Nepal 65, The last few days

I’ve had a fantastic adventure, met some gorgeous people who I hope to stay in touch with. I definitely intend to and want to come back in about a years time.

I didn’t spend the last few of days idly. I had two glorious days with Rajkumar and Kriti exploring the jungle behind their house. On one of the walks we went with Romi (Juliette having homework didn’t come) and it took about five hours. I think the highlight was watching Romi climb a tree for the first time in his life, then not being able to stop him from shinning up any old Rhododendron tree. His father is a veritable Langur himself.

The next trip was to an area neither Kriti or Rajkumar had been. There was a very picturesque ridge and we decided to explore it. It was hard going and then we met two boys half way up, looking a bit forlorn. They were 9 and 8 years and had missed school, one had got up too late and the other had lost his lunch money, they went to different schools and they were nervous about returning home. We all walked up the steep trails together and eventually reached the boys homes. I don’t know if they were scolded. I suspect Rajkumar put in a good word for them because the parents let them spend the rest of the day guiding us. I cannot imagine this happening in the UK, can you? Both boys relieved, became really chatty and even tried out their English. The boys were small and thin, the 9 year old being smaller than the younger boy, I thought he looked about six years old. Apparently they didn’t speak properly either according to Kriti, I couldn’t understand them at all. Anyway they knew the hill like the back of their hand and were running everywhere, sure footed.

We stopped at a small hotel high on the ridge for lunch, and the boys didn’t know what they wanted to eat so, Rajkumar ordered Momo’s for them. Well, I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to see these boys eating, they looked positively ecstatic with every mouthful and polished off the lot.

We had spectacular views of the whole of Kathmandhu valley and it’s not hard to imagine it was once a huge lake

The boys took us to a small temple. It’s the first time I’ve seen one of these water tanks clean enough to have fish in it!

It was a lovely day, but we had to say goodbye to the boys so they could go home, I gave them a few rupees each for guiding us, not much, sufficient to buy enough sweets to make themselves sick if they chose to. I wonder if they will remember the day total strangers walked with them and took them for lunch? Maybe the rest for of their lives!

As we got close to home disaster struck, Kriti tripped down a steep step and sprained her ankle. Leaning heavily on Rajkumar she manage to limp the short distance home. I could see it was very painful, she only made it half way up stairs before laying on the landing sofa. We got her foot elevated and went to find some ice. I wandered into town for Ibuprofen and a bandage. Juliette has a good grasp of first aid as do I. What I have noticed though is a complete lack of knowledge around medicines and yet they are so cheap here. I explained that Ibuprofen is anti inflammatory as well as a pain killer. I checked Kriti could take it first and once it started to work she fell asleep.

Later we all had a cosy evening, the family sat with Kriti on the sofa, eating and telling jokes, well the jokes were mostly from Romi (Christmas Cracker style) Hahahaha.

Also in the final days, I took a trip into Kathmandhu to say goodbye to Urmila my tutor and Ramesh a waiter in the hotel I had stayed in.

Then I met up with Rajendra, Shova and one of their daughters, Retsha in Kirtipur and spent a very pleasant afternoon with them. Both Shova and Retsha cooked traditional Newari food in their little kitchen/bedroom.

To my surprise Shova crocheted me a little purse, I’ve never seen anyone work so quickly.

I could so easily have missed seeing them because they had been away to friends for a few days. They kindly made sure I got the right bus back to Kriti’s and the journey that would cost me about £10 by taxi cost me 30p. Mind you it was overcrowded and I had a man hanging over me most of the way, Hey ho!

So unless something utterly remarkable happens, this my last blog from Nepal. I have shopping to do, which is my least favourite thing.

This is a country of contrasts. I have a love hate relationship with it. There is so much to love and admire but, there is equally a lot that needs fixing. For all our of gripes about how the UK and various establishments are run, we are extremely lucky to have what we have.

I’m now looking forward to home and seeing my family and friends. I also quite fancy a cheddar cheese and salad sandwich and an English cup of tea (that’s a contradiction I know). I’m looking forward to being able to drink water from the tap, sing in the shower without worrying that I swallowed some water. I want to be able to put rubbish in a bin and to walk where it is not so dusty that you always need a mask. And finally want to see my cat!

Thank you for your company on my travels and I hope to see you soon.