Day 15

I think this week is going to be really difficult. I’m really ready to go home now and wish I’d booked 2 weeks here rather than 3. I think this week is going to be quite boring with a lot of hanging around and watching the clock. It’s even harder knowing Lyn and Ci are on their way home now….I’m missing them all so much, and this has got harder not easier with time.

Anyway, Monday was to be my last full day in the monastery and the day I said goodbye to the orphanage..

It was really hard saying goodbye to them all. There were lots of hugs and a few tears from Little Pema. They presented me with a good luck prayer shawl, which is lovely. I bought them a book to use as a visitor book, so that all the volunteers that meet them can leave a message in them to remember them by. I also gave them the photos I had printed out of me with them. No chance they can forget me now lol.

Day 16-19

I didn’t teach on Tuesday, but got my stuff together and hung around in the office with Smith after having an omelette for breakfast in the cafe. My lift came at 12.30 and it was time to say goodbye to Smith with a big hug. He has really brightened my time at the monastery, a real cool dude that has made me laugh so many times. No doubt we ‘ll keep in touch on Facebook.

I got back to the Quest house and was shown to a new room as there is a new volunteer in mine, Carol from Holland, who is going to my monastery tomorrow. Life goes on! I had a much needed shower and then spent ages sorting all my stuff out. I’m here for 2 nights, then on to a hotel for the last 3. I’ve packed my big rucksack (mostly with souvenirs!) and I’m going to try and pack my clothes and toiletries in my little rucksack and live out of that till Sunday.

Today has been a really lazy day. Thank god for the wifi and my kindle. The plan is to take a final walk into Thamel tomorrow for a bit of last minute shopping and maybe have lunch at an Italian restaurant I’ve been wanting to go to and have heard good reviews. Maybe a final visit to an internet cafe to upload some photos and another visit to the Garden of Dreams.

I’ll get a taxi to the hotel at about 11.30 on Thursday and relax there. Maybe a visit to Pashupatinath Hindu Temple on Friday and a last visit to Boudha Stupa on Saturday. Hopefully it will be easier to relax in the hotel. I will have my own bathroom and (wait for it!) a bath. Can’t wait, but would trade it for my Bedw bath in a heartbeat. Taxi at 7am on Sunday for a 9.30 flight via Delhi, them meet Lyn at Heathrow at 6pm. Can’t wait!!

My last day & night in the Quest house has been really chilled, as I guess the next few days will be too. I had a good night’s sleep in my new room, and then lay in bed reading until quite late this morning. I went downstairs to check my emails and eventually got out about 11.30.

The plan was to visit my local internet cafe to upload a few photos to the blog, then head to an Italian restaurant I’d been fancying. I ordered garlic bread and a pizza which could have fed 8 people. Needless to say I didn’t eat it all!

I wandered back through Thamel doing a last bit of shopping, before hanging out at the Quest house, surfing the web and reading my kindle.

My last day in the volunteer house…. a sad goodbye to Salve and Steve at 11am, when Salve presented me with a prayer flag and then into a taxi and onto my final place, the Tibet International hotel.

I guessed it was going to be a different experience when they greeted me with a cold flannel and then a cold ginger and lemon drink. I was really starting to get into the swing of things when I was asked what time I wanted my complimentary massage!

I was shown to my room, sorry, suite! OMG! I’ll let the photos speak for themselves…….let me just say one word though, air con! (OK that’s two!)

I mooched about for a while, enjoying the bath and free wifi before chatting to Lyn on the phone. Yay, one happy bunny! I then left to go for my massage. Again, OMG. 30 minutes of pain that I’m sure did me good. I was turned into a human pretzel and twisted in ways I didn’t know I could twist! she used her hands and her feet. I heard clicking and moaning; both coming from me! it was easily the best massage I’ve ever had, so I’ve booked another one for 90 minutes which includes a body scrub and wrap for last thing Saturday night. it will be one of my last memories!

I wandered out in a state of bliss into Boudha Stupa and had some food before coming back to the room and chilling again. 

I feel as if I’m in the Wizard of Oz, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymor

I had earmarked today to visit Pashupatinath, one of the biggest, most holy Hindu Shiva temples in the world. I took a taxi from outside the hotel and was soon dropped off. I began to wonder what I had got myself into, as it looked huge and quite daunting.

I found the entry gate and walked through, only to be hauled back by a guard. As a non Hindu I was not allowed to enter. He sent me off down a road…..only for me to be chased after again by another guard to pay the 1000 npr fee. I showed my Volunteer card and was allowed in free. I was then chased after again, by a young bloke who explained that he was a university student and could be my guide for 1000 npr. Seeing that I had got in for free I didn’t mind paying him and was so glad I had. Nothing would have made any sense at all without him. An hour’s tour meant that the £6 was money well spent, especially as I think I was hassled less with him than on my own. The whole area has a kind of desperate air around it. There are many beggars with horrific deformities and women and men trying to sell you things; it is quite intimidating.

The first place Sumi took me to was the cremation ghats. The temple lies on the banks of the holy River Bagmati which runs into the even holier River Ganges. Alongside the banks of the river are cremation ghats, platforms on which cremations are performed, 24 hours a day, about 50 a day. It was really strange to look down on the billowing smoke and see charred wood etc there and know that a body had just been burnt there. The Hindus deal with death in quite a matter of fact way, hand in hand with their belief of reincarnation. There is a ritual of preparing and washing the body and people are cremated within a couple of hours of death. It was also strange to see the priest on the ghat sweep remains into the river, whilst upstream by a few feet naked children jumped and swam in the river.

We crossed the river to the other side and saw where the politicians and royalty are cremated. 10,000 npr for them, 5000 nprs for ordinary people. I could also view the only hospice in Nepal, where apparently if the doctors can get the sick person onto a platform sloping into the river and get the person’s feet into the river 20 minutes before they die then they will go straight to Nirvana and will not have to be reborn.

We climbed some stairs to a small temple where I paid 100npr for a tikka, a red mark on my forehead which is a blessing to bring me good luck. The temple is full of pornographic carvings of the Kama Sutra…….life and death in the same place. We went to the 11 temples where there are 11 linghams; a symbol of the masculine and feminine.

We then went to see the sadhus caves from across the river. Sadhus are Hindu holy men. They are fascinating. They have no material goods and renounce everything. They are known for their fasting, yoga and meditation, and some of them are known for being able to lift heavy weights with their penis!! I paid to have my photo taken with 5 of them; it had to be done! Apparently there is one holy festival day that celebrates them, where they congregate at the temple, mostly naked, do tricks with their penises and smoke hashish!

Our final visit was to the only Government based OAP home in Nepal. We wandered around there, and took some photos.

It was interesting to visit the Temple. It’s hard to believe that there are 27 million Nepali people and 33 million Hindu gods! It’s really strange to see death being treated in such a matter of fact way. On our way out of the temple another cremation was about to take place. The body had been prepared and was wrapped in orange cloth and was on the ghat ready. I left as the pyre was lit!

Day 20­

I always knew my last full day here was going to be a strange one. I’m kind of in that limbo stage, eager to get home, bags all packed, now what do I do with myself for the next 18 hours? I’ve been everywhere I want to go. The day ends up being a mixture of laziness, reading and frenzied eating. I’ve discovered that going out to eat fills up time. I went out about 11.30, back to the Stupa to get my favourite lunch; a cheese toastie at the Cafe De Tample. I ate at my usual spot on the rooftop terrace, with my food and my usual lemon soda watching the world go by.

From there I went to Flavours Cafe, as it’s just too hot on the rooftop, and Flavors is more shady. I whiled away another hour there, with a slice of cake (my first in 3 weeks) and another lemon soda.

I called into my favourite jewellery store, where I’ve been going in daily to look at a lovely square labradorite crystal pendant. I managed to find matching earrings today, and was so glad I had my volunteer card around my neck as the owner noticed it, thanked me for working here and knocked 2000 npr off!!

I’m back in the hotel now, surfing the web and reflecting, along with munching a tube of pringles. I don’t know why am I eating so much today, is it a subconscious reaction to the long flight tomorrow and the fear of airline food? Or is it that end of holiday and back to a diet feeling? Anyway, I am so looking forward to getting back to a better way of eating. My eating here has been very erratic; barely anything other than Dahl Baat and omelettes the first week, omelettes the second week and then pizza and pringles the third week! Not good!

So, I guess it’s time to sum up the last 3 weeks. In one way this has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I wanted a challenge and boy did I get one.I wanted to feel like a “real” traveller, and I did. I managed to make friends, find my way around, cross roads, teach, explore and be organised. I haven’t lost my money, purse or passport….yet! I also haven’t gotten lost. I haven’t felt physically threatened, although I have found the beggars/sellers intimidating at times. I have felt immense ups and downs, sometimes on the same day, sometimes in the same hour. Travelling can be very lonely, and I was often aware of the transient nature of what I was doing. When you meet someone new, one of the first questions you ask is how long are you here for. I’ve met some great people; but I am so glad I took my Ipad/kindle.

Teaching was not all I had hoped for. The monks are well used to the transient nature of it. Remember how you used to treat the supply teachers in school? Well, it’s like you are a supply teacher for every lesson. as soon as you go, another volunteer pops up in your place. I was so glad and thankful for the orphanage. I was incredibly blessed to be welcomed into their family the way I was.

I was incredibly proud of myself for tackling the Everest flight and the trip to Pokahara by myself. A change of scenery then was exactly what I needed. I am so glad I took the plunge and paraglided; one of the highlights of the trip. I am so glad I did it and am not faced with the “should have’s” now.

I think it has done me good to get back to basics. The majority of my trip was in awful conditions…..worse than any student digs. I survived, though. I can live out of the same little rucksack for days on end. I can do without matching jewellery, bags and shoes. I can manage without make up, a mirror, hair dryer or straighteners. I can even manage without a shower when there is no choice! I can hand wash my knickers!!

I wanted an immersion into a different culture, and certainly got that. I will never forget the hell of the KTM traffic and the sheer fear it instills in me. I will also never forget the roads; every one looks like the aftermath of an earthquake location, or war torn country. I will try not to take 24 hour power and water for granted again. I will have a deeper awareness of the way religion plays in people’s lives. It is such an everyday part of everyday life here. I had hoped to get a deeper understanding ofTibetan Buddhism, which I didn’t get; the main reason being…….that’s just the way it is. People don’t need to explain it…..They often can’t explain it, they just live it. I have loved visiting the temples, especially the Buddhist ones, and have spent hours watching the faces of the Tibetan refugees. Watching the cremations also had a profound effect on me. Here death is not compartmentalised into a little box and locked away until we really have to face it. It is ever present and part of life.

I have found that most people are interesting and have a story to tell. I have also found that we in the Western world have no concept of poverty at all. Once you have seen true poverty you are changed inside. Something just doesn’t sit right anymore. You cannot unsee it, although that would make life a lot easier. This may be politically incorrect to say, but I am so glad I was born Western. We have chances and opportunities others don’t even dream about. This trip has made me truly thankful with what what I have. Moving into the hotel at the end of my trip was like a little shift into my sense of reality, a sort of crossroads back into my world. Finding simple pleasures from a tap with hot water, clean white sheets and air conditioning made my world a lot more bearable, whilst at the same time reinforcing that these are luxuries many will never have.

Spending 3 weeks away from Lyn made me appreciate him even more; missing someone you tend to take for granted makes you realise what you have. I couldn’t ask for more. Hopefully I have made him proud, and made my kids proud. I want them to know it’s a big world out there and they can do anything they want, as long as they are careful. If I can do it, anybody can.

So, I guess that’s it. Assuming I survive my massage tonight and my flight home tomorrow Lucy’s Nepalese Adventure is over. Will I have any more…….watch this space!! Namaste!

I’m going to finish with some of my favourite photos of the wonderful sights and people of Nepal.