Nepal? Why Nepal?

Why Nepal? Well why not? Its a desirable destination after all! That’s where I’m off to right now.

Actually this trip has a lot to do with the the town of Aldershot in the North of Hampshire and “Home of the British Army”. Its maybe not such a desirable destination but this is in part is why I’m going.
I was not in the army but, I worked in Aldershot for about 6 years and that’s where a weird love affair with Aldershot began.
As towns go it looks rather run down and during the time I was there (between 2010 and 2016), it had some of the poorest areas in the country according to the government indices of deprivation. This was made all the more apparent by the wealth and beauty in the surrounding areas of Hampshire and Surrey.
The Nepal connection? The Gurkhas!
Gurkhas are Nepali soldiers supplied to the British Army and they have been in the UK since 1800’s. Many were based in Aldershot and nearby Church Crookham.
The British are aware of the Gurkhas but not many of my European friends have any knowledge at all.
You may have heard about the Gurkha Justice Campaign which has actor and model Joanna Lumley as a high profile supporter. In essesnce this was about the right of Gurkhas who served in the British Army (and their families) to live in the UK.
For Aldershot this led to a large influx of people between 2006 and 2009. At one point the town had about 10% Nepalis living there, it may be more now. As you can imagine, there were the usual difficulties when cultures collide and most of it based in misunderstanding and myth.

From my side, I saw a run down town become bustling again, the market and shops become a place of wonder with exotic fruit and vegetables. The Nepali people were so delightful to be around even though I couldnt speak a word, they were so friendly. They walked everywere and congregated in the parks chatting and laughing, it was so lovely to see and they made the area very Cosmopolitan. One man who did speak English told me he thought Aldershot was beautiful! This astonished me but made me look at it a little differently. What made it so attractive to come all the way from the other side of the world to live in a poor military town?
Anyway, working with several Nepali colleagues (none of which were Ghurkhas) I started to get a tantalising glimpse into the culture.
One person in particular Durga and I share a passion for growing food and the importance of community.
I would turn up to work with a picture of some bizarre looking vegetable for him to identify (usually prickly) and he would sometimes sit at my desk to share his delicious Nepalese lunch with me .
Durga has thought long about returning to Nepal to live and to help with his community there. He has a number of inspiring ideas which I offered to help with, if I could.
So I’ve put my money where my mouth is and I have been earnestly learning Nepali since April.
Now I’m off to Nepal for 3 months.

The first two weeks however, will be with my intrepid father, bird watching again.
I intend to meet up with Durga at some point, get a trek in and just see where my feet take me!
My adventures are about to begin and you are coming with me!