Monday 28 December 2015

IT’S CHIRSTMASSSSS

After a couple of days in Tansen after my trip to Okuldunga it was time for Dan’s and his friend Alex to arrive in Tansen on the 20th of December. The day after Dan, Alex, Bimila and I went to Saran’s parents’ house for lunch and a few hours later is was time for Dan and Bimila’s wedding party. This was very exciting for everyone. I had only met Dan in England and met Bimila in Nepal so it was lovely to finally see them both together. There were lots of people there from Bimila’s family and also Saran helped Bimila with the invitations and also a lot of teachers briefly passed through which was also nice. I love Nepali food but the curries at the wedding party were particularly delicious and I left feeling very full. I walked down to the party with the Bashyal Family after waiting for Abhi to come back from school. There was music, food, and some raksi (home brewed rice wine; a bit like paint stripper). A really lovely evening to be part of. As Saran and I were heading to Pokhara the next day I made sure I had an early night so headed to bed.

The next day I met Saran in Tansen at this parents’ were we had some tea and then got in a taxi down to Bartung where he had called ahead to a tourist bus and had reserved us some seats. Turns out that we didn’t need to book seats as the bus wasn’t even half full. A very strange and rare sight in Nepal, especially at the moment with there being a lot less buses on the roads.

For anyone that has travelled anywhere with me, I normally hear an engine and fall asleep. But, on this 6 hour bus ride I didn’t fall asleep once. A personal achievement that I felt particularly proud of! When we got to Pokhara Saran checked into his friends hotel, I checked into a hotel that Barbara and I stayed in before and then I went back out to do some personal shopping. My family had transferred me some Christmas money so I felt that I probably should go out and get myself a little bag and some books. Frustratingly, I had bought a load of books when I was in Pokhara last time and I had the intention of bringing them as the shops buy them back at a reduced price, but, I forgot them! We then went out for a meal to a Vietnamese restaurant Pho 99 which do really great food and the service is also good. Then it was to climb happily into bed with a new book and have an early night.

On the 23rd Saran came up to my hotel in the morning before he went to Batase school. Unfortunately the night before when I was in bed he’d gone for a walk he had his wallet pick pocketed. This was a real knock to us but thankfully he wasn’t hurt. Money can be replaced but people can’t. I then gave him my camera so he could take some photos of the school. Saran was going up to Batase on his own as we felt that the village was hit hard in the earthquake and me accompanying him would be more of a hindrance than a help so he went up on his own with a list of questions and a camera.

After saying goodbye to Saran I went to find some coffee and breakfast and had a really relaxed morning reading in the sun, as it was a few degrees warmer than Tansen it was bliss. Then later that afternoon Dan, Alex and Bimila arrived in Pokhara and after they were all checked into my hotel we went out to find some lunch. There looked like there was a really cool restaurant in an old plane. It turned out to be a bit of a disaster, after ordering and my salad (some squares of cucumber and carrot) and Bimilas soup arrived it turned out that they had forgotten about Dan and Alex’s food so we paid up and went on the hunt for some real food. We ended up eating at a pizza place where the food came out super quickly. For some reason my body’s decided to reject gluten but I decided I’d risk it and have a pizza anyway. I paid for it later. That night we then went out in hunt of more food and a place that wouldn’t forget half our orders. We did and the food was brilliant, we even had a couple cocktails.

The following day it was Christmas Eve and in true European style we celebrated then rather than on Christmas day. I went to extend my visa and it was surprisingly simple normally you’re bumped from one Nepali official to another, but there was none of that, just had to wait a few minutes for the boss to stamp my visa. We were expecting Saran back in Pokhara the following day, but being the wizard that he is, he had made it back to Pokhara by about 10.30am on the 24th. Then in the afternoon we rented out a boat and went and explored the lake for a couple of hours before the sun went and it got cold. We timed in perfectly and were back on land just as the temperature started to drop. That evening we went for a Nepali/ English Christmas dinner with roast chicken and gravy… but also with noodles and salad, which was an odd twist. We then headed out to a bar where things got a little hazy.

The idea was that we would all get up at 5.30 to go and watch the sunrise but as most people were feeling a bit worse for wear having celebrated a little too hard, we didn’t. I was feeling okay so I went to get some breakfast and read in the sun. I met a couple of people while having breakfast and an about 2 hours later Dan, Alex and Bimila came down for something to eat. Alex, very bravely, then went off to do some paragliding and Dan, Bimila and I went to do some resources shopping. After a while squatting in the corners of a book shop we had found a good selection of books to take out to the schools. Dan wanted to head back to the hotel for a nap and I went out to find some lunch and to call my family, who I knew would be up already. After some more reading in the sun on the balcony of our hotel it was time to eat again (I’ve definitely taken to the Nepali culture of eating a lot). As it was our last night together in Pokhara I was really glad that we came across a really nice place that looked Moroccan, was playing south American music with a Nepali menu. It also had two fires inside and had a really good atmosphere and the food was also pretty great. As we were all getting up early the next day we had an early night.

I spent most of the 26th on a bus. Dan, Alex and Bimila were going to Kathmandu as Alex was flying to the UK, and I headed back to Tansen. Unsurprisingly I slept a lot on this bus ride home. I then met a 4 people in Bartung. 2 people were from the American Peace Corps who were really interested in what I was doing. I gave the girls my number so they could call me and the other two were a couple who are living in Vietnam. I called ahead and got them a room at the homestay which they seemed happy about.

I was hoping to get back out to the schools on the 28th but it seems that they are doing end of term exams so I’m not sure when I’ll next be out. I’ll just have to transform my bedroom back into a factory and get on the resources making. As the schools break up for a 20 day holiday on the 6th of Jan and don’t go back until the 26th. I’ve never been to a country that has so many holidays, no wonder it takes forever for anything to get done. But it is super frustrating, although you know that there is nothing that you can do about it. 

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