Nepal Adventure - Purple Paint, Children and Flowers

Nepal Adventure Day 13 - Purple Paint, a Trip to the Stone Age and Flowers

The sun seems to beam into the room straight from the mountains this morning. Bright and early. That's one thing this trip, we are certainly living with the sunlight. Early to bed and early to rise. Not a lot of distractions to keep you from listening to your rhythms.

After breaking our fast with fried eggs and roti bread the kids and I squeeze into Durga's truck, grown ups in the front and kids in the back. Randall is going to spend the day alone recovering. We are off to help out in the First Steps Himalaya classrooms.

I've mentioned before the school system in Nepal is really a new concept here, only starting in the 1950's, so you can imagine it is in it's infancy. The first school that we stop at briefly is a state school and recently the  Germans have built some sturdy classroom blocks. They have provided a big clean school building for the students to attend, but as with all the schools in Nepal the teachers are either lacking or inept. 

First Steps Himalaya, Fionna and Durga's grassroots charity, is all about the teacher education. As with most of the schools that they have approached they have started in this school by starting up a preschool classroom. The deal with the school is that FSH provide the trained teacher, the materials and in some cases clean up and paint the school rooms and the school takes on board the more modern teaching practices. (Standard practice is still the cane, shouting and rote learning.)

               

We don't stay long here as there are a few children who are quite scared of the blue eyed blond people, with one hiding and crying over these scary monsters suddenly appearing in her life. 

                              

So we are off to stop in the larger town nearby to buy paint for the classroom that FSH is opening up at one of the other schools. Our mission for the day is to clean the room up and get it ready for the class to move in to. 

The town is busy with the people getting ready for their day. The paint shop is dead in middle of the town. We park and haggle for a while about what color to get. In the end the girls talk us into purple.
                                      

As we wait for the paint to get mixed we wander around the town. Gone are the touristy shops selling singing bowls and souvenirs. Here is the nitty gritty of life. An alleyway blocked up with chicken wire and filled with white chickens, stalls selling fly covered sweets, some shops with clothing and fabric, and a couple of jack of all trade shops. The staring is intense. We are well off the beaten tourist track so the paint shop gets quite full with the bolder curios by-passers.

Armed with our cans of purple paint we throw the kids into the back of the truck and head off to the school. We are greeted by the headmaster and the new preschool teacher. And straight into it we get. First it's a matter of taking out the old matts, we find a scorpion and heaps of spiders. Luckily my manly son saves me from any of the creepy crawlies. The filth is appalling. 

As the day goes on we get the classroom cleaned up and ready to go. And it's time to get the paint ready and let the kids go for it. They do a fabulous job painting the walls. Rolling out the purple walls certainly takes this cement block from dingy into somewhere you'd be happy to have a child come into. I'm so proud of our kids just rolling up their sleeves and getting straight into it. I hope that someday they will look at the things they have, and the resources of their own schools and not just take it for granted. 

Some of the materials that we brought with us from Kathmandu, and that our friends back in New Zealand sponsored, will be sorted out and used to get this classroom up and running. I'm sure the little people going in here will feel the love, rather than feel as though they are just small inmates being shouted at. 

Pretty soon there is nothing left to do and we leave as the school children stream out of the school and head home for their lunchtime meals.

We stop at a little hole in the wall family place - I hesitate to say restaurant - for lunch. They provide us with several big plates of momo's - the traditional dumpling-like food that many families eat here. These particular ones are filled with a super spicy onion mix that gags us all! Luckily I spy a couple of cokes and buy those to keep the troops going. The kids think that I've grown two heads allowing them to share a coke. But at least it's not spicy and it's safer than anything that might have come into contact with the water here! 

Hiking into the countryside in search of our next school

And we are on to the next project. This one is in a dramatically rural area. We drive down a one laned dirt road and through rice fields for ages before finally stopping at a mud house. This house belongs to an elderly lady in the village who has taken a couple of orphan children into her care. These children are sponsored by FSH and Fiona and Durga are here to bring school clothes and books for these children. The lady who lives as basically as the poorest of our ancient ancestors live invites us in to see her house. The ground floor is a large room that houses her animals in the cold of the winter and up the dark wooden ladder to the earthen floored upper story where the family live. It's striking that she is living like the Vikings would have lived 2,000 years ago.

Mainstream students trying to make the most of their school time, even without a teacher.

Liana creating a little fun in the FSH preschool classroom

From her house we walk down through the rice fields to finally reach the village school. This, being a poor village and in the remotest part of Nepal as well has a hard time finding teachers, let alone quality teachers. When we arrive there are eight classrooms filled up with grubby children. Only two teachers total can be found in attendance. At the far end of the block is a little FSH classroom that has been started recently. We let the kids decorate their room and Juliet has a ball entertaining some of these small children teaching them how to put together a puzzle that we have brought with us from a friend in New Zealand. Liana  in particular gets very involved in the painting. While Jaimie and Liam roam about the school checking it out. I follow suit (my artistic skills are pretty minimal to say the least) and am really quite shocked at the state of the school. What is the point of these older children attending so called school if there are no books, no teachers with ridiculously poor hygiene? 

I do get that it is a culture in transition, leaving it's basic traditional life behind and wanting to start keeping up on a more global scale. Education is the natural step, but for us, watching from the outside it can be frustrating to watch the baby steps.

And finally it's time to head back to our lodgings and our awaiting dinner of Dal Baht. It takes us quite a few hours of winding single lane roads to get back to Gyan's house, but we are welcomed with Sumi's smiling happy face! The girls race off with her to play with the baby goats and pick berries. They arrive home with tales of Sumi's grandmother, goat stories and covered in dirt. It's all good. They have been adopted as members of the family.

Back at Gyan's House resting after a long day at the schools....

During dinner a large group of army officers stop by. At first Randall and I exchange worried looks. Not too ago Nepal was gripped in a bloody and awful civil war between the Maoists and the Government for ten years. The peace is now kept by the military and these road gangs of military men are common. But it's our first encounter with them. They soon settle in and are drinking tea with us as if nothing was amiss. It turns out that one of them is related to Gyan's wife and this is a fairly regular occurrence. Sigh of relief.

So, it's been a busy and enlightening day. I've enjoyed every moment of it (apart from the spicy momo's) and look forward to what tomorrow will bring. I'm so very happy to know that my wonderful husband is upright and on the mend. 

With the taste of Dal in my mouth I'm writing this in the dark (no electricity of course) listening to the night sounds. Far in the distance I can see the lighting playing along the mountain tops. I feel a million miles from my snug home in New Zealand, but also feel very much at home burrowed into my sleeping bag in this little throw back to the way the world used to be.

Goodnight!

Rural Nepal Here We Come - From Pokhara to Village Life in Mulkharka

Nepal Trip Day 12

From Pokhara to the First Steps Himalaya Project 

Today we were up bright and early for our flight back to Kathmandu. It was muggy even at 8:15 a.m. when we were packing in to the van for the airport. 

At the Pokhara Airport waiting for our flight!

The rescue helicopter that we saw while on the Annapurna track rescuing hikers from the Annapurna Base Camp

Randall was particularly withdrawn this morning, but when we got to the airport it became evident that he was sick again, and much worse this time. While the rest of us enjoyed the scenic flight back to Kathmandu and views of the snowy peaks out our window, he was barely hanging on, trying valiantly not to use his air sickness bag.

We arrived with a little dread into Kathmandu domestic terminal. Such a madhouse, but with Durga on point and the kids on bag duty we managed to get everything on trolleys and out into the car park.  Not for the first time on this trip we are so glad that we have a local guiding us. Navigating this system as a foreign woman with a bunch of kids on my own would be stressful to say the least.

following the car with all our bags through the outskirts of Kathmandu

But travailing Nepali style will always have it's challenges. The 4wd car we are using to get to the next phase of our adventure is stuck in traffic - leaving us to wait in the hot car park watching monkeys climb along overloaded power lines and guarding our baggage from ambitious taxi drivers trying to get our fare. Poor Randall. Sigh, it's all part of travel.

Once both the cars arrive we pile in and head off onto the "Tibet Road" towards the project villages, thankfully skirting downtown Kathmandu and the worst of this chaotic town. At least we are acclimatized and ready for it now!

heading into the hills - local bus service... I like the natural air conditioning!

One thing you really get the feel of in Nepal is the amount of Western Money that has poured in here. It's big business. All improving the lot of the country, but it seems a bit strange to drive along a road leading to Tibet that is built by the Japanese, past buildings built by the Germans and later through a forest that was replanted by the Australians and heading to a school project mainly funded by New Zealand. Nepal is like many developing countries where there are an abundance of eager aid projects ready and willing to lend a hand to bring the third world up to scratch. But does it do any good?

We shall see. It seems that "progress" is certainly inevitable. And, in principle, I am definitely for uplifting the plight of the poor where possible, but my personal jury is still out on the blanket aid that takes money from the west and dumps it into a country that isn't ready for it, or doesn't know how to use it. It seems to create a nation of beggars, rather than uplifting their plight. And who doesn't want to have pride?

I'm not fully getting that feeling here in Nepal, and one of the things that attracted us to the First Steps Himalaya project is the grass roots aspect. They're whole focus is on teacher training and empowering the locals with a good Nepali educational system. Not fancy things, but fundamentals. We shall see if it can do anything to make me feel better about the modern concept of charity.

buying some last minute fruit before heading into the hills north of Kathmandu

We drive out of the city of Kathmandu and soon the suburbs fall away as we wind through the mountains and past increasingly rural towns. The smog and congestion gives way to rice fields and the traditional mud brick houses. After three hours of winding our way through the back roads and up into the hills we finally stop at the First Steps Himalaya flagship project.


The husband of one of the teachers has laid out a lunch of spicy pumpkin soup that we eat on the clay floor of his house. And Randall finally gets to rest in their spare room. He's done well to hang on this far!

Once we are done with the soup, the kids, Fiona and I walk up to the local state run primary school. It is an interesting thing to ponder that education has only been legal in Nepal since 1953. Before that it was illegal and reading and writing was strictly for the upper or ruling class. When Nepal started opening up to the outside world the westerners brought their ideas of education for all, changing the cultural dynamic here forever. But although the idea that all children should get an education has arrived, the knowledge of how to actually teach hasn't shown up yet. And the adult literacy rate is still only 60%.

As we walk up the dusty road the children are all just returning from lunch and our kids cause quite a stir. We are WAY far off the tourist track and to have a bunch of blond and red headed children to gawk at is irresistible. At the end of the road is a school of concrete classrooms with wooden shutters. The children all pour in to their allotted classrooms, presentable in their official blue uniforms.

Ever the intrepid adventurer Clara wants to jump right in by herself and we leave her in a small cement box classroom with the other children her age. She only lasts a few minutes before coming to find us. Liana, Liam, Jaimie and Rhona go into the year eight class who are studying science. In fact, the teacher is actually shouting facts at the children who are obviously used to this and aren't paying much attention. None of our kids last long and soon we walk down the hill to the preschool that sits below the state primary school. Here is something more along the lines of what we westerners are familiar with. 

Liana, Liam and Jaimie join in a year 8 science class at the local school

First Steps Himalaya have done a good job of setting up a preschool here on site and as part of their strategy of working their way up, have recently taken the year ones down to their building and paying for a trained teacher as well. The idea is to build up one year at a time. The biggest thing is to educate the teachers on how to teach and they are trying to lead by example, showing what proper teaching can achieve at a preschool and year one level will hopefully trickle upwards. Seems basic but it's got to be first steps just as their charity's name implies. Smart.

Clara and Juliet have a ball joining in the year one class. Juliet leads them in a song and Clara assists in the English lessons. It just goes to show that all children have something in common, it's only as we age that we layer the judgmentalism of our cultures onto our view of the world.

Clara and Juliet enjoy their afternoon in the FSH flagship preschool classroom

We spend the most part of the afternoon here, but the hall of the mountain king is rumbling again and the nearby mountains are threatening us with another deluge. We need to get moving, before the rainstorm keeps us from getting to our accommodation for the night. Think - all dirt roads from now on.

Hiking back through the village we stop for a quick peek at the flour mill where ladies haul up huge bags of rice from their farms to be turned into flour. The lesson for the kids was big when it comes to how much work these people put into just the daily necessities of life. And that this is not very far removed from what village life would have been like for our ancestors as well.

Grinding rice into flour

Covering the hay before the nightly rainstorm

We return to the cars to find Randall somewhat improved after a long lay down and we continue on to the turnoff to Mulkharka, the (even more remote) village where we are to be staying with a local family. 

At the turn off we walk the rest of the way while the one car takes all of our bags (the non 4wd wouldn't make it down the rutted dirt road) it's a twenty minute walk and we are followed by the local children and some young women curious about these strange foreigners in their very closed neighborhood. We must look so strange to them. The girls are dressed so beautifully in their colorful dresses. They shyly wave at us and giggle when we try to speak to them.

Finally reaching the house of Gyan Tamang, our host in Mulkharka

The family we are staying with are absolutely lovely. Gyan is of Tamang descent, a tribe that immigrated over the Himalaya's from Tibet many years before. His house is traditional in every way. It is obviously the families pride and joy to have this house and it is pristine and the food is amazing. Dal Bhat of course! The kids are spread out through the bedrooms and Randall and I get a comfortable room up the ladder on the second floor, above the kitchen. There is a cement outhouse behind the house that boasts a western toilet and even a hot shower!

From our window we can look down the valley at the terraces of crops. Not too far below us is another little farmlet which belongs to Gyan's parents. Gyan and his wife have a son who is in Kathmandu and a daughter of ten. She is home from boarding school for the occasion of having western house guests. Her name is Sumi and Clara, Juliet and Sumi are instantly best friends!

The night brings thunder and lightning and with no power brings the evening to an early close. We all keep our flashlights near so that we can navigate the wooden ladder in the dark. The sounds of the night surround us and lead to a dreamless sleep...

Tomorrow we will be working in some of the more impoverished schools. 

Goodnight. 

Peace Pagodas in Pokhara

Nepal trip day 11 - Pokhara

Not much rain last night so we wake up to a whole lot of haze and humidity. The monsoon will be here in about two months and this is the pre build up. Boy, it sure is hot and muggy!

After gorging on a thoroughly western breakfast with all the other expats at the hotel we head out onto the streets of Pokhara again. Even the water buffalos seem to be feeling the heat as they sit staring at us from the middle of the road. Bored with the shopping we decide to rent a little boat and head out onto the lake. 

Fewa lake, pretty from a distance, is a dirty lake. Surrounded by a dirty city you can't be too surprised. The people don't seem to get the concept of rubbish and pollution, like the concept of non biodegradable materials hasn't entered the lexicon of their understanding yet. Hence the lake with floating plastic bags, bottles and other various detritus that the recent rains have washed into it. If you can look past the rubbish the setting is really stunning. The hills are covered in greenery, with birds and monkeys scampering around. If it weren't for the heat haze the splendours of the Annapurna range would be crowing the distance, giving the lake a world class rating. It is truly a beautiful setting, but it is really upsetting to see an environment so uselessly trashed.

We rowed past a little island filled with people ringing bells and enjoying a little Hindu temple. We aim for the bank across the river where a little pathway leads to the peace pagoda at the top of the mountain.

On another boat near us in the lake there is a Chinese couple, beautifully dressed in formal wear and being followed by a boat full of men with cameras. Chinese paparazzi, a photo shoot or a wedding party trying to get just the right shot? They seem so out of place in their formal wear and heavy make up floating around in the lake!

It's a long, sweaty, hot, sticky hike. Somehow harder than Poon hill, probably because of the heat! No, not probably, definitely. The trail is mainly stone steps and winds it's way up the hill, past small temples and and around houses. A few children come out and quietly ask for chocolate, whispering it so their mother doesn't hear them. It shows how many outsiders hike this trail. The well meaning tourists have taught these children's the delights of the western sugary ways, but without the knowledge of dental hygiene, the introduction of sugar is a real problem. Those beautiful white teeth won't stay white for long. Like most things in this world it's about education. Education of the local people, but also education of the tourists. It may seem like a nice thing to do, come to a country and hand out sweets to the cute little kids, but if you stop to think about it, the act really only brings destruction and is device to the culture that you are visiting.

Finally, red faced and sweating, we make it to the top. The peace pagoda is a Buddhist Stuppa and is dedicated to bringing together all the peoples of the world, regardless of their religion, to focus on the search for world peace. All four sides of the tall Stuppa has a story of the Buddha's life, each with a different cultures' take on it. It's a beautiful sentiment and the location is stunning. This far above the lake you don't see the floating plastic and it appears like an emerald below us. During the non monsoon time you would see the peaks of the Annapurna in the distance behind it. I can see why it is so highly rated!

After consuming several bottles of water was hike back down and row across the lake again. Heading back to our hotel to cool ourselves in the pool and repack our newly laundered clothes. 

We spend the evening in a local pub called the Maya. Premier league soccer plays in the background and the kids learn to play snooker with a local (drunk) expat and we enjoy some last western food. Tomorrow we fly back to Kathmandu and from there begin our First Steps Himalaya adventure into the Nepali educational system. We will be driving nearly to the Tibetan border and living with a family while visiting and helping out in the First Steps Himalaya school projects. l am so excited for it, and ready to immerse  ourselves back into the real Nepal.

With thunder in the skies it's our last night with Western luxuries for awhile. I take two showers just because I can!!

Namaste!

Pokhara, a bit of shopping

Nepal Adventure - Pokhara

I awoke to the dawn birds chirping away.

And then rolled over and went back to sleep. 

Two hours later I finally got up. It feels good to be back in our western comfort zone. And the simple things like a hot shower and a mattress feel so luxurious.

With nothing planned for the day we end up walking into town for a bit of shopping and browsing. There isn't too much we want here, but with the prices being so low it's fun to buy a few silly things. A skirt for Juliet, yak fur blankets for the girls, some t-shirts, a couple singing bowls. I braved one of the many barber shops for a head and shoulder massage, while Randall got himself a shaved head and face.

Traffic Jam, downtown Pokhara

Downtown Pokhara, life goes on as usual, despite the western tourists everywhere

Overall Pokhara is a backpackers stopover with all the expected bars, funny smoking devices and cheep goods shops. There are a few beggars here, professionals who have come over the border from India, who mar the scene with their vulgarity. It is quite noticeable when you see them and it makes you realise that, as chaotic as Nepal can seem sometimes, you really don't see the grinding poverty and begging that can be found elsewhere.

At least they are recycling - but it really makes you stop and think about the wastefulness of plastic bottles. We carried water purifying drops to avoid contributing to this situation. Sometimes I wonder if the earth won't someday drown in plastic?

As one of the stops on the "hippy" trail you can imagine the vibe of Pokhara. Don't get me wrong, it is not repulsive, on the contrary.... But it is certainly not authentic Nepal. But maybe the reality of what Nepal must become? The Nepali people who live here don't seem to mind the western influences. They have their competing shops selling north-fake jackets and eat their dal baht while tourists stroll the streets. Nepal was part of the Silk Trail and the people have learned to be good traders, whatever the current needs and wants might be.

barber shop selfie...

Juliet buys a Nepali skirt

having pants made from hemp material

While we enjoy our little retail journey into Pokhara it doesn't take long for us to beat a trail back to the hotel and the pool. The pool feels good in the afternoon heat and reinvigorates our sore hiking muscles.

Later we brave the streets again for dinner back in town and Mother Nature delights us with another all consuming lighting storm. This time we make it back to the hotel before the deluge and spend the rest of the night watching Bollywood TV... Was it really only two nights ago that we were sleeping in a mud floored tea house?

Namaste

White knuckling it all the way to Pokhara!

Nepal Adventure - Day Eight - Annapurna Trail - Ghandruk to Pokhara

It's almost dawn - get up!

This time it was my hubby waking me up. I scratch my eyes and roll out onto the sandy floor. Too groggy even to look for spiders!

Dawn from our tea house in Ghandruk

Last morning with our friend, Annapurna South (7,219 mtrs)

As on the other mornings the mountains have emerged from their cloudy blankets to give another breathtaking sunrise. Annapurna South and Fish Tail Mountains are silently getting their morning sun ablutions...

As it gets lighter we sit on the lawn and drink milk tea. Watching the sun rise through the mist is the perfect way to finish this trek. I'm beginning to understand why people get up early, it's a silent time filled with promise before the world awakes fully.

Last Sunrise on the Annapurna Trek

But soon the fried eggs and Tibetan Bread are out and the kids start bouncing around. There are sleeping bags to stuff and water bottles to sanitise. Time to get moving...

The rescue helicopter is flying back and forth up the valley that leads to the Annapurna Base Camp. Not a good sign, as some people must be in big trouble, and after the killer avalanche that hit Mt Everest the week before we can only hope that the mountains have not claimed too many more lives.

Walking through Ghandruk

It's a very short hike for us today, just an hour downhill, through the village of Ghandruk. Past many a family house with fields and Water Buffalo's. There is much more business and human activity going on here, with people carrying everything up and down the trail. For those houses being built in Ghandruk all their materials have to be brought up either by the donkey trains or on peoples backs. One donkey train has a western toilet on it, while another man is carrying huge piping up the steepest part of the trail. It's a different life here!

Over a few wooden bridges and one last steep set of stairs and we can spy a real road, still dirt, but a road none the less. And a waiting jeep and driver to save us a six hour downhill trek to Pokhara in the building heat. 

Leaving Ghandruk

The picture says it all...

Not hiking the dusty, hot trail seemed like a good idea at the time, but I must confess the drive was one of the most harrowing two hours of my life. The road was only built a year ago, and is very narrow. Deep valleys  drop away from the side of the road.  For someone as afraid of heights as me, it was seriously disturbing. The road was only wide enough for one car, and the cliff was straight down. The road was full of pot holes and beeping buses that wanted to pass. It was white knuckles all the way.

But I guess everything in life has lessons to learn. While I did not enjoy the ride, I did learn to let go of the fear and turn some of the worrying over to a higher authority.

The end of the trail for us....

My view of the road. The valley floor is 1,000 feet below us.... White knuckling it all the way....

Liam collecting our trekking passes from the local authorities.

And as we get closer to Pokhara, the traffic increases and so do the horns and pollution and the other things that we got so completely away from on the trek.

It was some very happy kids who piled out of the Jeep at the Temple Tree Resort in Pokhara. It's a beautiful Westernised hotel, complete with swimming pool! It doesn't take them long to all jump in and resume the western life we are used to. It seems a bit surreal to have started the day with earthen floored rooms and ending it by the pool with waiters asking to take your drink orders.

Back to Western Life...

For dinner all ten of us walk into the quirky little hippy resort town of Pokhara to have a leisurely dinner at one of it's fine restaurants. Durga tells us that this particular restaurant has a generator that goes 24/7 so it is safe to eat a wider selection of things, as it doesn't have the refrigeration issues that goes along with Nepal's frequent power outages. After a week of lentils and fried eggs, the fresh steamed veggies and fish from the lake were so yummy!

During dinner there was energy from the mountains coming our way in the form of a building lighting storm. The kids danced around the outside patio celebrating the feel of the storm. Liam went into film making mode with my phone and captured some of the huge tendrils of light that were swirling down from the black clouds.

Just as we were about to walk home the heavens unleashed. We waited for the worst of it to pass and then struggled along the flooded streets. Rain was washing away the filth of the town. Wading knee deep through streets that are now rivers we finally make it back to our hotel. Juliet is not impressed washing the water buffalo dung from between her toes but, funny enough, I insist on it before she climbs into bed!

Earlier that day I had picked up a bottle of wine for Randall and I to share on the balcony while the kids sleep.... unfortunately when we open it up it tastes and smells like slightly off apple juice. Guess I've been had. Oh well, time for bed anyway.... Tomorrow we will have a beer!

This part of our trip - the Annapurna Trek - has been a fantastic experience all the way around. It far surpassed all of my expectations, not just the stunning scenery, but also the tea houses, the porters, the rural lifestyle, the dal bhat and the people we met along the way. I will miss my morning milk tea with the mountains!

It will forever be locked into the memory banks. But looking forward it will be fun to have a few quiet days in Pokhara before adventuring out again to work in the First Steps Himalaya's school projects with our hosts Fiona and Durga.

For now, it's a white sheeted Western Bed with lots of pillows and a long sleep!

Namaste ~