Sunday, March 2, 2014

Another year another adventure

Tonya and I left home at 0300 and drove to the airport only to find everything in the dark and quite deserted.  Oh no!!

It turned out that Malaysian Airlines didn’t open up until 2 hours before the flight and all was good. I had 5kg too much luggage but they didn’t say anything and I didn’t pay excess.  

No it wasn’t my clothes, it was the laminated work sheets and reading books that was the weight.

We left at 0600 and it was the first time I have flown with this airline and the service was quite good but my only complaint was that the seats are really quite small and my bun completely filled it with a bit left over.  It was lucky that the middle seat was empty.

We had a good flight and arrived in Kuala Lumpur on time at 0900 and I had  10 hour layover there.  

The airport is quite large and you have to take a train between terminals.  I wandered around for awhile and then went into the public lounge.  It was about $60 Aust but worth it as I had a shower, free massage and food and drinks.

I flew out to Kathmandu 2100 and settled in to about 7 hour flight and yes all the seats were full and I got to know my neighbour quite well.

We touched down on time and I bought my 3 months visa with no problems at all, I was out of the airport in about 15 minutes.  

The airport was like Dili and Siem Reap, dingy and unwelcoming.  The temperature was 8 degrees and raining.  I picked up a sim card at the airport and changed $20 and went out to face the crowds.  

It was really good, they have volunteers helping the visitors and I was soon in the hotel car and off to the hotel.

The traffic was light and we were soon flying through the tiny roads and the trip was uneventful except for the almost head on at one of the intersections.

The 7 km trip took about 20 minutes but normally during the day it would take 45 min as the traffic doesn’t flow  very well.


The Heritage hotel is in the centre of the tourist area which is called Thamil and it is 6 floors, the staff is lovely but of course no heating and the walls are paper thin.  The water was freezing so no shower for me and it was nice to snuggle down into the warm blankets.
View of city from hotel rooftop restaurant

The next morning was again wet and cold and I rugged up and set off too look around the city. 

I was very close to the old part of town and while I was walking a young man came up and started talking and offered to show me the various temples etc which was nice.   

He was a student and wanted to practice his English, we wandered around and the temples are mainly Hindi and we saw where the Guirka’s lived when they guarded the city. 

It was great and he was a good guide, we went to see his school where he paints the most intricate pictures with a brush with one yak hair.  It takes 10 years for them to become a master.  

Of course I was offered the opportunity to buy some of the paintings which were of course very lovely but also $300 US, I promised to come back (sure).  The young lad started to take me back to the square where I met him and he suggested that I would like to give his family some food.   

OK, so he went to a stall and ordered all this food and the shopkeeper told me it was 53000 rupiah ($53 Aust), well I had 200 rupee in my wallet and no intentions of giving more.  

Guess he wasted his time and I should have known better.  At least I saw the temples with a local guide.


Guirka's barracks - see little soldiers




There is wi-fi at the hotel and I had used my computer the previous evening and all was good, this arvo it just wouldn’t boot up. B…….ger.

The evening Miryan met me at reception and we walked to a local restaurant and I met Sue and Wyaana there.  

Miryam is from Chicago and is a long term volunteer who works for VSN and she has just married a local man.  

Sue is English and is a Biology teacher who can’t find work in England so has spent the last 5 months volunteering and will probably continue travelling for years to come, she is about 45. 

Wyaana is a Kiwi and this is her first trip outside of New Zealand and she is 26 and much to the concern of the locals she is not married and with baby. 

The meal was nice and I had satay chicken which cost $2.50, we didn’t stay late as it was cold and Sue who lives in a flat had to catch a miro bus and then walk in the dark.
Back to hotel and no water because there was no power.


17 February 2014.

Hot shower!!!! Washed hair and soaked up the heat.

I am off to a village which is about 17km from the city but it takes about 1 hour in a taxi and Miryam is taking me to introduce me to the people from BFCH which is one of the orphanages that the VSN looks after, the training is done there.

The trip to the village is the same as any trip in Asia, noisy traffic, bad roads and chaos.
The weather is still cold and wet and I still haven’t seen the mountains because of the constant mist.  

We arrive at the orphanage and for one brief moment the sun comes out and I am surrounded by fantastic mountains. 

Orphanage

View from Orphanage
I meet Jaccu who is the manager of the orphangage plus a number of other titles, he lives nearby to the orphanage.  Harri is the Nepalese teacher.

It seems that the number of volunteers have decreased recently and I am the only one so the training is not as good and Kate who is the co-ordinator has just also married a local as she was out with him.

Lunch time or as they say here Dhal Baart which consists of steamed rice, fried vegetables which normally come from the garden and a dhaal soup which you pour over your rice.  

The meal is eaten from a small table while sitting on the floor and you use your right hand to shovel in the food after you have mixed it in with the dhal.  Good fun.

It seems that you have a cup of sweet tea about 0700 then about 0930 – 1000 you have dhal baart and then about 1400 another cup of tea and then 2000, dhal baart again
.

In the afternoon Miryam and Jaccu gave me about 30 minutes of cultural matters and then I was taken to Jaccu’s home by one of the boys from the school.

We wandered through rice fields and paddled through a creek and climbed a hill and eventually we got to Jaccu’s home and I met his wife.  

Rahajani and after a cup of tea, I went out with her to cut grass for the cow.  The cow lives in a barn and is kept on a small rope and during the day it is taken outside and allowed to eat straw but still on the rope.  

In fact everything seems to be on a short chain, the dog just goes outside on a chain and then in the evenings chained up outside the door.

Cow shed




I must admit that if I have to eat vegetables, Rahajani spices them up with masala, chili and one other spice. 

It was lovely, I was there 3 nights and the first night they gave me a spoon and I sat on the floor, the second a spoon and a small stall, the third night a spoon and a chair.

I was also spoilt because instead of rice and dhal for breakfast she made me naan, or pancakes or omelette pancake.

The house is quite big, a large number of rooms and upstairs a kitchen and a open area and of course the dreaded squat toilet which at least was inside the house but quite a challenge especially when there was no power which is most of the time. 

The house belonged to Jaccu’s father and he inherited it as he is the only and eldest son with 4 sisters.  

The whole family goes to Jaccu’s house for festival so sometimes there can be as many as 30 people there which explains the rooms that are currently used for storage.

Rahajini cooks either on a 2 ring gas burner or a wood fire baked clay stove, the dhal baart takes ages and if it wasn’t for the pressure cookers she uses for the dhal and rice she would spend the whole day cooking.

Jaccu came home about 2000 and we had dinner and then we were tucked up in bed (not together) by 2100 and Rahajini was up at 0600 cooking for the daughter to eat by 0730 as she catches the bus to College in Kathmandu and comes home at 1930.  

The son then eats about 0800 and goes to school and then Rahajani feeds the cow and cleans everything and then eats with Jaccu if he comes home for morning dhal baart.

Jaccu didn’t come so I had to walk to the orphanage for my Napalese lesson, I was quite confident that I could remember the way but after about 10 minutes I couldn’t remember where to go next and of course the sun had come out and I had about 4 layers of clothing plus a jacket.  

I knew eventually someone would come looking and I tend to stand out in a crowd over here.  Fortunately, Jaccu saw me and it turned out I was on the right track.

I have managed to remember of bit of the lesson from yesterday and then I was given a heap more.  The main one I was pleased to learn was ‘Ali Ali’ which means little, little as I seem to get a bucket full of rice.

It is a lovely atmosphere in the house although it does change when Jaccu comes home as he is rarely there and mum is raising the children.

The women look a lot older that they are, Rahajani looks in her late 50’s and she is in her early 40’s.  

They marry young but surprisingly they only have 2 or 3 children, it seems that the injection to prevent pregnancy is easily available and quite cheap.

So far, the hardest thing for me is the not showering, it seems that it is  a once a week thing and they seem to wear the same clothes every day, although nothing would get too dirty as they never take of their jackets or in the case of the women their shawls.

I am making good use of my baby wipes, the other thing is interesting, I am used to squat toilets but also having a hose to wash your butt, nothing here, I have to work it out!!

I stayed three days with Jaccu and his family and left with an invitation to come back anytime.

On Thursday I got into a taxi for the trip back into town, the cars are small, old and very battered.  

I knew when we were getting to a dangerous part of the trip, as he would pray very loudly about 7 times and then when the next big bend or traffic intersection came up he would do it again. 

It must have worked as we got back to the hotel safely and I caught up with Miryam who took me to a computer repair shop and also the local supermarket.

It turns out that the battery in computers only lasts about 18 months as I remember it happened to my last one, I can still use it but have to turn it on, plugged into power. Just have to find out when the power is on.  The total cost was 3000 rupiah or $25.


 I went to the local bakery and bought my tea and then after dropping my washing off at a 2 hour service to be told that it will be ready 1100 tomorrow, went back to my  hotel room to snuggle down and read my kindle in the dark.

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