A blog from me - for a change
Hi all,
Bet you thought I'd gone permanently missing, but I haven't - I've just been otherwise engaged. Anyway, Jill has kept you up to date with everything superbly, so you haven't missed anything on the school front at least.
So what have I been doing? Well, I've been on a trip round the country with Bhakta. We had a Land Rover to travel in (18 years old and still going strong) as one of the places we visited isn't on the tourist route any more, and no-one was quite sure how good (or bad) the roads were going to be.
Our first destination was Pokhara, where we viewed the Annapurnas and walked a short way up part of a hill to a viewing point at Sarangkot, which gave a good view of the bits of the Annapurnas which weren't hidden by clouds.
Next we went to Tansen, which also had good views of the Annapurnas. The scenery on the drive there was stunning - there are times when you wish you could walk the whole route with a movie camera and just show everything, but even then I doubt if you'd be able to capture the feel of the places you pass. Tansen was very un-touristy - as far as I could see we only met about 4 or 5 Westerners in the couple of days we were there. We had intended to go to the Rana Mahal, which was built in the 1920's as a memorial to (I think) a Prime Minister's wife - pretty much like the Taj Mahal really. It's deserted and dilapidated now, but from the photographs it must have been quite impressive in its heyday. Anyway, we didn't get there as it would have been a very long walk, so we went to Ridi Bazaar instead.
Ridi Bazaar is described as being the Varanasi of Nepal. For those of you who've been to Varanasi you'll remember it as being a crowded, noisy, bustling place where practically the whole of life goes on down by the Ganges. Ridi Bazaar is nothing like that; when we were there it was really quiet apart from a wedding and a few picnickers. But it was a nice place, and the drive there was again stunning, even if the narrow, windy roads did have Bhakta praying more times than usual, and even if the tarmac was actually missing in a few places. We then went into Tansen. Tansen is nice, but at this time of year it does get very cold at night. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant in the evening with a heater by our table, and the room was really cold and got quite damp too - and it's the best hotel there is there. But the staff were very good and really friendly.
Next we went to Chitwan Jungle Lodge. I had three elephant rides, a canoe ride, a nature walk and a jeep safari. I saw 2 rhinos, but to save me the trouble of photographing them and getting yet more blurred pictures of rhinos, they ran off before we got near. I also saw spotted deer, samba deer, three crocodiles, a stork, and lots of wild boar. We also did an alternative jungle walk, which consisted of me, Bhakta and Hakash (one of the guides) playing Scrabble in the viewing tower whilst the other guide took photographs of a langur monkey for me. Bhakta won the scrabble every time we played I'm ashamed to say, but then he is very competitive and always maximises the points he can get (we also played Connect 4 a lot and he won most of those games too).
One of the highlights at Chitwan was seeing the new baby elephant. It was only about 3 weeks old when we were there, and really cute, so once again I have lots of photographs of elephants. I also got invited to dinner with the staff instead of having dinner in the guests' dining room. We had dhal baat (of course), and I learned how to eat it in the traditional Nepali manner - using my right hand to mix everything up and then scooping it into my mouth from my hand by using my thumb. I'm not sure the food does taste any different from using a fork (which is what I was told), but it's a fun way to eat, and not quite as messy as it sounds.
So then it was back to Kathmandu, and we have a pretty full programme until we fly back on Friday. Bhakta is taking us out to dinner tonight, then tomorrow we're having lunch and a send-off at Natraj, then we have to be at Jill's school (I think) around 4 for something or other. Then I have to be at my school next morning, then we're having a party at night, then the next day we're coming back to Kathmandu for our last hot shower in Nepal before flying home. Do I want to go home? Yes and No. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family again, and to central heating and constant hot showers (the extremes of temperature here - 25C during the day and then 5C at night - are a little hard to handle without these, at least for a soft Westerner like me), and to having my own transport to get around. But I don't think there's anything else that I miss even after three months. And I will miss the people I know here, the friendliness of the Nepalese people, and waking up in the morning and seeing the Himalayas. But you can't have everything, so Ke Garne? (what to do?) as they say.
Well, that's all for now. There may be another post before we leave, but if not, there will more than likely be one or two when we get back.
Until then, take care of yourselves, and I'll see some of you soon.
Vivienne x
Bet you thought I'd gone permanently missing, but I haven't - I've just been otherwise engaged. Anyway, Jill has kept you up to date with everything superbly, so you haven't missed anything on the school front at least.
So what have I been doing? Well, I've been on a trip round the country with Bhakta. We had a Land Rover to travel in (18 years old and still going strong) as one of the places we visited isn't on the tourist route any more, and no-one was quite sure how good (or bad) the roads were going to be.Our first destination was Pokhara, where we viewed the Annapurnas and walked a short way up part of a hill to a viewing point at Sarangkot, which gave a good view of the bits of the Annapurnas which weren't hidden by clouds.
Next we went to Tansen, which also had good views of the Annapurnas. The scenery on the drive there was stunning - there are times when you wish you could walk the whole route with a movie camera and just show everything, but even then I doubt if you'd be able to capture the feel of the places you pass. Tansen was very un-touristy - as far as I could see we only met about 4 or 5 Westerners in the couple of days we were there. We had intended to go to the Rana Mahal, which was built in the 1920's as a memorial to (I think) a Prime Minister's wife - pretty much like the Taj Mahal really. It's deserted and dilapidated now, but from the photographs it must have been quite impressive in its heyday. Anyway, we didn't get there as it would have been a very long walk, so we went to Ridi Bazaar instead.
Ridi Bazaar is described as being the Varanasi of Nepal. For those of you who've been to Varanasi you'll remember it as being a crowded, noisy, bustling place where practically the whole of life goes on down by the Ganges. Ridi Bazaar is nothing like that; when we were there it was really quiet apart from a wedding and a few picnickers. But it was a nice place, and the drive there was again stunning, even if the narrow, windy roads did have Bhakta praying more times than usual, and even if the tarmac was actually missing in a few places. We then went into Tansen. Tansen is nice, but at this time of year it does get very cold at night. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant in the evening with a heater by our table, and the room was really cold and got quite damp too - and it's the best hotel there is there. But the staff were very good and really friendly.Next we went to Chitwan Jungle Lodge. I had three elephant rides, a canoe ride, a nature walk and a jeep safari. I saw 2 rhinos, but to save me the trouble of photographing them and getting yet more blurred pictures of rhinos, they ran off before we got near. I also saw spotted deer, samba deer, three crocodiles, a stork, and lots of wild boar. We also did an alternative jungle walk, which consisted of me, Bhakta and Hakash (one of the guides) playing Scrabble in the viewing tower whilst the other guide took photographs of a langur monkey for me. Bhakta won the scrabble every time we played I'm ashamed to say, but then he is very competitive and always maximises the points he can get (we also played Connect 4 a lot and he won most of those games too).
One of the highlights at Chitwan was seeing the new baby elephant. It was only about 3 weeks old when we were there, and really cute, so once again I have lots of photographs of elephants. I also got invited to dinner with the staff instead of having dinner in the guests' dining room. We had dhal baat (of course), and I learned how to eat it in the traditional Nepali manner - using my right hand to mix everything up and then scooping it into my mouth from my hand by using my thumb. I'm not sure the food does taste any different from using a fork (which is what I was told), but it's a fun way to eat, and not quite as messy as it sounds.So then it was back to Kathmandu, and we have a pretty full programme until we fly back on Friday. Bhakta is taking us out to dinner tonight, then tomorrow we're having lunch and a send-off at Natraj, then we have to be at Jill's school (I think) around 4 for something or other. Then I have to be at my school next morning, then we're having a party at night, then the next day we're coming back to Kathmandu for our last hot shower in Nepal before flying home. Do I want to go home? Yes and No. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family again, and to central heating and constant hot showers (the extremes of temperature here - 25C during the day and then 5C at night - are a little hard to handle without these, at least for a soft Westerner like me), and to having my own transport to get around. But I don't think there's anything else that I miss even after three months. And I will miss the people I know here, the friendliness of the Nepalese people, and waking up in the morning and seeing the Himalayas. But you can't have everything, so Ke Garne? (what to do?) as they say.
Well, that's all for now. There may be another post before we leave, but if not, there will more than likely be one or two when we get back.
Until then, take care of yourselves, and I'll see some of you soon.
Vivienne x
posted by Jill and Viv | 11:03 PM
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