Reflection of my life in Nepal

In November 2010 I landed at Kathmandu airport prepared to embark on assignment with Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), three years later I find myself sitting again at Kathmandu airport preparing to depart from Nepal to India, quite a changed woman. This is a brief insight into my experiences.

VSO is an international development organisation that sends professionals to developing countries throughout the world to share their skills. In Nepal I was assigned to work with two Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) as organisation development advisor for a period of two years in Nepalgunj, locally termed ‘the hottest place in the country’ and situated in the Mid Western Region of Nepal.

And it was hot. In the summer, which seemed to stretch for a full 8 months of the year the temperatures soared to a sizzling 45C and in the winter we all sat in the office wearing hats, gloves and coats, freezing cold. Volunteering for VSO in Nepalgunj was not a just a job, it was a whole body and soul experience. My day started early around 5:30 am with the call to prayer, Nepalgunj also has the highest population of Muslim people in Nepal. A hop, skip and a jump later, or just a short bike ride on an Indian style push bike, I would find myself welcomed at the local sports stadium where I enjoyed my morning run. If I was ever late the locals would chorus ‘you’re late’, which I always found really funny considering that with ‘Nepali time’ people can be up to a day late or not turn up at all. Still in was nice to be missed. The stadium itself was a visible indicator of the economic and social situation there. It was a simple field with concrete stepped seating which had many uses. The national army & police trained there, as did those who were training for entrance into the Indian and British armies. Some days I was the only woman there, when there were women they were dressed in traditional conservative clothing, not sportswear. The quality of footwear was by my standards vey poor, some people running in bare feet, flip flops or cheap copy trainers. Still the level of instruction by the government employed instructors was excellent.

What I loved about the life style in Nepalgunj was that I could run in the morning, walk the dog, do my house work and still have spare time before reaching the office at 10:00. In fact in most cases there was no one at the office until after 10:30, so I usually had to arrive late to be on time for when the office opened. My role as organisation development advisor was to carry out any tasks which helped to strengthen the infrastructure and function of the NGO’s I was working with. In practice I did what ever was needed. In Nepalgunj the NGO’s were very good at delivering the project activities, they really had a good in depth knowledge of the issues they were working on, it was the other stuff that they needed support with such as; monitoring and evaluation, policy development and report writing. One of the consistent problems which NGO’s encounter in Nepal is that the majority of the funding which they receive comes from western countries. This means that they have to be competent in writing in English in order to apply for funding and report on progress. A fair process or not, you can argue both sides. But this became a major role for me, writing both funding proposals in English and then writing reports on project progress, in some ways I was interpreting what goes on at project level to the western world. To be honest even I found the report writing somewhat challenging so I can understand why my colleagues also struggled.

At the beginning of my assignment working in Nepal I was lucky enough to get a free lunch of ‘daal baat tarkari’, which I absolutely loved. Being a vegetarian I have favoured going to Nepal as opposed to Africa because of the vegetarian cuisine. It did not fail to disappoint me. The vast majority of Nepali’s eat ‘daal baat tarkari’, twice a day every day. . It’s always fresh and made from scratch and can be turned around in about two hours, depending on if the spices are freshly ground by stone. Throughout the morning and evening you are guaranteed to hear the gentle hiss of pressure cookers, as women prepare lunch or dinner. Unfortunately this lunch time delight disappeared without trace after a short time, due to the cook leaving. I had to bring in my own lunch, which was entirely culturally inappropriate as all food is shared in Nepal, still there were some cultural practices I was not willing to adhere to.

At the end of the day I would meet friends, both Nepali and foreigners in one of the ‘cottages’, i.e. a local restaurant in which there are loads of small round shacks set in the ground, very useful for hiding. In Nepali culture, particularly outside of Kathmandu people like to hide when they are doing anything which may be frowned upon. So cottages are great for hiding with your friends from anyone who may know you, especially when drinking alcohol. Secret lovers will also meet there.
Bedtime was usually early, as there is a limit to how many books, movies and TV series one can watch by themselves.

More important than my day to day life was the opportunity I had to be inspired by some very committed individuals. Working with one national disability rights organisation I met many differently abled persons. They have committed their lives to advocating for the right of people with disabilities, so that they can receive what they are entitled to from the government and challenge the often negative perceptions. In Nepal many people still believe that if someone is born with a disability it is because they were bad in a previous life. Some Nepali’s also believe that if you see a person with a disability that it will bring them bad luck. Unfortunately these beliefs result in the worse case scenario, in families hiding their disabled children away from public view, leading to not receiving an education and social exclusion. There are hundreds of NGO’s in Nepal which are focussed on providing disability related support programs. Unfortunately they really struggle to raise funds due to a lack of education and sometimes even pay for projects out of their own pocket. They are discriminated against because they are not educated, as they were kept out of education by their own families. I once sat on a bus for 36 hours travelling from the west to the east of Nepal to attend the organisations’ AGM, all my fellow passengers were differently abled, some of them were not even able to get on and off the bus during breaks. Not one person complained.

I also worked with a youth organisation in Nepalgunj. This organisation was formed by a group of young individuals to fight against corruption. They have slowly grown in strength and capacity and are now successfully delivering social accountability programs. They encourage participation of the general public to question the activities of the local government in its expenditure and service delivery, thus holding it accountable. In Nepal corruption levels are incredibly high due to weak governance and the cultural acceptability of corruption. To add fuel to the fire, the high level of foreign aid that comes into the country also leads to mismanagement of funds and funds being used for personal benefit.

After two years in Nepalgunj there was one issue which really resonated with me as an individual; Gender inequality. The situation of women in Nepal is generally speaking not great. As a patriarchal society, the role of women is to: serve men, get married, have babies, do the house work and generally be subservient. As a woman I was interested to learn more about gender inequality and work for a women’s organisation. I was lucky enough to be offered the same role as organisation development advisor with a women’s alliance based in Kathmandu. The women’s alliance works with its member organisations which are all women’s organisations representing different groups from society, .eg. differently abled women, Dalit women, etc. They collectively advocate for representation of women in politics and other decision making roles. They were preparing for the election by advocating for a minimum quota of 33% representation of women in the Constituent Assembly. Last time the election took place this was achieved. In Nepal, in terms of government bodies they operate a quota system in which a percentage of jobs and elected positions are reserved for marginalised groups of which women are one. This system is also reciprocated in some NGO’s when they employ new staff and boards members. Even though this can end up as a bums on seats scenario, it’s definitely a step forward in terms of addressing inequality.

Aside from work I also had the chance to enjoy the many adventures that Nepal has offer. I did some great trekking into the Himalaya’s where the culture is predominantly influenced by Buddhism. I learnt to speak Nepali which certainly broke down many barriers and continues to even in India. And I made many new friends. Nepali’s are incredibly hospitable people and made me feel very welcome by inviting me to share food with them which was a great way to learn about Nepali culture.

Living in such a different culture to my own, I questioned the culture in my own country and ways of life there, challenging all my previous perceptions. From this experience I have grown as an individual and now have a far greater understanding of global issues and how we are all closely intertwined, which was revealed to the world in the recent factory disaster in Bangladesh apropos everything comes at a cost.

In the future I want to continue working in international development, particularly on interventions that focus on gender equality.

Women Suffer from Four Levels of Discrimination

Although the caste system was made illegal in 1962 in Nepal, it is still very much active throughout the country. The caste system is firmly embedded into Nepali culture in a complex structure that is difficult to untangle. It combines many different elements which strive to maintain a level of inequality and difference between ethnicities and groups based on birth right, ethnicity, occupation, power and financial assets. Although it’s easy for the so called ‘global west’ to criticize the caste system prominent in Asia, in reality the west has a caste system of its own usually referred to as class which is also based on birth right, ethnicity, occupation, power and financial assets. Arguably though it appears easier in the west to climb the social class ladder whereas in Nepal it is determined by birth.

One such group who struggles to shed the stigma cast upon them by the abolished caste system are Dalit’s, the so called ‘untouchable caste’ who are major victims of caste based discrimination. In the Far West hilly District of Doti, where the overall adult literacy rate is 42%, some Dalit women are suffering discrimination three fold; firstly because of their Dalit caste, secondly because they are women and thirdly because their families are infected with HIV/AIDS.
Sashi Sob resides in Doti and is District Chairperson of the Feminist Dalit Organisation, a national organisation which was set up in 1994 to "fight against caste and gender discrimination and to construct a just and equitable society". The Femimist Dalit Organisation is a member of Sankalpa Women’s Alliance for Peace, Justice and Democracy. It has defined itself as “Mission 50/50”, meaning proportionate and representative participation of women at all levels of the peace process and all state structures.

Sashi has noticed a trend in men seeking work outside of Doti to the neighbouring country of India. Local men are migrating to India for seasonal and long term work as labourers and security guards. Whilst working in the major cities of India the Nepali migrants are visiting the local brothels in which they are exposed to Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) such as HIV. As the migrant workers are not educated they are clueless to the dangers that they are exposing themselves to and consequently on their return to Doti they risk infecting their wives as well. When the men fall sick they believe that their ancestors are mad at them for visiting the brothels to have sex with prostitutes and are punishing them by making them sick, oblivious to the fact that they have contracted HIV. It is not common practice in Doti for people to seek medical help from health posts and hospitals. Consequently by the time they seek medical help, HIV has already developed into AIDS leading to death.

Sashi recalled the story of one Doti Dalit husband who migrated to Kerala, India and found another wife who he brought back to Doti to join his first wife. He had contracted HIV whilst working in India and had transmitted the disease to his new wife from Kerala; it was not confirmed if he had passed HIV on to his first wife, though the likelihood was high. The arrogance of bringing back a new wife is a good example of how some men regard their wife, i.e. with little respect. In another story Sashi spoke of a Doti wife who, after her husband had died of AIDS, was accused of gulping down her husband. It was not until community mediators became involved that they were able to convince the family of the truth behind the husband’s death.
The majority of men from Doti who migrate to India are Dalit as they are less likely to own land in which they can earn a living and are limited to employment opportunities due to their so called caste. Out of approximately the 800 people that are infected by HIV and AIDS in Doti approximately two thirds are Dalit. For Dalit women whose husbands die from AIDS this adds a forth layer of discrimination against them, i.e. being a widow.

Sashi Sob stated that if there were more employment opportunities for men in Doti then they would not have to migrate to India for work and if there was more awareness raising on safe sex and medical treatment for HIV then this would reduce the risk of infection. She didn’t mention the fact that men were committing adultery by having sex with prostitutes in brothels. Maybe this has been accepted as normal behaviour in Nepal, though it would be a different story if women were committing adultery, another opportunity for discrimination.


Published in The Republica

Inspiring comment by reader: "Hello Ms. Belinfante,I went through your article published in the Republica on July 25,2013 and I wanted to thank you on behalf of every woman struggling to come out of these beliefs and practices.
Be it the sufacial,I also came to realise the underlying oppression of women while studying Feminism, as I am a student of Literature(Arts). I hope that your article has helped a multitude to get inspired and provided the courage to the women power to always fight back!

Thank you for the attempt that you have made to aware people to let woman live peacefully.I look forward to reading your articles soon!!! "

The Traffic Light Cocktail

Amongst the staggering beauty of Pokhara with it’s lake and mountainous back drop there is something lurking as sinister as its murky waters. It’s a feeling of desperation. With only a smattering of tourists trickling through to feed the surplus of cafes, restaurants and shops Pokhara really does feel like a beautiful parcel wrapped in wet news paper, especially during the monsoon.
Tourists totter around with invisible monetary symbols shining above their heads like halos, here more than most places I feel like a badeshi (foreigner). Set on the lakeside is the most picturesque bamboo bar which should be a busy bustling hangout for travellers, with its circular bamboo structure and comfortable cosy cushions, I try to make sense of its emptiness.

When my friend’s traffic light coloured mojito arrives a story is revealed. This bar is run by an Australian couple who have not provided cocktail making training to their staff. As my friend tries to return her dissatisfying cocktail the female cook comes to talk to us, she explains that if we return the cocktail of 400 npr/s ($4.22) then the two members of staff who work there will have to pay for it themselves from their meagre salary of 4000 npr/s ($42.00) per month which is the amount that I will pay for five nights accommodation in my Pokhara hotel. The stark contrast of our lives is so apparent I can almost touch it and my friend is faced with a morale dilemma to pay herself or to let the two staff members pay for her unwanted traffic light cocktail.

The female cook goes on to explain in a friendly chit chat manner about her life, she is careful not to reveal her untouchable dalit caste which I recognise from her ‘Nepali’ surname, although the caste system was abolished here over 50 years ago it’s very much still alive, so I am not at all surprised that she doesn’t volunteer this information, who would. I liken it to my grandfather who changed his Jewish surname after the Second World War, the word is full of discrimination based on names and what they supposedly represent.

Her husband left her 13 years ago when their son was just 1 month old and 1 year later she adopted an orphan who had been abandoned by his parents, she has a kind heart. Now she not only works as a cook in the kitchen at the bamboo bar, she also sleeps there by herself at night time as a security guard. The open layout of the bar makes me think about whether I would be brave enough to do the same, probably not. This place is basically her life. She presents us with the written instructions for making cocktails, they are written in Nepali English with the word mix substituted for the word muddle, it’s like a comic cocktail making script.


My friend agrees to pay for the traffic light cocktail, which I am not surprised at and advises them to check out mojito making instructions on google, which will not be an easy task. I finish my beer which is always a safe bet, though this place has left a bitter taste in my mouth and we say good bye to the cook and the untrained bar man knowing that while we are sleeping safely in our comfortable hotel beds tonight, she will be sleeping here on her own.


This article was published in the Republica 10th July 2013 http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=57543

Freedom

It’s not always easy being an international jetsetter but it sure is fun. Every single day is filled with a surprise or a challenge, good and bad. On a good day a nice surprise might be an invitation to eat lunch in my neighbour’s house or hula hoop with the local children, who are getting really good. On a bad day I might get irritated by the dysfunction of this country, Nepali time and lack of electricity. But what ever happens I can learn from it and enjoy the highs and lows that Nepal has to offer.

Working for a women’s organisation in Kathmandu has certainly accelerated my learning of inequality in this country and also the complications of the country itself. On the face of it when foreigners visit this country they will be greeted with smiley happy people, but scratch beneath the surface and you begin to reveal the many frustrations and challenges that Nepali’s face, which far outweigh my petty annoyances. I have the freedom to do what I like when I like, within reason and the biggest decision I will have to face in the next six months is where to go next. But as a Nepali freedom is massively obstructed by the strong tie to the extended family. The level of duty that people have to give their family is phenomenal. Duty to be in the house at certain times, to do puja (prayer rituals), attend family functions, get married the list is endless and even greater and less flexible for women. I am thankful that I was given the freedom and support to grow independently as a strong free thinking individual.
Attempting to leave this country is fraught with obstacles for the natives, options are limited to studying in expensive western countries at a high price, or working in middle eastern countries for exploitive wages. Even visiting another western country as a Nepali tourist is a long and arduous application process, as it is assumed that Nepali’s will outstay their tourist visa and not return. As for me I have no pressure to do anything and have more option of what to do next, this is because I am western, educated and have access to funds. It seems so unfair for the young people of this country to be growing up in a transitional country, where there are so few opportunities other than flocking abroad. There are however growing numbers of young entrepreneurs and professionals some of which have graduated and returned from overseas and some who haven’t. They are working in the development sector, tourism, small businesses, self employment and they seem to have it going on. Let’s face it if you can be successful in a post conflict country with no real Government and limited electricity and infrastructure you have got to be pretty smart and adaptable.

Times are changing in Nepal, the women’s movement grows from strength to strength slowly transforming negative social practices and a new generation of young people are growing up fast ready to take Nepal forward to a better future. I hope that in the future the global inequalities are narrowed so that everyone has a choice for their future, just like I do.

Good Grief

My good friend Kaveesh was killed when he was riding a scooter and he was hit by a drunk driver, in Goa. Though hard to reconcile the death of someone so young who had his whole life ahead of him, I can be thankful for the way he touched my life in such a positive way. He was from a privileged back ground and was fortunate to go to Harvard and spend some of his life experience in London, but he never boasted these facts, he was a very modest and a gentleman. I can’t begin to describe the feeling of loss I felt from his passing, the classic symptoms of grief; disbelief, anger and withdrawal. Coming to terms with the death of anyone who has touched my life is always tough, but I continue to believe that something positive can be learnt from bereavement.

On the other side of the world my granny lies in hospital waiting to die. She has lived for 90 years, almost an unimaginable amount of time. She has lived for many years on her own, really without enjoying her life, waiting and hoping to pass away. Its ironic to me that one person is ready to die and doesn’t and another is not ready to die and is taken away too early. It’s not fair. Now at least my granny can die in peace as she is granted the Liverpool Passage, which people like my granny who have no chance to improve their health are not kept alive and pass away some what peacefully without further health intervention. Personally I think there is a place for euthanasia in some circumstances, where there is no hope and life is just being dragged on regardless of whether that person wants to live or not.

In Nepal people here deal very well with death, there is a lengthy process of public grieving, which sometimes evens continues for a year, for example Hindu’s will not celebrate any festivals for a year after their parents have died and some may dress in white for a whole year and shave their hair off. Every year on the anniversary of the death of a close relative they will mark the occasion with special prayers. In my country though I think we deal with death in a very different way, very quietly. I prefer the Nepali way much more as I feel it really deals with loss and emotions attached to that.

In my life I have lost my father and my house mate Carl, two very big losses which have made a massive impact on my life and how I choose to live it. At an early age I learnt that life is short and that I have no idea how long I will be honoured with living in this world. That has spurred me on to try to live my life as fully as possible doing the things which make me happy and that I find rewarding for myself and in someway help others. I think that I have achieved that so far in my life and I will continue to do so and I am grateful for the insight that the passing of their lives brought to me.

In the words of my good friend Tan who had known Kaveesh for three decades;

“It's time to celebrate moments of life and death...especially of a soul who completed a wonderful journey.”

The Changing Landscape of my Life

My time volunteering in Nepalgunj came to an end in October, I finished my work and headed to Jumla for a 10 day trek to Rara lake with fellow volunteers. It was a welcome break away from the every day realities of life, all communication and luxuries removed, we reverted back to basic survival, carrying all our own equipment for camping and cooking. What shocked my system the most was just how cold it was in the evening, some nights if we did not have time or resources to make a fire we cooked in the freezing cold before jumping into out tents and sleeping bags to eat before slipping into slumber. On average we spent about 10 -12 hours per night tossing and turning in our sleeping bags trying to keep warm. I had started off with a whacking great 17 kilo rucksack and was happy to feel it slowly depleting as the trek went on. We had flown in to Jumla on what I would describe as a tin pot plane, you could even see the pilots from the back of the 22 seater, fiddling with their knobs. There were genuine screams as the plane came into landing, because it looked like we were hurtling into the side of the mountain, it was a crazy moment of hysteria which we will never forget.

Returning from the trek to Nepalgunj was a strange sensation, packing my furniture, random belongings and exotic dresses to go to Kathmandu I did not feel particularly sad. Having moved around a lot in my life I have learnt to adjust very quickly to the changing landscape that has become my life, connections are made easily and not forgotten, but I have learnt to let go and move fluidly on to the next stage of my life, which has brought me to Kathmandu for now.

Life here is completely different, it’s comparatively easier to live here in some ways. The climate is much cooler than the soaring summer heats of Nepalgunj and during the winter days its freezing inside but in the sun you can still catch a tan, especially on my balcony. My new organisation is amazing, its 100% female staff and they are really intelligent and friendly people. One of the new challenges of living in Kathmandu is load shedding. Basically there is not enough electricity to go round. In Nepalgunj we sourced our electricity from India, but here it is different. Now the rains have dried up and hydro power cannot be generated we have 10 hours per day without electricity which is divided into two sessions of five hours. This means that in the morning and/or evening I may be without electricity. My organisation has a generator, but it’s a bit temperamental and sometimes doesn’t work and is expensive to run. I am glad that I work from my netbook which has a battery for 3-4 hours. Also the internet seems more temperamental here too and I am often left without connection for a few hours or even a day – terrifying how reliant I have become on the internet for daily living. My journey time to work has also increased, it can take between 20 – 60 minutes to reach the office, which actually does not really bother me as much as I thought it would, though I am still toying with the idea of buying a scooty (that’s Nepali English for scooter, they also have water tanky’s) to razz around in.

Socially there is about 100 times more exciting activities to do and people to do them with and I am really enjoying the steady flow of friends that come round for dinner, coffee and visits. My apartment lacks the beautiful setting available in Nepalgunj but is not without character and charm, I even had a chais lounge which I always wanted in UK but could never afford (or did not want to spend money on), I bought it for less than ten pounds and I have sat on it once, but it looks good. My apartment also benefits from a massive balcony which is great for sun surfing and hula hooping.

So my plan now is to stay in Nepal until November 2013, there may however be a spanner in the works, which is that the Nepali government are no longer processing visas for NGO and INGO foreign volunteers or workers, unless they are directly linked to the government. Hence if I don’t get a visa by May 2013 I will have to leave. However it’s all uncertain, technically speaking there is no government here, so anything could happen between now and then, I am not worried about it. If I do stay until November 2013, my current plan (subject to change), is to finally make it to Goa to do my yoga teacher training course there, write a book and have a lovely time for 5 -6 months, sounds ok doesn’t it! If I have to leave early then I will return to the UK for Tom’s wedding and spend the summer in the UK and then head to Goa, let’s see.

A Change of Plan

My placement in Nepal comes to an end in November when I will have completed 2 years. I had planned to go to India to complete a yoga teacher training course before returning to the UK to potentially work in Manchester for my previous employers. But now my plan has changed. I will be moving to Kathmandu and extending my volunteering with VSO to work with a; Women’s Alliance for Peace, Justice and Security. This is exactly the type of organisation I want to work for, over the last 6 months I have been studying a certificated course in ‘Understanding Gender in Society’, which coupled with my own experiences over the last two years has given me a fairly good understanding of gender issues in Nepal. Gender inequality is an issue that I hadn’t given much thought about until I stepped out of the UK, as the inequality here is so glaringly obviously it is impossible to ignore. Though I have really enjoyed working with disabled rights and anticorruption, gender inequality is closer to my heart and I am really looking forward to the new challenges ahead of working with a new organisation. With two year of experience tucked under my belt I am hoping that my work experience, language skills and cultural knowledge can be put to good use, though it does feel a bit strange volunteering for three years.

Leaving Nepalgunj and joining the big smog of Kathmandu will present a new set of challenges. The air pollution is vast and simply moving around from A to B can take time and be frustrating. Also financially Kathmandu is more expensive and there is fairly large ex-pat community that get paid a fair amount of money, which I don’t. Whilst I still want to enjoy some of the benefits of being part of a larger ex-pat community, I don’t want to loose my solid connection with Nepali friends and this is very important to me.

One thing I really looking forward to is visiting the Kathmandu Circus and doing some hula hooping with them and I am going to set up a weekly hoop jam to get a collective hula hoop group going. I also need to decide what to do with Ziggy (my dog), he has a good home to go to with my friend here, but if possible I would like to take him to Kathmandu.

So lots to look forward to in the future, but before any of that starts I have my 77 year old hula hoop buddy Alan coming from the UK for some random adventures in September, a 10 day trek in the mountains in October, plus I need to procrastinate about doing the 50km Annapurna trail run in March.
Life in Nepal is so good, I LOVE IT!

Typhoid

Sometimes things happen which really are very sad indeed. This weekend whilst I was off enjoying myself on a motorbike tour one of my neighbours children died of Typhoid simply because she did not have enough money to buy medicine and she did not have anyone to ask for help. Although I had never met this neighbour I wish that I could have helped this situation.

A Rant About Nepal

Although it’s easy to paint a pretty picture of my stay here in Nepal, I think it also necessary to share some of the repetitive annoyances too that occur almost on a daily basis.


Stare bears
Living in a fairly remote city in Nepal off the tourist track there is little interest or reason for tourists to visit, which actually I like. In fact I think if you have time its far more interesting staying in these random places than that of tourist traps, the culture so rich and the experience so authentic. The down side of this is that any movement is bound to cause a stare and I mean any movement. And it’s not a subtle stare it’s a stop and have a really really good stare and take in every detail gold fish style stare. There are several ways to deal with this and these vary according to tolerance level, the person who’s is staring and general mood at that exact moment. Ways to deal with stare bears include; 1) ignoring it, 2) stare back and smile this usually causes embarrassment on their part 3) say hi or Namaste 4) or rare occasions say ‘what’, look mad and slightly crazy.

Married or unmarried
One of the many many questions that curious Nepali people fire at me is ‘are you married or unmarried’. This is actually a sensitive issue as the whole of Nepali society fiercely revolves around the expectation of marriage which I vehemently disagree even though I understand the reasons for it. Therefore its never a good question to start off with, my reactions can be blunt pushing on rude; ‘unmarried’ followed by firing a question right back at them, ‘are you married and do you enjoy it?’. The truth of the matter is once you scratch below the surface most young people would choose not to be married but don’t know what else to do and to be honest – what else is there to do in this country?

Your Fat
Where I come from its apparently good to be thin and bad to be fat, these are messages and images that we have been bombarded with from a variety of media sources forever, which re-enforce these ideas into our vulnerable minds. In Nepal though it’s the reverse, people think its good to be fat as it shows health and wealth and bad to be thin. So if someone says, ‘ you became fat’ its a compliment and if some one says ‘you became thin’ it not a compliment! It’s like a reverse head fuck and actually really interesting experience to witness my own reaction to.

Nepali time and Its Cancelled
Nepali time basically means everything starts later than planned. So training that was supposed to start at 10:00 am may start at 13:00, someone who I have arranged to meet at my house may come 1 – 2 hours late if at all, without informing me. Plans get cancelled at the last moment and sometimes never happen at all. Now you might think that Nepali time and cancellations may have caused me some annoyance and despair, but actually it doesn’t. I won’t lie that is hasn’t taken some time to adjust to this way of life, but now I have I actually like it because it means I can cancel things too and be late without any major consequence and I really like this as its so not allowed in the UK. I wonder if I will ever be reliable again.

Can I Have Your Phone Number
Without doubt the single most annoying thing in this country is people asking for my number and then calling me on it for no apparent reason other than for novelty factor. And if I don’t answer they just keep on ringing and ringing and ringing. It’s quite hard to avoid giving out my number the only real way round it is just to say no you can’t have my number.

Montage dance performance to Dirty Dancing Part 3 of The Funny Five Weeks

The third of my funny five weeks began as I landed in Gerona Spain. We dragged our suitcases and hooping paraphernalia off the bus to our hostel for the night. Although on the outside the hostel look really nice and quite funky, the inside our room resembled that of a prison cell, god I hate these uniform rooms in hostels they make me loose the will to live. The room clinically clean, dark and dingy. The mattresses decked in thick black rubber and windows displayed bars, it felt like prison. After a day of snoozing we met with fellow hoopers for dinner in a quaint street square which housed a display of alfresco restaurants beginning to team with glamorous looking Spaniards. Now I used to speak Spanish, but since learning to speak Nepali just about everything was lost, but slowly a tiny bit came back and I mean un poquito. Who cares though because the next day we set off to our luxury Spanish villa where there wasn’t a single Carlos or Pedro in sight. The villa was set on a hill over looking the beautiful countryside, large gardens, a swimming pool and two houses made up our villa. A whole a range of activities were scheduled for the week ahead including; pole dancing, bollywood dancing, yoga, acro yoga, 80’s dance, plus all manner of hula hooping delights. We were in for a good week. And it was, the weather was brilliant, the food fresh and the people rocked big style. Highlight of the week included doing a montage dance performance to Dirty Dancings’, Now I’ve Had the Time of my Life with my new Irish friend at the Renegade Show, plus watching everyone else’s performance was totally awesome. Low light of the week was being kept awake whilst a handful of people partied on the dance floor above my ceiling! (and yes I am getting old)

Before I knew it the week came to an end and it was time to head back to the UK for Jess’s hen party, with a few new hoop tricks up my sleeves and a host of new memories to boot.

Text message recieved 10.07.12

"a warm hello to my most respectable madam...apparently, only 2day in the spambox i came across the sms usent me in recent past... n d credit goes to my hitler wife b4 going 2 her parents home...a womans' mind is horrifyingly unpredictable almost kind of cryptic for us to read, leave alone understand it...by d way how r u doing... must b having heavy workload... mayb i cud b some help free of cost...now i m free 24/7 since my wife gone 4 a long stay..take care c'ya."

Part 2...Whistle Stop Tour of Manchester

The second of my funny five weeks was my first week in the UK. I don’t think people realise just quite what it is like living in Nepal in contrast to the UK and I had difficultly trying to explain the differences. Although people might perceive that my role here is quite easy, because of the slower pace of life and less demanding job role there are a major everyday challenges that I have to overcome like soaring high temperatures of up to 45C, no electricity, no water, no waste management, poor transport, speaking Nepali, being in a patriarchal country, positive and negative discrimination towards me, the list is endless. That is not to say that I am not grateful and happy to be here, it’s just to point out that it is not easy and very few people could hack this experience. So that is why I appreciated returning to my own country so much as all of those difficulties were removed. I couldn’t believe how pleasant the weather was for my first week in the UK, it was beautiful, I watched as my family got sunburnt at our family barbecue and my brothers adorable children bounced carefree on the trampoline in the afternoon sun, as I sat sipping rosé from a proper flute glass, what a treat. My mother and I did our usual trawling around the various shops that we love to shop in, buying must have and must not have but have to have items to take back to Nepal and everyone seemed so nice, it was almost like my mother had pre-programmed everyone to be overly nice and friendly. My two most ridiculously overpriced and inappropriate items being a play suite and sort gold crocheted waistcoat that I will rarely have the chance to wear in Nepal, but when I do it will feel amazing!

Having rested and rejuvenated at my mothers beautiful country home it was time to travel north west to Manchester my previous stomping ground, where I was met by my wacky friend Andrew in my favourite racing green Mazda MX5. As I was only staying for one day and two nights, time was short and I had booked a tight schedule. First stop a visit to my previous employers the Big Life Group, who I totally love. Visiting that office was like putting on a pair of comfortable slippers, it was great to see all the old faces. We talked about possibilities for my future with the organisation all of which sounded very exciting. Highlight of this visit though had to be their 10 year celebratory video which was montage of office tomfoolery to a badly sung ‘working 9:00 – 5:00’ by Dolly Parton, I loved it! I sped off to Salford for a quick catch up with the old work gang and a sandwich in the community cafe, it was great to see everyone, but all too brief! Then I dropped in to see my friend who is six months pregna

nt and the size of a house, seriously I have never see anything like her bump it was huge, water retention apparently! Mean while back at Julie-Andrews gaff we sipped gin and tonics in garden and readied ourselves for dinner. Dinner was excellent and I met up with some very special friends who had life changing stories (like divorce) and all looked fabulous. The next morning I arose early at 3:00 am and headed to the airport with my new hooping friend Rachel who had overslept and was therefore discombobulated. Manchester airport check in for Ryanair hosted a spectacular visual of pre- Brits abroad all wearing shiny new this season holiday wear from Primark. Sometime later we boarded the cheap and not cheerful plane to Gerona, where they tried to in sell every know item possible including; smoke free cigarettes, scratch cards and £2:00 bottles of water, I refused to buy anything on principle and sat back in relaxed anticipation of my one week hula hooping holiday in Spain.

Five Funny Week’s

Week 1 I recently had what I like to refer to as ‘five funny week’, funny peculiar, though there was many funny moments. It all started with the soaring heats in the Terai, rocketing up to mid 45C’s at the time I remember thinking how nice it would be to make a sharp exit to the cooler weather enjoyed in Kathmandu, which I hadn’t visited for a while. Perhaps I could conveniently fit in a trip before I left for my three week holiday in the UK. Things were getting a little shaky throughout the country as the deadline to one of the many attempts at signing the Nepali constitution loomed. In Nepalgunj shops and roads were closed due to bandh’s (strikes), people took to the streets to protest or just to have fun and further west of the county a group of volunteers had to be evacuated by the UN to Kathmandu after violence broke out. This news I selfishly became interested in, would I also be evacuated to Kathmandu? I held my breath and didn’t book any flight to Kathmandu to catch my onward flight to London, in the hope that I might score a free flight and a pre – holiday holiday in Kathmandu.

The call came late afternoon a week before I was due to leave for London, I was to be evacuated. In a rather non-glamorous and uneventful fashion my friend drove me through a field on his motor bike to get to the airport and I flew safely in the small and scary plan to Kathmandu. Much to my over excitement I found 15 other volunteers in our favourite hotel, which is like a volunteer second home. We shared stories of heat, transport, food shortage and boys with sticks and set about to have a really good week. That week was my best week so far in Kathmandu, the weather was perfect and every day we did yoga or running and other random activities like basket weaving, participatory skills and hula hooping with the local children and hotel staff. We danced, we drank, we laughed and most of all we had a really good time. Like most good things though as the end of week drew on I felt that the novelty was wearing thin and I was happy to bid farewell to the sunny smog of Kathmandu and head north west to London.

I had a short transit in Bahrain in which I indulged in a mixed berry smoothie and cheesecake, my first in a year and half – when It came to paying I used this thing called a credit card which I popped in this magic machine and paid in currency unknown. During the flight I met another volunteer who was also returning to the UK for a short holiday, when we had worked out how to buy a ticket for the tube we fled to the very fancy new kings cross train station for lattes before joining our connecting trains to our respective homes. My first impression of home was just how clean everything was, ridiculously clean, very welcome after the grimy streets of Nepal strewn with litter and open defecation. After a teary exchange with my dear mother we headed off home. I couldn’t help looking round all the cupboards and gazing at their contents, especially my newly constructed built in wardrobe, which hosted all manner of exciting clothing options for the future weeks, all of which I had forgotten about. ...to be continued

Life in the Terai

Life in the Terai begins at 5:30 am during the hot weather, when temperatures soar to 45C a vast difference to my own countries climate when daily conversation is based on the terrible UK weather, here we would welcome a rainy day. My dog Ziggy waits happily on my door step waving its tail excitedly as I open the front door onto my balcony, the air is fresh in comparison, a welcome relief to the whirring fan in my bedroom. In the back ground I can hear the call to prayer from the local Muslim temple, this indicates that its time to dress and head to the stadium to go for my early morning run. I put on my tight lycra running shorts and t-shirt, securing a long sleeve top around my waist to try to cover up some of my forbidden areas. As I cycle along the dirty streets I can feel the curious stares and when I arrive I am greeted by a dozen ‘Namaste’s’ and ‘Mornings Mornings’, in Nepal you receive not one but two ‘Mornings’ a unique and endearing greeting. I meet up with my two Nepali friends and we run gently at first as we warm up before speeding up our run. We talk in English and Nepali though neither of us is perfect in our linguistics, it’s the effort and companionship that counts. After our rounds have finished the sweat pours and I head red faced towards the market. I see my American friend heading my way, she is off to teach at one of the local schools, then shortly after a foreigner heads towards us running who I don’t know, this is a rarity indeed as there are only, seven foreigners living in Nepalgunj where I am based. We stare just as the Nepali’s do and fail to muster up any kind greetings other than smiling. I head over to the vegetable market and grow greedy at the lush selection of vegetables which are a far more resplendent arrangement than I would find in the UK. I buy my weeks vegetables for 260 Nepali rupees which is about £2.25. Then I head to the next shop to buy eggs, I don’t have any change so they suggest that I pay the following day, this is repeated at the next shop where I buy yogurt and milk without any money. As I arrive back at my house I am happy to find that there is both electricity and water, these things should not be taken for granted in Nepal where I have learnt the real value of these precious resources. With still hours to burn before work I do my house work, cook my lunch and check my e-mails then it’s off to the office on my bicycle, dressed in a Nepali kurta sawel. When I arrive the office is closed, I am not surprised, I wait patiently and think about why I am here in the first place. My main motivation was to share the skills I have with Nepali people, whilst also having an adventure myself. One thing I have realized here is that unlike in the UK my work is less about personal achievement and more about a slow steady pace where it feels like small steps are made towards small changes, this I have accepted. Uma, the office Co-ordinator arrives from her village and we talk about today’s work, she has lots, I have a little which I begin. First I write an article for my organizations Good Governance newspaper, titled, ‘Why is it ok for male prostitutes and not female prostitutes?’ Then I plan a presentation for a new volunteering program called ‘Good Governance Defenders’. I volunteer for two organizations, one is a disabled rights organization advocating for the rights of people with disabilities and the other is a youth based anti corruption organisation, quite a contrast though there are many overlaps when it comes to organizational development, with which I am tasked. As I sit in the office the fan fails to turn we sweat, its edging 43C. Tea comes and go’s it’s delicious and sweet far better than English tea which I never liked. Then at 5:00 pm its time to head home, I pop my laptop in my bicycle basket and cycle the dusty busy road towards home. I have begun to think of the cycle home as a game, in which I have to dodge cows, dogs, buffalo, horse drawn carts, cars, buses, rickshaws, lorry’s, tempo’s motorbikes, pedestrians, cyclists and holes in the road, its enjoyable if you look at it that way, but not for the faint hearted. I stop off in the bazaar to buy lentils and various simple food supplies which my allowance finances, then drop into see friends on the way home for a cup of coffee. Reaching my home I give my neighbour 1000 rupees for her children’s school uniform and school books and feel content in my days activities.

What's Going On!

It’s been a very long time since I have written a BLOG, which believe me is a positive rather than negative indication of how my life is going in Nepal. I started my placement in November 2010 and it’s already April 2012, so I have been living here now for 17 months with 9 months to go until my placement finishes in January 2013. With that in mind I am thinking about what my options are for the future and this is what its looking like; 1) Have a small break and start a new placement with VSO in Nepal, my current placements cannot be continued as the Governance Program I am part of has finished. 2) Return to Manchester and do a short term job with my previous organization, if they have anything. 3) Cruise round Asia on a motorbike for an unlimited period of time. 4) Something else! Either way I am pretty excited about all possibilities.

My decision to come to Nepal to volunteer is without doubt one of the best decisions I have made, I have learnt so much from this country and culture that will remain with me for the rest of my life, my life will never be he same again and I am a much better person for it. Also I have learnt new skills and a new language and I am about to embark on a 6 month long distance course on, ‘Understanding Gender in Society,’ which I think will be incredibly interesting considering the context of my setting.

The last couple of months have been good, I inherited a puppy dog called Ziggy (Stardust) from another volunteer who got Ziggy from the dog rescue centre in Kathmandu after there was some kind of viral outbreak. The volunteer has since returned to England, so now he is mine! He is totally cute and adorable and loved by all, when I leave I have already had offers of homes for him to go to which is reassuring. It was during my return trip from Kathmandu with Ziggy that I participated in my first triathlon. The triathlon was took place in beautiful surrounding of Lake Begnas near Pokhara, with a view of the mountains and trees. The first part of the triathlon was the 750 metre swim through Lake Begnas, it was really hard as I was only wearing my Marks and Spencer’s swimsuit my mum had sent, which was not sufficient to keep away the chills, I stepped out of the lake thinking how on earth can I continue with the rest of this triathlon, but I did, after all there was no way in hell I was giving up! So I continued my merry journey cycling on my friends oversized mountain bike for 20 km then just as the mid day sun hit its top temperature I started my 5 km run. The run was by far the easiest part as this is the part I had trained for and built up my stamina in, but the heat was intense. As I sprinted through the finish line my friends and Ziggy were there to greet me. My time was 2:42 which I thought was good and I came second out of the ladies and was presented with an engraved ghurka knife and a one way flight of my choice in Nepal, very nice.

My work is going well, but there have been no major achievements which is fine. It’s hard to describe what the working conditions are like here, but I can tell you that in one office we only just got a computer and printer which doesn’t always work if the voltage is low, it might give you an idea. In comparison to work load in the UK, it’s been around 50% of the work load there. This is due to many reasons; language difficulties, my program with VSO coming to and end and there fore no funding being available and also because my role is as an advisor in which I am supposed to be building the capacity of my work colleagues, which is like an add on to their role and work load. Accepting this is hard, but I have accepted it now and slowly work improves and gets more interesting as we work out how best to work with each other. On reflection I think work load expectations in the UK are too high and my friends often complain saying; ‘works been really stressful’.
Only 6 weeks to go and I will return to Europe for three weeks, I will spend a week in the UK then jet off to Spain for a Hula Hoop Gathering for the week then I will return to the UK for another week. I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends and family and having a bath at my mums house and glass of Oxford Landing Sauvignon Blanc.

See you all soon
xxxxxxxxxxx

SPONSOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Support us for a charity Triathlon to make the annual VSO volunteer meeting happen in Nepal

Dear Friends and family

Each year VSO Nepal organizes a volunteer conference, during these three days we gather in a low cost accommodation to update share and plan with each other as well to check in with the ones that are posted in remote areas and look together with VSO how we can make sure we get to reach our goals of enabling people in Nepal to break the cycle of poverty. As a result of the international economic crisis, funding for VSO has been reduced and this event can no longer be funded from the budget.

Because we, the volunteers, believe it is crucial to support each other and get time to discuss our opportunities and challenges in working in improving education, health and governance in Nepal, we are determined to raise funds to make this event happen. For this reason, a few of our brave colleagues are going to participate in a triathlon on the 25th of February where they will have to swim 1,5 kilometers through a mountain lake (in February!), cycle for 20 kilometers through the Annapurna mountain range, and finish with a 10 kilometer uphill run (for more information, see: http://himalayanrush.com/).

We want to know if you are able to help us by sponsoring us to complete the triathlon and support your VSO Volunteer to attend this years volunteer conference. Please pledge the amount you would like to sponsor directly to louise.belinfante@gmail.com

Your donations will be tax deductible as they will be going to a registered charity.
Every little bit helps, we are hoping that among all of our VSO volunteer colleagues we will be able to raise about 3500-4000 Euro in total which will enable us to support our VSO colleagues and the partners they work with. Please let me know if you have any questions or want more details on the triathlon,

Thank you so much for your support

When does inclusion become exclusion?

(article for good governance weekly)

This week I visited schools in Banke to find out how they include disabled children in mainstream education.

One of the schools I visited was attempting to include deaf children into its school fairly unsuccessfully. There was one very dedicated female teacher who was obviously doing her best to teach a class of fourteen children. The teacher had only received one month of sign language training and was there for very limited by her capacity to teach using sign language. The other difficulty she encountered was that the children were of all different ages. The outcome is a class of fourteen children who are not receiving education to suit their needs and abilities.

For the teacher to receive adequate skills in sign language she needs to receive a further six months training, but who will teach her class whilst she receives this training. And how can the problem of teaching mixed ability children in the same class be overcome.

In another school blind children were being integrated more successfully. The blind pupils are taught in the same class room using Braille and they are able to live at the school during school time to make accessibility easier.

It feels like the attempt to include the deaf children into mainstream education is having the opposite effect excluding them from the education they are entitled to and socially excluding them from the other school pupils. But with limited resources what is the answer?

Deaf children could be assigned their own personal signer who could interpret during class time or each teacher could be taught signing to a high level, but with limited resources these solutions are not practical. The alternative could be a district school in which all deaf children can access education which fits their age and ability and in which teachers receive the correct sign language training. In one way this would promote education inclusion but potentially would socially exclude them from every day society and family life.

There is no simple answer, it’s a complex situation made worse by limited resources and agendas for social inclusion. What we must also remember is that these children are individuals with their own thoughts and feelings and what suits one child may not suit another, ideally it would be good to offer children a choice of how they would like to be educated to suit their individual needs.

New Years Resolutions

Well what a year it’s been, it probably couldn’t have been more different than any years that have passed before. This year, I think will be even more different to the last as I hurtle towards the end of my placement and chose what direction I want to got to next.

So here is what I want to do in 2012:

Find my true love
No one will be more surprised than I am to find out that I am ready to settle down and meet the man of my dreams. I have already lived a thousand lives and had more than my fair share of adventures, but now I feel like I am ready in my heart to share these adventures with someone. So this year I will have a look and see who I can find, there must be some out there who will make the perfect partner in crime and I am sure I will find him.

Switch to Nepali
One year in, it is time for me to switch from English to Nepali language and really push myself to feel comfortable with the lingo.

Start a new radio show
One thing I have really enjoyed over the last year is having my own radio show, it’s finished now but in the new year I will start something new!

Write short stories in devanagari माँ देवनागरी लेखन सिक्नुपर्छा
Devanagari is the funny looking shapes that people write in, in Nepal and India. I have learnt the very basics but now I want to step it up start using is regularly and what better way than writing short stories.

Ride by motorbike to another district
There really is only one way to travel around Nepal and that is by motorbike, so this year I want to learn how to ride a motorbike and then I will go on a road trip!


And that’s it really.

Happy New Year to everyone and don’t forget to set yourself some interesting resolutions for the new year, life is short and there are many adventures to be had, don’t sit too comfortably and watch it pass by.

Big love and peace
XXXX

Manners over board

Over the last two months, ever since my holiday I have not been feeling very well. I had a cold which turned into one of those coughs it’s really hard to get rid of and two months later it was joined with a terrible bout of tonsillitis.

In between illnesses I had a trip to Dailekh for my host organisations board meeting. Now I always have a love/hate relationship with field trips, because they are really uncomfortable and full on but at the same time I always learn a lot and get to see a new place. So I wasn’t exactly full of beans to start with and being crammed in jeep with over excited young people shouting didn’t really fit my mood, luckily I was able turn to Enya on my MP3 player for some respite, but it wasn’t really off to a good start. When we arrived we were paraded through the streets wearing flower garlands and we joked that this dilapidate looking building would be our hotel. As it turned out, it was our hotel.

The meeting went well and I was able to contribute to the meeting and learn about what some of the important issues are that the organisation are facing, though I did spend some of my time sitting under a blanket thinking about the next tea break. Still on the bright side one of my friends had moved from Nepalgunj to Dailekh for work and he invited me out for dinner with him and his boss one night. I was given a curfew of 8:30 pm for my night out from a very stern young board member, he had also asked me (and five other people) not to sit under the blanket during the meeting, but I refused to and after five minutes the other five people returned to the blanket, much to my delight. I never like to be told what to do and these days my polite English nature has been modified into a more direct approach, really you can’t afford to blunder around here doing things you don’t want to do just because your too polite to say no.

Following my delightful evening out I was cursed with post lunch diarrhoea the following day and missed out on a bit of sight seeing to one of the local wonders, fire coming out of the rocks! Luckily I had already seen this wonder in turkey, and once you have seen fire coming out of one rock you have seen them all, right??

Luckily every thing dried up in time for the journey home and I couldn’t wait to get home and have a hot shower and not talk Nepali for a few days.

Following a one hour facial some days later, which cost £3.50 I developed very swollen glands and a very sore throat, the dreaded curse of tonsillitis had arrived, complimenting my 6 week old chesty cough, after a few days of near death experience (massively exaggerated) I went to the local ENT doctor who gave me a shed load of pills and sent me home to rest for five days. Five days passed and back to doctors for check up and another batch of pills adding to a total of 12 days antibiotics.

Good news is that now I feel amazing in my post illness energy surge and even my chesty cough has nearly gone after I discovered the miracle of inhaling steam over a saucepan with a towel over my head.

During my time of illness I had time to revaluate every part of life from top to bottom and had no major epiphanies.

Trip to Lord Bhuddha’s birth place, canyon swing and cycle of torture

Well its been a very long time since I wrote a blog, which I suppose is a good sign because it means that I have been really busy and engrossed in my adventures to write. So what’s been going on?

Firstly I went to Lumbini which is apparently Bhuddha’s birth place and I stayed in this amazing nunnery. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, I had visions of sound of music with nuns in habits prancing around. Well I was completely wrong about that one, it was basically a Buddhist monastery with female monks with shaved heads gliding around with a very cute yet noisy dog.


The monastery itself was stunning it really took my breath away and was a great setting for our two day VSO meeting, on the upside aswell alcohol was banned so energy and participation was high, so I managed to redeem myself from the volunteer conference some months back when I had sat with a piece of bling material over my head after the Bollywood party. After the two day meeting I was rescued by my Nepali friends brother and taken to his nearby house where I quickly recovered with vast quantities of beer. The next day we went of to visit my Neplagunj friends’ birth place and no my friend is not Bhuddha.

After our borrowed motorbike broke down I had the opportunity to have a nosy round this beautiful house that took my fancy and had a chat with the owner a stunning woman. Motorbike resurrected we visited what remained of lord Bhuddha’s house (or something like that) not much to look at but there was a really beautiful pond.

The next day we visited lunbini development centre where monasteries from all over the world are situated, there must be about 20 different monasteries there all beautifully constructed with minute detail.

I returned to Nepalgunj for one day to rest and tidy myself up (basically I was fu***** after sleeping in a shared room with up to four Nepali friends and I had no clean clothes) before meeting my friend from Manchester in Kathmandu. I had planned a full two weeks detailed itinerary for my friends visit to Nepal and I had been very organised in doing so. Our first destination was ‘the last resort, this fancy smancy resort is nestled in the hills north of Kathmandu 15k from the Tibet border. It cost a bomb, but fortunately my dearest mother had kindly given me some holiday spending money, so I was able to over look the fact that two nights accommodation, transport travel, food and activities was the same amount as my monthly budget. And it was totally worth it, we did an amazing canyon swing with the most beautifully stunning back drop. The canyon swing basically consisted of being harnessed to 160ft rope and then jumping off a bridge into the canyon, free falling and then swinging, it was really really scary honestly but what a rush as I plunged through the air my red hair in tow! (the canyon is the top picture followed by the bridge)

After the canyon swing we scarpered to the top and set off mountain biking, when I had booked the mountain biking I hadn’t really enquired what exactly this entailed and was slightly perturbed to find out it was a 30 km round trip to the Tibet border, 15km up hill – shit!


After we reached half way with our Nepali guide it became obvious just what we had got our selves into, it was obvious from the start that my friends fitness levels were lacking somewhat and with that and a dodgy knee he had to turn back after half way, I on the other hand being the pig headed individual I am, continued the torture up the hill till I reached the Tibet border and then enjoyed the cruise all the way back, I have to say though it was as hard as running the half marathon I once embarked on!