After 3 weeks in Nepal, I think all of the group are shocked at how quickly our time here is going. We have nearly finished our time in Rampur and soon the group will be splitting. half of the group are trekking to Annapurna base camp whilst the rest are heading for Everest Base Camp.
It seems like a long time ago that we were all meeting up for the first time in Kathmandu. A couple of us arrived a day early, whilst half of the group arrived a day late after very nearly landing in Kathmandu (the pilot missed the landing and they were forced to turn back to Delhi). They made it to Kalanki in the end though and dived straight into their Nepali lessons with Keshos enthusiastic chanting - we were woken up every morning with Shuva Bihani, Shuva Bihani. We spent the first week in Kathmandu, learning Nepali in the mornings, and sight seeing in the afternoon. highlights included exploring Thamel (and counting how many times we were offered tiger balm and hashish) visiting Patan and going to see the monkey temple. The group also spent the night in Lamater: Colin skived off with man flu so it was up to the rest of us to show off our dance moves after being treated to a show of Nepali traditional dancing. The next morning, we went hill walking which was hardwork but good practise for our upcoming treks. Worryingly Harriet seemed to be showing signs of altitude sickness....after 15 minutes of walking. Luckily she made a good recovery and was able to join us for noodles when we got to the top.
We spent one more night in Kathmandu staying in the Yeti Guest House in Thamel. That was the night of Nicks 21st and the group showed you can still organise a good party in just one afternoon in Kathmandu. Everyone had a really good evening, eating far too much food (mainly different variations on the Roadhouse special Pizza!) But everyone still managed to have room for birthday cake as well (the group was stocking up due to the impending dhaal Bhaat overload that was inevitable during our week long home stay). The evening ended by surprising Nick with a very special 21st birthday gift.....walking poles!! At least we know that it is something that he can use.
The next day we travelled to Chitwan, our drive was broken up by a three hour rafting trip. Some of us spent more time in the water than in the boat, thanks to our over- enthusiastic guide. We all did our best to stay in the boats during the rapids. Tim, impressively managed to hold on despite being swept overboard, but Jenny was less fortunate and ended up taking a swim. It was good fun though, and by the end Rob and Andy had given up on the boats and abadoned ship during the final rapids.
The group enjoyed the next few days in Sauraja whilst sharing ensuite bathrooms was the main highlight for many. We also had fun watching the sunset over the river, stalking the great jungle chicken, spotting Rhinos whilst riding our elephants and visiting the first baby twin elephants in Nepal. We were also treated to some Kama Sutra lessons from a pair of frisky teenage elephants.
All too soon we had to leave the comfort of our lodges in Chitwan and make our way to Rampur to meet our host families. It was a nerve racking time as we were led off in pairs to the houses that would be our homes during the stay. But having lived with our host families for a week now we all settled in and will be very sad to leave. We have all stuggled to make conversations with our limited Nepali attempted (and failed) to decling 2nd helping of Dhaal Bhaat, and made many trips into Rampur to supplement the Dhaal Bhaat diet with double butterscotch cones. We have also had great fun volunteering; whether is was causing chaos in the orphanage, trying to control the chaos in the classrooms or trying to recover with some theraputic digging in the nursery. So although there have been difficulties (dealing the sweltering heat, the intermittent power and the endless supply of dhaal Bhaat) we will be taking away with us many priceless memories. For some of us taking 23 children to Rampur for ice creams tops the list and for others the sports day we organised.
So even though we are sad to be leaving the kids in Rampur we are looking forward to starting our treks. We all know it is going to be tough but heopefully we will be able to distract each other with conversation which will revolve, as it has done for the past 3 weeks, around food, bowel movements and the thickness of our mattresses.
