family relationships. In New Zealand it's normal for us to move away from home at around 18 (as I did when I started university) and live separately from our families. However, in South Asian countries such as Nepal it's common for people to live in extended families where the children continue living with their parents during adulthood. The normal convention is for both boys and girls to remain with their parents till marriage. After marriage the girl will move and live with her husband's family. Most of my Nepali friends live with their parents or their husbands parents. Those that don't live with their parents often seem to stay with an aunt, uncle or other relative. Some Nepali people live independent of their families, but they are in the minority.

For about the last 6 months I've been living with a large extended Nepali family. When I say large I mean their can be up to 15 members of the family staying in the house, 16 if I include myself as part of the family (as I've been told to). The family spans three generations (four until the recent decease of their grandfather). It was very over-welming moving in with such a large family. It was also harder because they were a family that I didn't share language or culture with. The number of members was also confusing. With friends and other relatives coming and going daily, it took me weeks to even establish exactly who lived in the house and what everyone's relationship with each other was. However, they were extremely generous to me and I really feel at home staying with them. I've been really lucky to find a second family so far away from home (matching me in height but not in skin colour).

Living with my Nepali family in Kathmandu is really the first time I've lived in a family environment since I moved away to university at the start of 2008. I'd always thought moving out was something that happened in a single direction and there was no way I'd ever want to go back to living within a family again. However, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think it might be because in Nepal people are used to the concept of adult children living with their parents in multi-generational families, but I've been amazed how well Nepali households function across generations. At home I think we see moving out and achieving complete independence as the only way to reach maturity (maybe that's not everyone, but that might have been how I was thinking). Staying in a Nepali family has shown me a totally different way for younger and older generations to interact and cooperate without the children leaving the nest (as it were).

With all this in mind I was extremely happy when my own family from New Zealand came and visited me in Nepal. It was the first time I'd seen my family in almost 10 months (although, having lived in a different city from them for 6 years that wasn't very unusual). What might have been more special was that it was our first family holiday outside of New Zealand.

When my stomach was upset again last week it was like I had two mothers in Nepal fussing about me getting sick again.

It was my sisters first visit to Nepal, or any South Asian country. My mother and father, however, have travelled in India and visited Nepal in 1985 (before my sister or I were born). When they visited in 1985 they spend a short amount of time in Kathmandu and went trekking in the Everest Region (something that I can't claim to have done myself). They also managed to embarrass me by telling everyone about how their Nepali home stay in Namche Bazaar has told them to go back to New Zealand and make babies. It's a very Nepali sentiment and rather a fitting story as they ended up visiting one of their daughters here 29 years later.

As far as I can gather the biggest change my parents saw in Nepal was the growth of Kathmandu and he increase in dirt and pollution within the capital city. My mum remembered cycling in Kathmandu in 1985 and had hoped to do the same during this trip. It didn't take her long to understand my surprise at the idea of cycling, once she saw what had happened to the traffic in Kathmandu over the past 29 years (perhaps I should get them to write something themselves about how Kathmandu has changed in the past 30 years).

My mum cycling in Kathmandu Valley, January 1985

The trip was also a chance for my parents to experience first hand some of the difficulties I've been experiencing; namely load-shedding, a lack of hot showers, and being feed too much rice when eating dal-baht. I think my dad found dal-baht the most trying and my mum load-shedding. As a side note: load shedding has increased to 12 hours to it's worse than ever at the moment and I'm also struggling. They also got to enjoy the things I love about Nepal: meeting my Nepali friends and family, visiting Ambience International School where I'm teaching (helping with our new project to build a library and our science exhibition), and visiting the SOCH (Society of Humanism Nepal) Office where I volunteer. We also went away for a 4 days trekking near Pokhara and to visit the jungle in Chitwan (more blog posts to come soon). We went shopping in Thamel (a mixed experience of the positive and negative) and did lots of sight seeing around Kathmandu. Doing all the touristic things with my parents apparently left me looking more like a tourist than before (according to one of my Nepali friends. I think the trekking clothes I brought where to blame). I also finally got to see several places around Kathmandu that I hadn't got around to visiting, including Pashputinath, Patan and Bhakatapur Durbar Square, the Royal Palace, and the Garden of Dreams.

After three weeks my parents left yesterday for Singapore (I'm very jealous of them enjoying the tasty food, hot climate and clean streets of Singapore). I'll just leave you with a few of my favourite picture of my family in Nepal. If you combine the pictures taken by myself, my sister and my father I think we must have taken more than 5000 photos. Typically, most of these were taken by my sister and dad and I forgot to get a copy before they left!!!

and if my dad were not in Nepal who would be there to take photos of me taking photos

Kathmandu Khristmas / Catmandu Christmas

2013-12-27T06:45:00.001+13:00

I know I'm going to regret this title about 10 minutes after I publish this post. However, I'm going with it anyway.

Yesterday I celebrated my first Christmas in Nepal. Unsurprisingly, as December rolled around it wasn't beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Kathmandu. But there were small signs that Christmas was approaching. The local grocery (department store) started selling artificial Christmas trees, christmas ornaments and Santa Hats. Some of the shops also started putting up decorations. However, this is mostly seen in Thamel (the tourist district of Kathmandu) and a few of the bigger shopping malls. The most Christmassy yet still quintessentially Nepali thing I saw this Christmas was a father with two little girls wearing Santa hats on the back of his motorbike. Santa hats and outfits seem to be a popular part of Christmas in Kathmandu; the younger of the two boys in my Nepali family wore a little santa outfit out on Christmas day.

I mostly got myself into the Christmas Spirit by singing Christmas Carols constantly in my bedroom from the 1st of December. The only Christmas Carols that are widely recognised in Nepal are We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Jingle Bells. Wham's Last Christmas is also extremely popular in Nepal; however, most of my friends didn't realise it was a Christmas specific song and just a generally good and catchy English song. I thought they might know some Mariah Carey, but no.

I celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve with a group of expatriates and a few Nepali. It was a hotchpotch Christmas Dinner with people from all over the world and food that reflected this diversity. There was nutroast, pigs in blankets, mash potato, mushroom cooked in a sauce that was essentially just hot milk (because everyone ran out of time), a traditional Danish salad made from purple cabbage among other things.

On Christmas Day itself I decided to cook Christmas Dinner for my Nepali Family. Deciding what to cook was difficult because it can be hard to find what you need to cook anything western in Kathmandu. There is always bhatbhateni (a department store chain found in Kathmandu where you can buy almost anything you need or want. Especially if you are searching for something not typically used in Nepali cooking). I first decided to make mulled wine because the winter nights in Kathmandu have started dropping to freezing. I knew I had to cook a Roast as this is what we eat every Christmas and I had access to a small bench top oven. What to Roast was the problem. At home we typically have lamb or turkey on Christmas day. However, never lamb or turkey is commonly available in Nepal. Beef obviously was not an option when I was cooking for a Hindu family, beef is also almost impossible to find in Nepal. Buff meat is readily available; however, as the family I stay with are from a higher caste they don't allow Buff to be cooked inside their kitchen . I refused to roast a goat for Christmas. Chicken seemed too boring for a Christmas dinner. Then I remembered all the ducks being sold during Dasain. So I checked with my friends if duck meat was available from the local stores and it was. So it was going to be a duck for Christmas. Duck was also ideal as the bench top oven is not very big so we probably couldn't of cooked anything bigger. I also hopped to cook a traditional desert or Christmas sweet for everyone to taste. However, everything just seemed to hard. Fruit mince would have been a fantastic idea if I'd thought of it enough weeks in advance to prepare homemade fruit mince (all the ingredients are available in Nepal). I thought of making a Christmas pudding, my Aunt made a fantastic one in the microwave last Christmas so I thought of asking for the recipe. Again I left it too late and was worried about making a Christmas pudding when I'd never made one before. I could of made pavalova (typical New Zealand desert that we usually have on Christmas); however, I neither know how to make a pavalova or like it (I know I'm a traitor to being kiwi if I don't like pav). Finally, I decided that a trifle was the best option for a typical Christmas Desert and I thought all the ingredients would be available in Kathmandu. Unfortunately, I failed to find any jelly crystals or decent premade cake in the local department store so I ended up giving up on the idea of making desert. Next time!!

Once I'd decided what to cook I had to find all the ingredients. The spices and herbs were the interesting part. I knew practically any spice would be available locally, but working out where and how to ask the shop keeper was a different story. Google saved the day. I google imaged all the spices I needed. I then sat down with my host-sister who could name everything we needed in Nepali from the picture. However, when we went to the local spice shop we discovered the shop keeper knew all the spices by name in English and Nepali. I was surprised because I live in a area where very few foreigners come. Perhaps more difficult than the spices is buying fruit in Nepal. This is because what I consider to be something the Nepali will consider to be something else. Nepali call what I know as a mandarin an orange (see left). The same goes for what I consider a lemon (the yellow fruit to the left) is not considered to be lemon in Nepal. A lemon looks more like what I think is a lime (the small green citrus fruit you can just see in the picture of the left. You can normally find what you need, you just need to be able to spot it by sight because if you ask someone for an orange you probably get handed a mandarin.

So even once I'd sorted out what to make and where to buy everything I totally forgot about load-shedding. Load shedding isn't such a big deal for me because we have a generator which is enough to keep the lights and internet going (the important things!) for the most part. However, the generator certainly doesn't hold enough electricity to cook a roast dinner. On Christmas the power was scheduled in my area to come on from 7pm-9pm (today power was off from 4pm till 9pm so I was thankful that wasn't the schedule for yesterday). Luckily the duck only took around two hours. So I prepared everything to be ready to go straight in the oven at 7pm and Christmas dinner was ready at the early hour of 10pm. Was probably the latest at night that I've ever had Christmas dinner, but it was worth the waiting. I think my roast dinner tasted all the better because I haven't eaten anything like this in 9 months. After months on end of dal baht roasted meat and potatoes was exactly what I'd been craving (I really do like the taste of dal baht and Nepali food. I just sometimes miss stuff from home). I always knew I was going to enjoy my Christmas Roast, unless I burnt it because the oven was too small; however, I was worried that my Nepali family wouldn't like the taste because it was just so different from Nepali flavours and cooking. I was really happy when everyone enjoyed it. Was happy to cook a little bit of Christmas in Kathmandu.

With Christmas over and 2014 quickly approaching I'm starting to realise that my time in Kathmandu is almost over. My family are arriving for their Nepal experience tomorrow afternoon. They will stay till late January. Then after that it will be my turn to leave. I have to admit I'm already feeling sad about leaving Kathmandu.

Travel Insurance Recommendation

2013-12-24T23:00:00.002+13:00

So this isn't much of a blog entry but I really want to thank my travel insurance company. I booked using the company associated with STA travel in New Zealand, just because it was easy and I hate having to think about any of these sort of things. Turned out for not having to think I really did make the right choice. The company I have travel insurance with is Allianz Global Assistance, the New Zealand trading name for AGA Assistance Australia.

Ever since I got sick almost two weeks ago I've found my AGA Assistance to be extremely helpful and professional. After the hospital first made a claim I had a very caring and kind consultation with one of their case managers from Australia and spoke to an Australian based nurse about my condition. Both of which were extremely helpful. I get regular calls to check on how my health is improving and to check that I haven't faced any problems.

This week I've been having trouble going for my follow up appointment because Norvic Hospital are insisting that it's not covered by insurance. But a two minute phone call with AGA in Australia and I don't have to worry about a thing.

I just wanted to express how great I have found AGAs service and I think I might be their regular customer during my travels from now on.

For more information on AGA assistance go here www.allianz-assistance.com.au

A Hospital Excursion

2013-12-20T05:45:00.001+13:00

So it's not uncommon for me to just stop blogging for a few days (or a few months in all honesty); therefore I doubt anyone was worried by my absence (my sudden disappearance from Facebook probably did that). I ended up in hospital.

I've had food poisoning several times since I first arrived in Nepal almost 9 months ago (or what I've always assumed to be food poisoning). It's never been that serious and always subsided after a night or so. However last Wednesday evening I started violently and repeatedly vomiting, a few hours later I also started to get diarrhea. I hadn't felt that bad at first and manage to make a quick bitstrips comic about my continued problems with food poisoning. However, by 1.30 in the morning I knew things were really bad and had to wake up my friends to help me. They almost took me to the hospital in the middle of the night but in the end we decided to wait and see how I was in the morning. By Thursday morning I still couldn't stop vomiting (often only managing to dry wretch). My friends drove me to the hospital Emergency Room where I was immediately admitted to hospital for dehydration, put on intravenous fluids and given medication to stop me vomiting. The doctors originally thought I'd only be admitted overnight. However I ended up staying 6 days and 5 nights when my symptoms mysteriously did not improve.

The IV line was incredibly painful on my first day with my left hand swelling up within a matter of hours. First I had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic living my hand irritated before my vein completely gave up. Next they couldn't find my vein in my right hand for what seemed like hours as my dehydration became worse and a few failed attempts to put a new line in reduced me to tears. Apparently I'm very fine veined and my diarrhoea has caused my veins to narrow further. Luckily the nurses didn't seem to think I was being a baby and said the IV was painful for me because my veins had collapsed because of my dehydration and put lots of anti-inflammatory gel on my hand. On my third day in hospital I was happy to inform my nurses that my IV line was no longer hurting at all. I stayed on IV fluids on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On these days I was also receiving IV antibiotics and medication to stop me vomiting. I started taking oral medicine to stop my diarrhoea on Saturday evening. That was a relief as I'd spend all of Friday and some of Saturday wearing an adult diaper (Was one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life. But I'm clearly not that embarrassed as I just shared it on my blog). On Sunday evening I was taken of the IV as I seemed well hydrated and able to drink fluids. However, I wasn't released till Tuesday afternoon.

I've always taken good travel insurance policies while I've been overseas. After months of travel without any problems I was starting to feel complacent about needing travel insurance. However, I've know learnt first hand how easy travel insurance makes things. Not only did I get to stay in one of the most expensive hospitals in Nepal, the hospital and the insurance company sorted everything out for me. Having heard of people that had been hospitalized in India and ending up with a hospital acquired infection I simply told my friends that I had insurance and please take me to the cleanest place they know.

One of the worst parts about getting sick was that I missed my final two (out of four) Nepali exams. I thought that as I had been hospitalized my exams would be rescheduled or they'd do something. Turns out that isn't the case in Nepal. Turns out if you don't show up to the exam (even if you are in hospital!) you get an automatic fail. My Nepali teacher asked me to try and come for 15minutes on Friday for my Conversation exam. I explained, however, that I was in hospital and the doctors wouldn't let me out and even if they did there was no way I was going to survive the taxi ride without being sick. I was pretty disappointed as I'd studied really hard for my exams. I'd also sat the two most difficult sections grammar and dictation. I now have no chance of getting over 50% so will fail. I also hadn't planned on returning for the next semester but I liked having the option open to me if I wanted. Furthermore I just wanted something to show for my hard work. So I was all round disappointed.
I suppose the worst part of being stuck in hospital was that I finally passed level 147 on Candy Crush Saga (I'd been stuck for more than a month). I'd sworn if I couldn't pass level 147 while stuck in hospital I was going to give the game up permanently.

Norvic International Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal

I stayed in Norvic International Hospital. When I told Nepali people which hospital I was in their response was normally "What??? Why did you go somewhere so expensive???". I had my own room with all day sun, hot water, a sofa, and flat screen TV. I could also order food to my room (not that I was able to eat anything solid. They did make amazing fresh juice thou).

More than one friend informed me that I was being treated in the same hospital that members of the Ex-Nepali Royal Family are treated. One of my friends also pointed out to me that I was receiving treatment that was totally inaccessible to the average Nepali. I had already realized this, as the hospital was probably providing me better care than I'd have received in New Zealand at a public hospital. I was grateful that I was receiving the best care as I'm far away from home and I knew my family and friends back home would want that. Also I really liked my private room and TV. However, I did feel bad thinking about what being hospitalized would be like for most Nepali. During my stay in Nepal I've seen a few different hospitals and Norvic really was something different. When I was in hospital I heard about a friend of a friend who was suffering from encephalitis and had ended up in a coma after a misdiagnosis, it made me feel bad getting the star treatment I was for a stomach upset.

In hospital I lived off a diet of saline solution, fresh orange juice, chicken soup without chicken, bananas and curd. I also had the occasional cup of black tea and biscuits. I started eating solid food again on Tuesday. Today (exactly one week after getting hospitalized) is the first day I really felt hungry and managed to eat a big dinner.

Each night and every morning I heard the sound of bells ringing and horns blowing as Puja was performed in the Hospital Temple. The hospital walls were also fall of quotes from Sai Baba. I actually find the sound of the bells to be relaxing. But it really showed how greatly Hinduism is part of the Nepalese psyche.

Every day I had to give stool samples, got pocked and prodded, gave multiple blood samples (even thou nobody seemed able to find my veins) and had my blood pressure taken every few hours. However, the only thing they discovered was that asides from vomiting and diarrhoea I was totally healthy. They didn't even manage to find any sign of microorganisms that could of made me sick. Also I wasn't recovering nearly as quickly as they thought I should. On Monday I was referred to two further GI specialists. I'm still not exactly sure what was wrong with me, however it is improving.

I don't have much else to say about my experience really. I'm glad that I'm on the mend now and been taking a cocktail of medicine at home. I'm glad to be out of the hospital although now that the nights are bitterly cold in Kathmandu I'm also missing the warmth of the hospital, the private TV, and the lack of load-shedding.

My friend who took this photo told me I was looking too happy for a hospital patient (left). Therefore I tried to look serious (top right) but this attempt only resulted in my laughing (bottom right).

Back in the Grind

2013-12-08T17:28:00.002+13:00

So with the Festivals from the 4th of October till the 4th November then the strikes during the lead up to the elections on the 19th November. Everyone in Nepal basically had a holiday for almost 7 weeks. I did some work here and there, but Kathmandu was lacking it's normal bustle. Two days after elections everything returned to normal. Schools reopened, offices reopened, my Nepali classes started again. It was hard getting back into everything because I don't think I've had an 7 week holiday since I left high school, it was always study or work.

The biggest shock for us was when we returned to our Nepali class we received two weeks notice of our end of semester exams. So I'm going to be busy studying Nepali grammar all weekend. If I pass my exams that's proof I learnt a second language, right??? I've been getting all sorts of feedback on my Nepali. Some of my friends think I'm improving lots. म नेपाली भाषा सेक्छु। मलाई मेरो नेपाली भाषा अलिअली राम्रो लाग्यो। Others think I don't try and speak enough. Both are actually right, I've improved in leaps and bounds, however I'm still shy about speaking. Some people I've met are impressed by how much I've learnt in 8 months. Other people had that friend from Japan that learnt to speak fluent Nepali in 12 weeks, leaving me to look slow and stupid in comparison. My major weakness in Nepali is speaking. I find Nepali difficult to pronounce, and it catches in my throat. I'm reading and writing well. I can also understand a large majority of what people say to me now. People just don't realise how much I understand because I'm often lost as to how I should reply in Nepali. Well I'm not sure how much I really understand but I understand enough to over hear a girl on the a public vehicle telling her friend she'd "rather study at Hogwarts than get into an IV league school" (I share her sentiment).

Empty Street Outside my house on election day

I also hadn't noticed how quiet Kathmandu had become during Dasain and the strikes. I suppose it went on so long I'd got used to the lack of traffic and people.

On election day there was no traffic (this wasn't a strike but rather a government enforcement for safety). The saddest incident during the strikes occurred on election day when a group of children found a small explosive device, picking it up believing it to be a toy. During the elections there were stories buzzing around everywhere about buses being lit on fire killing people, to someone seeing a bomb get disposed outside their house. I'm happy to report however that post-election everything seems to be back to normal.

My main concern post-election is that there are suddenly lots of traffic jams that seem to cause me to be suffer chronic lateness. I'm not good with time management to start with, so the traffic only makes things worse for me.

Traffic Jam!

So I can't write too much more now as I'm procrastinating from studying for my Nepali exam. However I have some stunning photos of Nepal to share with you. My friend, Sonja Larsen, visited from Australia. She is a kiwi like me and we attended highschool together. It was so great to see a New Zealander after so many months. I was also rather jealous as she was here on a work trip, and she gets paid to visit South Asia (I want a job like that!). I got to enjoy being the local "expert" and introduced her to the lovely Nepali family that I'm living with and the local area where I'm staying.

She also took some really beautiful shots during her time in Nepal. I asked her if I could put a few on my blog as they really do justice to the beauty that is Nepal. It does make me wonder if I should buy a better camera for my blog, however I certainly don't have the money for that right now (I hardly have the money left to stay). So here are her photos! Enjoy!

Local Vegetable Market 5 minutes from where I live. It is pretty cool because it's set up on an unused bridge. My Nepali friend has pointed out that it is not safe as the bridge is old and broken. So it might not win points for heath and safety, but it wins points for novelty. Also I often see interesting things in this market like a young cow stealing vegetables from the stall keepers, Also one of the students at the school's mother rans a street food stall here and she sometimes gives me free food if she sees me while I'm walking home.

Men on a bike showing their political allegiance in the run up to the November 19 election.

Oh it's me!!

Chitwan National Park

Brother's Day

2013-11-19T04:49:00.000+13:00

dried flower garlands

भाई टिका

Brother's day or Bhai Tika is a day for sisters to bless their brothers and is the last day of the Tihar festival. I was invited to my friend's house for the day. We were celebrating at her husband's parents house. He had no sisters so the whole day was spent in preparing for her brothers to visit from her own mother's house.

I arrived in the morning around 10am and most of my day was spent in helping / observing the preparations for the festival. As it's a brothers day it seemed appropriate that most of the day was spend preparing food. i'm not sure how many dishes were cooked but I'd say at least 15. I was in a Newari household so naturally the dishes prepared were Newari meaning they were heavy on the meat side and spicy. There were some regular ones, fish curry, vegetable curry, chicken chilly, rice, fried potato. Then there were some that were new to me, lentil pancakes, buffalo tongue, and buffalo lung.

Buff Lung

Buff Tongue

Chicken Chili

Dried Fish

Feast for the brothers
(not all the dishes were on the table when I took this photo)

Asides from the cooked food we also prepared large trays of fruit for each of my friend's brothers and the brothers of her mother in law. They were given what must have been at least twenty varieties of fruit and nuts. They were also given garlands of dried flowers.

Finally an area on their concrete lounge floor was paint with a mixture of red colour and cow dung. On to this we made designs using a stencil, red and white coloured powder, and various grains and flowers. This was fun and brought out my rarely used artistic side.

Unfortunately after this point I can't tell you about much except that I became sick. I know that the brothers arrived and there was a big ceremony of them being blessed and receiving Tika (in most of Nepal they receive a 7 coloured Tika. However I was with a family from the Newari community who just used a red colour). The brothers were given gifts of food and exchange they gifted their sisters food. There was lots of candle and incense burning that looked very beautiful. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos. I had my second worst episode of food poisoning since arriving in Nepal (my worst being when I first arrived). I didn't get to enjoy all the food we had prepared earlier. It was really very unfortunate and I felt bad getting sick when I had been generously invited into my friend's house for the festival. I had to leave the celebration soon after it started and go lay down. I had my most interesting bike ride home suppressing the urge to vomit. When I got home my vomiting lead the family I'm staying with to believe that I'd been drinking, as I'd been with a Newari family and the Newar community are notorious for drinkers (compared to the Brahmin community). I assured them that I hadn't eaten anything let alone had any alcohol. I was unwell for a couple of days, but I'm fully recovered now. I'm not sure what made me sick. We ate fish curry in the morning that was delicious. I trust that my friend prepared everything in a hygienic manner, however I don't trust the fish shop. The fish might have been old when it was sold. I was also informed after becoming sick that they have found traces of formalin in the fish sold in Kathmandu markets (used to keep the fish fresh). According to Kathmandu news reports it is only found at sub-toxic levels; however, it was suggested this might have been what made me so unwell and I heard of friend's of friend's who get ill from eating fish in Kathmandu because of the formalin traces. So new rule don't eat fish in Kathmandu city.

So I'll leave you with the pictures I did manage to take of our preparations for the arrival of the brothers

Painting the floor

Materials

Stenciling

Filling in the patterns with grains and seeds

My three designs

The last photo I was able to take before I started to become unwell. The designs got more intricate than this with added candles and idols. When the candles were lit it was a real sight. However I didn't stop to get a photo unfortunately (I think I might ask my friend if I can get the photos from her for my record). I really didn't watch the celebration much because of being sick. However each design was like a place holder for each brother as he took his meal. Interestingly each was given a piece of string that split into a cross shape, he then lit each of it's four ends with the candle and placed it over the design made earlier. The fire was then extinguished by placing their metal plate covered in food on top. (again I can't tell you much because after watching this I started vomiting and had to rest).

Himalaya (Nagarkot)

2013-11-17T07:16:00.002+13:00

मैले आज हिमाल देखें। म मेरा साथीहरुसांग नगरकोट गाएँ। मलाई नेपाली हिमाल धेरै राम्रो लाग्यो।

Just trying to write something in Nepali for practice and for fun.

I've stayed in Nepal now for almost 8 months, and I visited for a couple of weeks in 2012. However, in all the time I've spend in the Himalayan Nation I've never ever had a good view of the mountains (हिमाल). I've seen the Himalayas before, from India! My luck in Nepal hasn't been so good.

Nagarkot is a small town, located on the hills on the eastern side of Kathmandu Valley, famous for it's views of the Himalaya. I trekked to Nagarkot in February 2012, however everything was surrounded in cloud. My next attempts to see the mountains were from Pokhara where I was again thwarted by cloud cover.

View from Pokhara. March 2013.

View from Nagarkot, Bhaktapur. February 2012

Today I saw the Himalayas from Nepal for the first time. Well I'd caught glimpses before through the clouds, and pocketing up behind the hills from Kathmandu. October and November are the peak months to travel in Nepal. Summer and the rainy season are over; however, the real chill of winter is yet to set in. Obviously during the rainy season the mountains are covered in cloud and during the summer it's hazy and visibilty is poor. At this time of year Nepal is looking its best and visibility is good.

A friend of mine from highschool is visiting Nepal accompanying a group of Australian high school students (she is a New Zealander like me but works in Australia). I was excited to meet New Zealand ( /Australians) and managed to tag along with them when they visited Nagarkot.

On the strike front everything seems under control now. There are lots of army and police officers patrolling the streets. Still seeing lots of motorbike rallies for different political parties (and being woken up by them at 6am). If I was Nepali I think I'd vote for the party that disturbed by sleeps the least!

Nagarkot really is a beautiful spot. However there isn't that much to do except admire the view. I think you can do some day walks in the surrounding area however. It was fun today just taking the vehicle up for the afternoon. Last time I visited I trekked to Nagarkot which was also enjoyable. I didn't really have much to say today except that I saw some beautiful mountain views, so here are the photos.

Also I lightened my hair last week with lemon juice, honey and olive oil. I think the result is looking good, and it's left my hair soft and silky. For hair that's naturally blonde but is looking dark, it's a really great natural way to bring out the colour.

Political Rally blocking the Road on the way to Nagarkot. I believe this party supports Nepal's previous King.

I took this photo by mistake as we were climbing the steps up to the Nagarkot Lookout.
For an accidental shot I thought it was pretty interesting and cool.

I'm obsessed with taking photos of prayer flags. They are just so beautiful!
I must have a few hundred photos of prayer flags by now, from my time in Nepal and Dharamsala.

Mountains!

My first good shot of myself with the Himalaya.
Elevation of Nagarkot is around 2,200m above sea level.
The foot stall (for short people like me) to the roof top of the world

More mountains

Posing

Bomb Disposal and Media Censorship

2013-11-14T06:53:00.003+13:00

Today is the third day of the Banda (Strike) as Nepal heads towards their election. The general strike on Monday has been followed by two days of transport strike. I stayed home on Monday and Tuesday. Ambience International school remained closed and my college classes were cancelled.

Yesterday it didn't seem like many people were abiding by the transportation strike, the traffic was lighter than usual but was certainly present. This morning I woke up to the unmistakable sound of a Kathmandu tuktuk, followed by some very loud political demonstrations.

It seemed like everything was back to normal and the Bandh was off. We hadn't heard any news of incidents, the school was open, and my college class was on. So I travelled by public tuktuk to my class in morning, and everything was normal. When I reached my college it seemed deserted and only one of the buildings (where my class was being held) had been unlocked, the gates were also half closed and the lights in the building were switched off. However, our teacher was there and so were 7 of my classmates. Our teacher informed us that he was the only teacher who had showed up to teach his class today and he wasn't feeling secure being alone in the college so we would not be having any more classes till after the election was finish. He also advised us to stay away from crowds over the next week.

As I left college at around 1pm I saw a large crowd gathering near the Kathmandu down hall on Pradasani Marg, next to the International Language School. That was the way I needed to go to get my vehicle so approached the crowd thinking that it was perhaps a protest. As I got closer I noticed that the end of the street had been barricaded off, and it was here that everyone was gathering. Most people seemed to have got down from bikes (I guess not being able to progress any further). Being short it was difficult for me to work out what was going on at first. Then I noticed that behind the barricade was a truck that read "Army Bomb Disposal". I resisted the urge to try and get a view of what was going on, and instead started walking in the opposite direction. I'd only taken a few steps when I heard a huge explosion, and turned around to see a smoke rising from the end of the street. I decided not to hang around and see what else was happening and walked back to the school (it's about a 30 minute walk, which now that the weather has cooled down isn't so bad).

The first image is just a cropped version of this photo. This photo shows the crowd gathering, and how close I was when the explosion occurred.

I wasn't that shaken by the explosion as I'd seen that the army had been in control. However, the fact that I now knew first hand that there were explosives being planted in Kathmandu did worry me. I told one of my friends where I'm staying what I'd seen and as it had occurred in the very centre of Kathmandu outside the town hall it seemed sure to make it to the news. Nothing had been on the news in the afternoon. He had also heard from some friends who worked as journalists about another bomb explosion in Kathmandu today and about a couple of taxis that had been attacked. His journalist friends had informed him that they had submitted their stories to media houses; however, nothing seemed to be being broadcast on the news. This evening I also watched the TV news, even thou it was all in Nepali. The Bandh was covered but they mainly showed that traffic in the Capital had returned to normal. They also showed groups of people traveling by motorbike waving political flags. There are 140 parties registered in the election so there are plenty of different flags around at the moment.

The news also showed that the Indian Government had gifted 716 new vehicles to the current Nepali Government to help with the election. Apparently the Indian Government had gifted guns and weapons to the Nepali government earlier in the year in preparation for the election. This was one of the things that was causing unrest in Nepal, with the Maoist group leading the Bandh objecting to the Indian government buying the Nepali Government. The vehicles were gifted for the smooth running of the election. I asked what they were going to be used for; my friend said they'd probably just become private transport for the ministers. So in some ways I understand the dissatisfaction of the opposition. Their tactics however are questionable.

There was also a story from the Terai region covered were supporters of the two Maoist factions had opened fire on each other leading to injuries. Nothing however was mentioned about violence and explosives in Kathmandu.

We are certain that the Government was censoring the stories. Things seem back to normal in Kathmandu and I think the current Government want people to believe that they are so that business will resume in the capital and the 33-party Alliance don't win their attempt to stage a Bandh in the lead up to the elections. We also thought that they may not want people to become frightened of voting in the election. On the other hand it seems unfair that many people might not be aware of the dangers. For instance if we'd known they were finding bombs in Kathmandu I might not have travelled to my class today, except the lack of news made us think everything was safe.

I'm really too tired to write any more in detail so I'll again leave you with a few relevant news articles.

Nepal Opposition held in Pre-poll Violence (BBC)

9 Hurt in Attack During Nepal Opposition Strike (ABC)

Nepal Disillusioned by Top Maoists taste for Luxury (France24)

India Gifts 716 vehicles to Nepal for Smooth Conduction of Polls (Business Standard)

Nepal Opposition Strikes Turn Violent (Aljazeera)

Eleanor & the Elephants

My Love Affair with Nepal

Goodbye Kathmandu

French food made me fat

Brighton Beach

Birling Gap

Oh! I'm in England.

The Royal Trek Part 4: Boating on Begnas Tal

राम्रो बेगनस ताल

Tal ताल is Nepali for Lake.

A story in Photos:

Read More About the Royal Trek:

The Royal Trek Part 3: Wildlife

The Royal Trek Part 2: Scenery

Above the Clouds

In the Jungle

Beautiful Plants

A Place to Rest

In the Clouds

Beneath the Clouds Again

Read More About the Royal Trek:

The Royal Trek Part 1: Culture

A Cultural Trek

Read More About the Royal Trek:

Keep Our Kathmandu Clean

Read More:

Opps

Toilets in Nepal - Keeping Things Clean Pt 2

What to expect

Don't be afraid of squatting

Will there be toilet paper?

If toilet paper isn't provided what do the locals do?

To use toilet paper or not to use toilet paper???

Sometimes there just wont be a toilet around

Nepali toilet terminology and gestures

Durbar Square (vs Durbar Square vs Durbar Square).

Basantapur Durbar Square (Kathmandu)

Bhaktapur Dubar Square

Patan Durbar Square

How to take a bucket shower the Nepali way - Keeping Things Clean Pt1

8 ways to look like a local in Kathmandu

1. Dress like a local

2. Wear High Heals

4. Know how much things cost

5. Talk Nepali

6. Find yourself some Nepali friends

7. Don't shop / eat in tourist areas

8. Walk with confidence

Women's Issues

My Family

Kathmandu Khristmas / Catmandu Christmas

Travel Insurance Recommendation

A Hospital Excursion

Back in the Grind

Brother's Day

Painting the floor

Materials

Stenciling

Filling in the patterns with grains and seeds

My three designs

Himalaya (Nagarkot)

मैले आज हिमाल देखें। म मेरा साथीहरुसांग नगरकोट गाएँ। मलाई नेपाली हिमाल धेरै राम्रो लाग्यो।

Bomb Disposal and Media Censorship