Nepal - another level

We've been in Nepal for one week and it has taken us to a new level of experience! Starting with being upgraded to business class (Tony said that was random but I said it was because I complained about people pushing in at the airport!). Business class looking out at Everest - nice. After spending two days in Nepal (hot, polluted, crazy driving) we moved on to Pokhara, but not before a wonderful night out with BK from Global Action Nepal which is working in partnership with the charity we will be with (Pahar Trust Nepal) - we went to a Nepal evening of a 10 course meal, drank Roxy (a millet based version of Raki/Pucchine), danced and was henpecked by a peacock puppet and mauled by a man in a yeti suit (seemed normal at the time). We then spent 7 hours at the airport waiting for a flight to go to Pokhara and cancelling and rebooking our flight about 3 times, before we finally climbed aboard the only flight leaving (due to bad weather) - a 30 seat plane! Scary and cloudy, but when you could see the mountains there were a bit too close for comfort.
Pokhara is more geared up for western tourists than any place in India we went to. It has groovy cafes, lots of Western food which is OK and even supermarkets! But it's about twice the price of India which was a surprise. Our plan was to meet a group which have been fundraising for the Pahar Trust Nepal (PTN) in UK and who were here for 2 weeks to visit schools and open two new ones. We went along with them to the opening of a school in a remote village. We arrived after a scary jeep ride to be greeted by the whole village and the local band. We were adorned with garlands of fresh flowers and red tikka and rice tikka (placed on the forehead which quickly dripped down my glasses and my top! Then we all walked in procession to the school which is on a mountain side surrounded by (yes) mountains and terracing for farming. We were then sat down and given beer (we were convinced that we would be abstinent in Nepal as there would be no beer, so much for us losing weight!) and food and treated to dances, music, speeches and a tour around the fantastic school which will mean the children will not have to walk two miles each way to school and they get a great building. It was a really emotional and humbling experience, which is difficult to put into words. But I was bowled over by how welcoming and friendly everyone was. This isn't a place onthe trekking circuit so it's a rare occurency for them to see westerners and so it was a great experience for us too. That night we slept in the school on a thin mat (women and men separate) and all you could hear was...nothing. Still didn't sleep - kept trekking outside to the loo. Next day we went to Siklis to see a school and were greeted in the same way. Just call me Princess Fidelma from now on and I expect royalty treatment when I get home. It's amazing how the villagers live and I feel I am on a anthropological research programme - it all felt so friendly and easy. Which is more than can be said for the next day when we left a 7am for 9 hour, 980m ascent to Tara Hill (see, the Irish influence gets everywhere!). Guess what, it was exhausting and things took a nasty turn when I tripped over a tree root and landed on my face - my nose broke the fall and I'm paying for it now as I have a nose like Henry Cooper. We kept being told different amounts of time for the finish of the trek (to some hot springs), but when we got to a village and they said at 4.30pm it's another 4 hours we just collapsed and we ended up staying in the village. So check this out - 10 of us, asked at the village if we could stay the night and get some food. I was thinking dhal bhat and rice and the goat shed with a dribble of water (we were on limited supplies at this stage). Instead we got beer, fantastic curry and the comfiest beds we'd stayed in for 3 days - not sure that would happen if a gang of strangers turned up in Lewisham looking to bed down. Tony and I love this place and are delighted we are volunteering here. We are now back in Pokhara and over the next few days we'll be sorting out which village we go to and how the whole is going to work. Off for a massage....

Rajasthani nights, delhi dawn

As we jumped into our last autorickshaw in Jaipur, the driver turned to us and said: 'Rajasthani special music?' Sure. So as he turned up the volume on his gaffer-taped-in speakers, we sat back and let the melodic vocals and drum and bass beats carry us through the streets of Jaipur. Looking out we passed the guy we saw every night cooking his last chapatis on an open fire, the same people settling down for another night on the central reservation, the motorbikes with women and children piled on the back weaving their way back to their homes, the children still out chasing rickshaws for rupees and it dawned on us that this place has been an emotional rollercoaster which we still haven't unpacked for ourselves. At every turn it has been wonderful and heartbreaking, confusing and life affirming. We've challenged our own thinking and recognised things about ourselves that we like and are not sure about. We've wondered whether our decisions have been right about the choices we have made while we've been here. But as the driver waved his arms in the air and we hummed along to the Rajasthani beats we knew one thing - we've loved every exhilarating, challenging, frustrating minute of it.

Back in Delhi, at the sanctuary that is Narinder and Shan's great home. They have really looked after us and recognised that a cup of tea, a jacket potato and a dip in the pool were just what we needed before we set off on our next adventure...

Nepal

Lock ins, lock outs, camel crazy dancing

Since my last update from Mount Abu we've been to Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and now Jaipur. So a quick round up of what we've been up to. Jodhpur is great - blue city, big fort (menacing even), minimum hassle, great crazy market and Ramu's birthday street carnival was a feast to the eyes. It was Notting Hill carnival, Indian stylee. Sound systems, crazy youths dancing, drummers, children in fancy dress, men in fancy dress and tractors and horses carrying them all. Even Tony got in on the act as he was dragged (yeah, right) into a meddly of marauding masculinity (right up his street) and 'forced' to dance to drums. Much to the delight of all the crowds - he even held up the carnival. You should see it on youtube as so many people were videoing it.

Jaisalmer is the furthest point you can get to in Rajasthan (west I think). Anyway, it's the nearest I'm getting to Pakistan. We went there for the camel safari and the fort. It's a small town geared up for tourists and it stinks of the usual - all the time. According to the guidebook we were going to be inundated with people wanting to sell us camel trips - none of it. Instead we did our own research and went for a safari starting at 8.30am and finishing at 4pm the next day (a mistake). Luckily for us, we met two like minded souls (Louise and Rob) and they accompanied us on our trip - which was great as it would have been a bit spooky alone. So... just in case anyone is planning a camel trip in the desert, here's a tip: do not go riding for hours on a camel in 50 C - it's too hot. The wind is like a hair dryer on hot, your sweaty backside is rubbing away on the camel with no let up and it's hard to carry the water, yourself (with any sense of decorum especially as you are wearing a ridiculous turban) and the reins. Don't get me wrong, I loved the camels, especially Tony's Babalou - they are graceful, patient, regal and calm, everything I wasn't for those 24 hours and some may say in life as a whole. Things looked up when we got off the camels and sat looking at the sunset (a bit hazy) on a perfect sand dune while drinking a cold beer (yes, we had some sense while planning this trip). But even if we hadn't planned for a beer, no worries as out of the night a man appeared with a hessian sack selling 'cold' beer. Only in India. The camel drivers came and went and cooked our dinner from scratch - very tasty - and washed our plates in the sand (very effective. We had a camp fire and soon it was time to lay on the smelly camel blankets and get some shut eye with nothing around us for miles, Pakistan 50km away, a nuclear testing site nearby, wild dogs sleeping under the beds, dung beetles surrounding us - slept like babies. Like hell I did. Kept waking up thinking ' I feel claustrophobic, I'm in the middle of the desert!' But it WAS wonderful to feel the cool breeze, to hear absolutely nothing except the odd camel growl and to know that we would wake up to a beautiful sunrise. And it was. I loved that bit. What I didn't love was another 4 hours on the camel at 50 degrees. But all in all - a great experience and thanks to our Crib mates Louise and Rob for making it fun too.

And one more thing... we have enjoyed getting the trains even though we've had 5 hour delays. But just as we thought they we actually quite efficient we had a stressful early morning (5am) searching for a carriage that didn't exist where we were supposed to be seated. After running with backpacks up and down the station (meltdown number ??), we jumped on first class and didn't move. Jaisalmer to Jaipur same thing - no carriage despite booking seats on it. So Tony worked his magic on the guard and got us on first class for the night. However, that was not without it's dramas - chasing mice around the small carriage (only 4 people) and I got locked in the train toilet TWICE - yes that is stupid - and only screaming and banging on the door loudly for 10 mins got me out. Tony hadn't even noticed!

Now in Jaipur...

'Rupee, pen, chocolate, banana, photo (for rupees)'

In Rajasthan it's impossible not to be bombarded with children begging. And it 's hard to know what to do. Children all want to talk to you, but they quickly want something too. It's hard work to refuse, when the rest of the time you see them going through the rubbish or rubbish dumps for something to sell. Today an Education Bill was passed which stated that all children had a right to education in India and that they should be supported to do so. But tell that to those scratching a living in the rubbish pits, breaking rocks or turning cement in 50 degree heat. We haven't given any rupees, and have made a decision to donate to a charity as we feel this is better than perpetuating the begging culture. But it's brought us to tears on many occasions not least when we were refusing children and turning away while standing under Ghandi's statue. Maybe we've got it wrong...