My welcome garland

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The Nepali banquet and meeting the orphans

Wednesday 17th April
Last night's dinner turned out to be a very authentic experience.  The restaurant was an old palace of the kings of Nepal with wonderful old ceilings and carvings although the toilet was a bit like the krypton factor with a traditional Nepali locking system.  I had to come out and ask our courier for help. Also they leave a pair of slippers outside the toilet for you to put on before you go in as you do not wear your shoes inside in Nepal.  Some places have western toilets but most have the hole in the floor, so obviously you don't want to go in in bare feet.

We had rice wine and a seven course meal, apart from the rice, popcorn and fish, everything else was curried - cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, chicken, dal, momos. I had a large Everest beer to help it all along. Everything was served in brass cups and dishes which added to the flavour.  But the best part was the ethnic music and dancing group. Half a dozen dances and songs from different parts of Nepal.  I particularly liked the one where a boy passes a girl in the country and throws stones at her.  He does this every day until she throws them back.  Then they fall in love.  I think I'd report him to the police.

When we left it absolutely poured with rain with thunder and lightening but the next day it was hot and humid.  We were collected and taken to the orphanage to meet the chairman and a lady committee member who explained the philosophy of the foundation, which is the child, women's empowerment and the environment.  the children are taught self sufficiency from an early age so they wash their own clothes and bedding among other things. imagine teenagers in the UK doing that without complaint. The children are there sometimes because their parents have died or because their parents can't keep them financially.  Some are just left there and because they don't know who their parents are they are given the name of the orphanage as their surname.  We were shown round and met quite a few of them as their schools were closed for a holiday.  The little ones were very appealing and were having a writing lesson at which they were very good.  The older girls were helping them and the older boys were playing chess or just sleeping, so obviously staying in bed is international for teenage boys.
In the afternoon we had a language lesson in Nepali.  Obviously we couldn't use their script but we did learn some useful phrases.  Bathroom kahaa chaa?  Ma curry kantu. Ma mero Sue ho.

We called in at a very nice coffee shop, like a big Nepali Starbucks and back to the hotel.

PS am struggling to post my photos.  If anyone has any advice to offer, please post it.

The hotel
Tuesday 16th April
We were met at the airport after no less than 6 security checks, passport out, boarding pass out, hand luggage then suitcases through scanners, frisking again and this was to get into the country, very thorough but like a route march.  Our courier loaded us and our luggage into a people carrier and off we went for the 30 minute drive into Kathmandu.  It was a bit like a ride in a theme park, narrow, pot holed streets, cars, lorries and motor bikes honking their horns non stop, some chickens in the street and even one big monkey.  Ajayai told us that there was a lot of rebuilding going on to widen the roads, which works like this - the government tells you that your road is being widened so please move your house.  Many people choose to rebuild their houses on the same road but several yards further back and they may or may not get some compensation, but certainly not enough to cover the rebuilding costs. There is no consultation, no tribunal, no objecting.  That said, everyone has a smile on their face and the local people do seem genuinely happy on the whole.

We checked into our hotel and were given a garland of fresh flowers and a welcome drink.  We were also given the best rooms in the hotel.  It has beautiful rose gardens which have existed since the time there was a palace on the site, a swimming pool and restaurant and my room is very spacious and comfortable.  The whole hotel reminds me a bit of the Best Eastern Marigold Hotel, only a bit more modern.

It's comfortably warm today because of the haze, as Kathmandu is very dusty,  I expect that's due to all the knocking down of people's houses!  Tonight we are being taken out for an authentic Nepali meal of dal, curried meat and vegetables, rice and momos (dumplings).  
Below, me on an elephant (not real obviously) in the rose garden.

We arrive.

Monday 15th April 2013
When I woke up on Sunday morning, there didn't seem any rush as I had done most of my packing the day before but as the day wore on I kept remembering more and more things that I had forgotten.  Where was my camera charger?  Should I travel in jeans and were they clean? etc, etc.  By 3pm, I had been running up and down the stairs non stop like a frantic budgie.
My private car (yes, private ) to Heathrow arrived on time, driven by a very nice Turkish man with an incomprehensible accent.  After 15 minutes I gave up and pretended to be asleep. In the departures lounge I was met by the very dapper Ernie who whisked me up to the Premiere Class check in desk.  I told him that I was travelling in Economy but he insisted and I thought, wow I've been upgraded, apart from the fact that there was a huge queue for the Economy.  No such luck and to rub it in, the Economy passengers had to pass through the Premiere class section with flat bed seats and complimentary champagne. But before that we had to go through rigorous security checks.  Men went in one queue and women in the other.  One by one we were called into a little tent and told to stand on a podium where a very grim faced security lady frisked us with an electronic wand.  One woman set off the alarm with her hip replacement and had a really hard job explaining.  And no,  for all my former students who said "Why do I have to learn foreign languages?", they don't all speak English.
It was a seven and a half hour flight but we had 25 films to choose from on our individual screens. We arrived in Delhi to a hazy day but it was 25 degrees at 7am.  Of course we had lost 5 hours somewhere in the night so I was completely wrung out on arrival.  Delhi airport looks pretty new and frankly you could have been at any UK airport with the usual WH Smith, Body Shop and McDonalds.
I had by this time met up with the other ladies on the programme and broken the ice.  One was in Premiere Class but the other was slumming it like me.  As we were heading towards the departure gate for Kathmandu, an electric buggy, the sort that transports old people! pulled up and the driver asked us if we would like a ride to the gate.  Not sure whether I was pleased or upset.  Only a one and a half hour's flight now to Kathmandu, what could go wrong?  And then it happened.  Having dodged the chicken curry on the first leg, I was presented with it on the second. I quailed as I peeled back the tin foil and inhaled the smell that I fear.  Did I eat it?  Yes, most of it.  Did I enjoy it?  Not much but too cowardly to leave it untouched.  But everyone says that Nepali food is more delicate than Indian so I still have some hope.  Currently my mouth is on fire.