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....