Today was an odd day and left us both with mixed feelings.
We met up with Rajendra (Raj) in Durbar Square, he looked delighted and a bit surprised we had actually come to meet him. We then took a taxi to his home in Kirtipur which is on a hill just outside Kathmandhu. We didn’t really know what to expect but, I suspected as a waiter he would not be particularly wealthy.
It is a very Nepali thing to invite a complete stranger to your home or to have a meal, I remember this from Aldershot.
Raj lives with his wife, and 18 and 19 year old daughters, and slightly younger teenage son in two rooms. The living room/kitchen also doubles up as a bedroom for the parents.
We were welcomed very enthusiastically by the two girls who chatted non stop to us while Raj’s wife Shova cooked dinner. Clare soon had one of the girls wearing the wafty outer top she was wearing and I was sparring with the son who is studying Karate (I hear you Linda!). The conversation ebbed and flowed easily with all members of the family except for the son who was a bit shy..
This was the first time Raj had ever invited anyone to his home and he seemed so pleased we had accepted. One daughter wanted to go to work in Dubai in a bar (she was not working at the time) and the other wanted to go the Australia as a chef, currently she was working in a cafe. It seems all the young women want to escape Nepal. Shova is out of work too but, likes to knit and gave us fantastic hats that she had made. She wanted to knit something for Clare’s granddaughter, Clare was concerned at the generosity of the gift but, it’s difficult faced with such enthusiasm. The family is Christian and they showed us videos of their church meetings which looked very Nepali and jolly.
We had a delicious dinner. Clare managed to eat with her hand, I needed a spoon because I didn’t want to be wearing it. I was a tad worried about Clare doing this as although the food would be ok, I wasn’t sure about the surroundings and it was a little difficult to raise the subject there and then.
After Dinner Shova, one of her daughters and the landlords daughter took us for walk to the ancient City of Kirtipur, a city of the Newar people (an ancient group of people in Nepal) of which Raj and his family are related. And guess what…… It’s a UNESCO world heritage site! Shova took us to look at the temples and the old buildings of the town which is perched above Kathmandhu. She grew up here and we must have made a unique sight arm in arm, Shova about half the size of Clare and at a foot under my height. The two girls were fussing over Clare (she is a big teenager herself).
We got some stunning views out over the city of Kathmandhu. The daughter with us persuaded us to try rice beer, which was sweet and not really to my liking. Clare being Clare, really bonded with this girl, trouble makers together I think! On our walkabout we picked up other members of Shova’s family. Clare and I bought everyone coffee or whatever they wanted at a restaurant, it was the least we could do after a very interesting day.
Shova and Raj wanted us to stay overnight and offered their bed (they would have slept on the floor next to us in the kitchen/living room). We managed to politely decline.
I think we both felt exhilarated, exhausted and disturbed by the contrast of our standards of living by the time we arrived back at our hotel..
The Travelling Bee 
Glad to see Clare arrive safely……hahaha the sparring takes me back not only to Yately and our club but also when we practised moves here dressed up and you actually had a dress on 😂😂😂 it looked better on you then it did on me! I hope he enjoyed your lesson! Nice that you were invited for a meal and we also remember when we lived in Church Crookham how warm and friendly the Ghurks stationed there were.
It’s very indicative of Nepalese people to want to gift, how nice is that for Clare’s grandchild….lovely stories to pass on through the generations. It would I think insulting to refuse as they are a very proud nation. But here we aren’t so accepting of gifts we somehow feel it’s too much or embarrassed . I remember friends of my Father’s , he was in the Iranian army and he and his wife were over for work…..we had gone to a dance with them and my parents and I was admiring a ring she had on….so she said in broken English “ you have it” so gingerly I had to explain that in England many people will admire or say how pretty things are but you can’t just give them away ! Phew thank goodness she understood. And again to offer to sleep on the floor while you slept in their bed shows how much they must have thought of you two even if you didn’t take up the offer. But when you have little and are still happy and willing to share somehow I think we have things wrong here! Glad you used your spoon although I am sure that Clare was fine 🙂. The building are amazing and the time seems to be going so quickly ……and yes the picture of Clare with the girls is really nice but shows how tiny they are….we need a nepolese diet!! 😂
Look forward to the next blog….be safe xxx
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