Christmas in Nepal

So it's Christmas. It doesn't feel like it. Like I found in India Christmas isn't really a big deal over here - mostly only for the tourists. Places like kathmandu and Pokhara where a lot of western tourists hang out offer Christmas menu's which was nice to see. 

We were to spend a few days in pokhara which was a nice change of scenery. Christmas Day itself was beautiful and sunny and started with an English breakfast! Winner! Bacon and eggs always goes down well for my breakfast! The rest of the day was pretty relaxed walking around the lake and having some chai - looking around a few of the shops and then skyping my parents. 

Although I wanted it to be a suprise for my mum - she read the what's app messages I sent to my dad's phone and guessed! Way to go spoil a suprise! It was the first time I had skyped them since arriving in Nepal at the start of November. There is was Christmas morning and both my parents, my Aunty Pam & uncle stu plus George and will were there. It was really good to talk to them all and see my home again! I always  enjoyed Christmas and I was always the little elf that gave everyone their presents and for the second year running it wasn't me. Last year they made Hannah George's girlfriend do it and this year it became wills turn so hopefully he did a good job. 

Santa on the other hand didn't get the message I was in pokhara so apart from a small chocolate bar from my sweet raft guide that was it! Who needs presents anyway! 

That evening we headed to Silk Road and met up with a few of our kayak friends - the group ranged from Nepali guides, English kayakers, and girls from New Zealand, Poland and the USA. It was a good night full of happiness and of course beer and a BBQ! 

The next day it was time to leave pokhara and head back to fishling as our next kayaking adventures were to start in a few days. 

Rescue time!

Once back in fishling we had kind of two days before we were to meet up with the multi river guys. This gave chance for more kayaking - mostly playing on the wave for paddy and some more rolling practise for myself. There were a few kids that had been trying to kayak and trying to roll but failing and no one was there to help coach them. At least they were trying close to the side and in mostly shallow water. 

The day we were to go to kathmandu in the morning however I went down to the river and got in my boat to warm up and there was someone sat on the other side of the bank. It turned out it was one of the kids from the day before and he had paddled upstream flipped, bailed out the boat and lost both the boat and the paddle and was stuck on the other side of the river. He had tried to swim across apparently but had been unsuccessful. So I went to rescue him when I got closer he just said "help me!" Which I was impressed at as he at least attempted to speak English to me! So after a rescue mission it was time to carry on with practise time. 

From the Himalaya to the highlands and back again

So, it's nearly the end of the year. Wow it feels like yesterday that I was in India and slept through the new year celebrations. However I was ill and the kidney stones I had recently been diagnosed with meant that celebrations would be of the non alcoholic variety anyway. 

It's been a fantastic year really, starting off in the Indian himalaya (which I recently found out that 'hima' means snow and 'laya' means abode or home) then travels took me to Goa and Mumbai with Paddy. This holiday was fantastic and allowed me to experience more of India - namely travel on long distance trains, beaches, cities, crowds and quieter communities. 

Upon returning from the trip more experience of Delhi and rishikesh was to be had where I entered my first white water kayaking competition. Although the female category was under represented it did allow me to place second and win some prizes. I also met a lot of people and a lot of good kayakers over the two days who I may or may not encounter again. 

Although, I was having a great time experiencing new programs and treks in various locations. frustrations where starting to develop with the work and peoples views on my relationship with Paddy. Instead of getting frustrated it was time to do something about it - namely leave the company and India. This decision was particularly hard as I don't like quitting and I was uncertain where this would take me although with the summer season in the uk approaching and a secured job offer oh made sense to earn some money again. 

So it was back to the uk I went, not without a little stress and drama. I nearly missed my flight for apparently overstaying my visa as I hadn't registered my stay at the registry office - a little stress and a small fine later I was on the. Plane. I remember sitting on the plane for the whole journey wanting it to be turned around and wanting to stay - that didn't happen though and I was soon back in the cold! 

It was good to see the parents and Bedfordshire for a little while before I commenced the long drive up to Scotland - well it wasn't just Scotland it was Inverness right up in the highlands. It would turn out to be an interesting summer - I rented a room in a house with a lovely gay couple living in it in a small village with no shop. Both of the his were great and I enjoyed living there the house was always clean and the occasional cooked meal was always apprieciated. 

It was the start of my time up in Scotland where I undertook my raft guide training course. This course was great with a bunch of lads and all with different motivations. This course would hopefully make it a little easier for me and Paddy to be together. It was enjoyable despite to cold weather and water which I was not used to at all! 

Working was just as interesting, a small team of staff and I was the only female instructor - again. It didn't matter though and many adventures were to be had from canoeing down the Spey, gorge walking, to driving to some amazing remote locations within the highlands to pick up or drop off kit for the hire people. Getting lost up in the highlands was something that happened fairly frequently  - although the use of sat nav helped me greatly to avoid this most of the time. 

Leaving Scotland would be hard as good friendships had been made and it's beautiful up there - however plans had been made to return home for just over a month. This month at home would see we spend most of my days either with my parents or flat water kayaking. My evenings were mostly spent delivering pizza's. My career as a delivery driver was fairly fun for the most part although late nights and hard to find addresses where the annoyances in my fairly Unstressful life. 

My life was getting a little more stressful trying to pack paddling gear and a boat so that I could fly with it. Eventually it got sorted alright and no extra charges made it a bonus and I was back to the himalaya this time though it would be nepal. 

What an introduction I had to nepal, one night in kathmandu, then travel to the Trishuli for a bit of kayaking and then off to the tamur, which included a trek and some rafting with some great people. Then back to kathmandu and the Trishuli for the white water competition. Other travels took us to pokhara, chitwan and to visit his family in a small village. 

Now it's Christmas in pokhara and after a short Skype with my parents, Aunty and uncle and George and will for the first time since I had been out here we had fun with the kayak crew. Although it didn't feel very Christmassy it was nice to enjoy some time off the river with friends which had been made during my time here so far. 

I realise that I've been very fortunant this year and the oppourtunities that have got me back with my little man in this strange yet amazing country have been apprieciated. I am thankful to those who I have met along the way that have helped me, put up with my banter and moaning at times. 

Looking to the new year I am hoping that it too will bring some great oppourtunities for me to grow and develop. I am also looking forward to more adventures along the way whatever they may bring, along with being reunited with friends who have been missed. There is also the marriage of my brother to his fiancé to look forward to - the union of these two will reunite and bring together our family from the country to spend some time together. Hopefully this year although may be a struggle a times for certain members of the family hopefully good health and happiness will push through. 

Although It again was a dry new year due to splitting my head open but that's another post it was still a great end to an amazing year here's to another great year to come. 

Clinic of the kayak variety

After chitwan a few days of kayaking followed - more race training, rolling practise and a bit of river running on the Trishuli with a kayak clinic from another company. There was a few boys who were learning how to kayak and we were able to run the upper section of river with them. There was a raft with us on the first day and they were enjoying themselves. One of the boys from the kayak clinic capsized a couple of times and swam which I don't think he enjoyed as he ended up not kayaking the following day. 

The following day we had two girls who joined us and they too again had a couple of swims but they were in good spirits and enjoyed themselves. I ran 'upset' both of these times as although it was not the main line I still felt like I had pushed myself a little. The waters big and although there isn't many rocks there are big holes in some of the rapids which I don't really want to get caught up in. Overall it was a really good couple of days kayaking and my confidence on the bigger water has definatly got better. 

We were to spend the next few days at kuringhat with a lovely girl called mili who had booked on to learn how to kayak. Getting her to learn the basics was good as she wanted to learn and soon she was going upside down trying to learn how to roll. The next day she was to run some rapids and I stayed at camp to let Anil one of the GRG boys helping to cook have the chance as I had already run the section a couple of times. Mili did really well - Anil however had a couple of swims but enjoyed himself anyway. The last day of the clinic and we ran the section from fishling down to kuringhat. There was just us two girls and paddy. It went well and we had the chance to roll in the flat water which was good as I managed to roll successfully by myself a handful of times it felt like a lightbulb moment where things had clicked and were working well and easily! It felt like a small break through to me anyway! 

Soon though it was time to depart after being joined by a group of English people who were doing a multi river trip program over the next few days. They were heading to pokhara next, mili and Anil were heading back to kathmandu and paddy and myself back to fishling. 

Overall we had a really good few days paddling with different people and different parts of the river. Lots of learning was involved and a little more confidence gained. 

Chitwan National Park

So a couple's club had developed since the kayak competition. This club consisted of Paz, Hayley, and myself as the white females and Pradeep, Tarzan and pappu as the Nepalese males. With finding the other two couples back in fishling as Tarzan was doing a white water rescue technition's course we started to make plans. During the few days it consisted of practising kayaking - mostly rolling for myself; long distance and tricks for pappu and the two girls were introduced to kayaking slowly. However much fun this was the other couples had planned to go to chitwan national park for a visit. So loose plans were made and it was decided that we would go on the 11th. 

After taking a early bus ride back to narayanghat where we had stopped on the way to his auntys it was time to wait for the other couples. We had split up as they had stayed at tarzans grandmothers house the night before as it was her birthday (if it wasn't her birthday it was someone's party). After breakfast and chai we were soon with the others on another bus on the way to the park. 

Chitwan - means heart of the jungle, and is located in the flatlands of Nepal not too far away from the Indian boarder. Many tourists head to the park which has many activities on offer to cater for a wide audience. Upon arriving in our rickshaw with all of us piled in with out bags we were dropped outside one of the agents offices. Immediately the boys were on it with negotiations on somewhere to stay and what activities we were going to do. 

Hotel sorted, lunch ordered it was time for some chai and a chat. We went for a walk and found a nice rooftop cafe which served us some chai. Dahl Bhat was to follow back at the hotel shortly afterwards - much to my delight. I'd rather eat it once a day in the evening not at lunch but it wasn't a big deal. The boys then went to find out about the prices for the activities that were on offer - from trekking, 4wd safari's, canoeing, elephant rides, plus many more activites. We had a shock when the boys came back with the prices! As always it was fairly cheep for the boys with them being Nepalese however as all us females were foriegners it was nearly twice the price for us. We had looked prices up online before they went - but it was an outdated price list and it was nearly triple what we were expecting! 

So that threw a spanner in the plan. Despite the price increase we decided that we would do something seeing as we had traveled there - which meant we didn't necessarily have to come back. The question was - what did we want to do? The other couples had decided to stay for longer so they were not in much of a rush to make any decisions whereas we had decided just to stay the one night  - although the accomadation was fairly inexpensive we had a room back in fishling where we were spending a lot less for both food and accomadation than we were here at chitwan. So decisions had to be made - we eventually decided upon the elephant ride. I was always gutted because the elephant at beach camp in India had always decided to visit when I was on program somewhere or in Delhi so I never got to see it and I really wanted to. So elephant ride it was. We planned that for the morning of the next day - that evening we went to the cultural program that was being shown. 

The cultural program again we had to pay for but it wasn't expensive - the other couples had decided to stay back and chat so we ventured by ourselfs. This cultural program involved music and dancing that was traditional to the local area. Some of it involved men and sticks, others girls dancing, a little but of fire, or a made up peacock - which to me was the highlight of the dances. At the end everyone was invited to get up and dance which my little pappu did do and managed to get two of the girls to have their photo taken with him?! (His new Nepalese wives maybe?). Overall it was good to experience and see the traditional local dances. Who knows maybe one day I'll know some of them?! I would reccomend going to experience this even if it's just to see the peacock dance! 

The elephant ride - where do I start? I was a little apprehensive about it to start off with because I wasn't sure on how the elephants were treated but I had agreed and paid so I guess I didn't want to waste money. There were four of us sat ontop of the elephant - which I had found out during the ride that she was called Lakshmi - like the godess. She was a little bit stubborn but overall was a very good elephant to have the pleasure of sitting on for nearly two hours. It was fairly early in the morning when we went for our ride although there was quite a lot of people around and maybe about 20 elephants who were all setting off to take tourists on a walk through the jungle. We did manage to see some rhino, crocodiles, wild boar, monkeys and deer on our trip through the jungle - not forgetting the tiny frog that jumped ontop the other girls leg (who kinda freaked out a little bit) and the spiders and webs we went through - much to my pleasure!  

Apart from a few times where Lakshmi decided to stop for a snack, overall she was well behaved although that didn't stop the guide from hitting her - much to my displeasure although there wasn't anything I could do about it. Although I enjoyed it as an experience it isn't something I would necessarily jump at to do again - i would rather spend money doing something where the poor animal giving us a memorable experience doesn't get hit on the head several times.  I had a feeling but I guess that you live and learn after having the experience. 

Soon after we met up with the other couples and went for brunch as it was soon time for us to leave. Brunch was enjoyable on the water front when it finally arrived - it took a long time but our "two eggs any style with toast and "hash potatoes" and tea" was enjoyable even if it was missing the bacon!! After brunch we said our farewells for now and we departed for the bus back to fishling. 

Overall it was worth going to chitwan - however the price difference made a huge difference to the length of time we spent there and the activities that we did. In particular again the price difference for the Nepalese and the foreigners made a huge difference - as a foreigner getting charged three times the price I feel is unfair. What can you do though? It's a poor country that relys upon tourists income to make money. 

Up into the clouds

WeNot too far away from we are staying there is Nepal's only cable car. The cable car goes up over the river and up the mountain where there is a temple. Many tourists come to visit this temple as the goddess is known for making wishes come true. 

We decided one day to go up to the temple to visit - one reason was that Paddy had never been on a cable car before! We arrived and saw the charges - for Nepalese it was around 600rs (approx  £4) for a foreigner like me it was $20 (This is one thing that annoys me about both Nepal and India and I'm sure it happens in other Asian countries - if we were to charge different prices in the UK for foreigners then I'm sure there would be riots and protests! However it is what it is - we paid the money and there was a slight benefit to this as we were able to walk straight to the front of the queue and not wait in line. Bonus! 

The day itself was cloudy which I was a little bit disappointed at to be honest as I had wanted to see the view from the top of the mountain as I'm sure it would have been amazing but nevertheless we were sat in the car with another family and we were travelling up over the river, houses, trees and up into the clouds. The trip itself was going to take approx 10 minutes and whilst we were in the cloud it was hard to even see 10m out of the cable car. It seemed as if luck wasn't on my side as we kept gettin higher and higher and the cloud was still there. 

Fortunantly, for me my wish had got granted and we rose through the cloud and into a beautiful sunny day. Walking off the cable which had taken us to an altitude of 1,302m in a short time and we didn't realise how many shops and resturants there were. We walked trough street upon street selling the same jewlerry,souvenirs, flowers and pictures of the temple. 

As usual I had shouts at me in Nepalese saying "get her to buy this" or people getting me to try and eat at their resturant. I walked alone as paddy went to get the flowers, rice, coconut and incense which are traditionally given as gifts to the gods - mostly because he would have had to pay twice as much if I was with him! 

Whist standing for this photo a random stranger - again did something that really quite annoys me - taking a picture of me without asking. Even if they had asked I would have said no. It's not as if I go and hunt down the foreign people in the uk and take pictures of them - so why do it to me?! (Rant over!?) 

Even though we had arrived fairly early in the day, there was a long queue to get inside the temple - as in, so long we decided that we would offer our gifts and make our wishes outside the actual temple. Inside was a series of bells and a statue of the godess. So once we had had the coconut broken and tika put on our foreheads we lit the incense and made our wishes to the godess. 

People also bring live animals such as goats or chickens up to the temple to offer to the gods. Their heads get chopped off and then the rest of the animal put in a plastic bag and taken somewhere - maybe back with the family. We saw a few of these headless goats bleeding all over the floor near the temple - where people were walking bearfoot.... Thankfully I didn't take any pictures of these animals as I don't need a reminder of that. 

We stopped by this one shop to get a very photoshopped picture of the both of us with the temple in the background as a souvenir. The picture was taken in a few mintutes and we left for lunch to give the guy some time to edit it. After finding somewhere for lunch where we had some thukpa (a Tibetan noodle dish) which was nice - but took a very long time to arrive. We returned to the photo guy to be greeted by our picture which cost all of 100rs. 

It was soon time to head back down the mountain - however we had timed it badly as the cable car had just closed for lunch time. Which meant we were to wait over an hour until we were able to head back down the mountain. During that time however the clouds had cleared up slightly more and we were able to see some more of the mountains in the area. I think the most left more of a mystery to the day although I'm sure the view would have been stunning if it had been clear. 

Once we had waited for the cable car to reopen - again we managed to go straight to the front of the queue without waiting - whereas others had been stood waiting in line since the car shut for lunch. Whilst we were waiting we watched it get longer and longer and even longer! Overall it was an enjoyable day and worthwhile to go and visit. Now it's just time to wait and see

If our wishes do come true.....

Meeting family

It was decided that we were going to visit his family. Now that the competition had finished we were free to do more stuff that wasn't training or practise for the competition. We had previously gone to the biggest local town with Paz, Pradeep and a few others from the competition. This has allowed us to eat something other than dal Bhat and have a change of scenery. 

 This change of scenery lead us to the confluence of the Trishuli and the Marsyendi rivers where we spent some time sitting. After this we went to the German bakery - although there wasn't anything really German on the menu - Israeli, Nepalese, Indian, Tibetan and Italian foods where all there but I didn't really see anything German food on the menu. 

However going to meet family was a different story - I was probably the first white person that was going to visit the village, they more than likely didn't speak English and apparently there wasn't anything to do there. I wasn't prepared for this really but I knew it was going to happen at some point as he had told me before that we would visit at some point. I know I shouldn't make assumptions however i guess it's easier for me to be prepared and expect the worst and then hope for the best. 

After a short bus ride, lunch, another bus ride, buying some sweets, another bus ride and a walk through the local fields we were nearly there - we just had to find the right house. 

We did find it eventually and met his Aunty, great uncle and nieces. I think they were Suprised to see him with me - I sat there and smiled as I didn't really understand a word that they said! That didn't matter though as we were both welcomed warmly even though we were unannounced! 

We ate fairly early as the power goes out early here for whatever reason. More dal Bhat was on the menu - which was good. Once the power was out there wasn't much to do apart from make our own entertainment. Which consisted of putting on head tourches and reading my book or playing games on my iPhone. The second night it consisted of some of the local children coming to sit in the room with me just so they could come and have a look at me..! 

There was a book I've finished already titled sold. This book was really easy to read and was quite eye opening at the same time. It followed a young village girls story who got sold to a women who then took her to India and kept her and sold her for sex. The girl thought she was going to the city to work as a maid to help earn money for her family so that he could buy a tin roof for their house. Being in this village seeing the young boys and girls and the houses made me think about this book whilst I was there. I am quite fortunant really with my upbringing and house I've grown up in and the oppourtunities that have been given to me. Whilst for these village children they might not ever receive a proper education or get that tin roof for their family.  

Anyway I digress - we visited more relatives of sorts - I have no idea how he is related as he didn't seem sure at times either. They have various houses some with straw roofs and some with tin roofs. Some with lots of animals some with less animals. There were also some young babies along the way who mostly cried when I got close to them - not that I minded because they were too small for me to want to hold or play with anyway - paddy on the other hand he seems to jump at the chance to play with the small children (I know who's going to stay at home and look after the children - IF - and that's a big If it ever happens! And it's not going to be me!). 

We also got on the local bus which took us to the nearest main road. On the way back whilst I was sitting waiting in  the bus which waiting for a few more people to get on board before leaving to go up the road - one of the bus boys - who collects the money for the ride looked at me on the bus - an then shouted to his friend in Nepalese "there's a white girl on our bus" - to which the friend came on the bus for the ride to look at me! I was completely oblivious to this at the time and found out after the bus ride. 

Again, before we left we went to visit a few more relatives - who have us some rice beer in morning - which left us both a little tipsy. Walking through the village the children and adults would stop and stare at me - I felt like sometimes that I should carry a load of sweeties around with me to give to the kids, maybe they would stop the stares?! Again, also when walking back to the house we stopped at the local shop to buy the little girl some food snacks - these spicy rice crispy things. Whilst we were waiting a small crowd started gathering and asking stuff in Nepalese and I stood and smiled at them - as I didn't understand a word that they were saying - I just understood the replies that paddy gave them. 

Soon it was time to leave but not before some dal Bhat and a few family photo's and some random photos which the girls took with my phone. We will be going back to visit again before we leave for India.