Finally, here I am, sorry about that

Namaste.

Sorry about being back this late, but we have a big electricity problem in Nepal. In Kathmandu we had only 4 hours electricity a day and now even in Chitwan we have only two, and then it is hard to fit in exactly that time to be in an Internet.

Anyway. Now a quick catch up and then soon (I hope tomorrow) I will be able to give you a real update of the last few days. I will write it on my laptop, put it on a USB stick and then I will check if I can 'throw' it on here (with already many pictures we've taken).

Rita finally arrived Tuesday afternoon around 18.00!! She was very lucky that she got another seat free after being snowed in at Heathrow on Monday.

Tuesday day time I used to see hello to everybody I know again and have a walk through Thamel. I even did some work on the computer!!

Wednesday we had a lay in and then we went to Durbar Square with a rickshaw. The poor man was pushing his lungs out with the two of us in his rickshaw and we only had to pay him 100 Rs (about 1 euro).
Feeling guilty we tipped him 50 Rs and he was the happiest man in Kathmandu.

From Durbar Square we walked back, had a light diner in the Northfield Cafe, a drink in Rum Doodle, I showed Rita Tom & Jerry's, a bar for all the tourists and volunteers and then it was time to have an early night sleep, to catch up a bit.

Thursday we went with Nabin, a guide from Himalayan Encounters, first to the Swambhyatan Temple (Monkey Temple) and then to Bhaktapur. The sun is shining, it is wonderful weather and Bhaktupar is very peaceful with no cars!!!

In the evening a 'local' diner in a 'local' place with Dill and Nabin (HE). I asked for local, but they took us to a very expensive place. Okay, fair enough, we saw the Nepali dancing and the food served was excellent. On our way walking back in the direction of Thamel we stopped this time in a local bar. It was fun. The Nepali people love dancing and singing and they know how to enjoy themselves.

Friday again a bit of a quiet day, because Saturday (today) we are travelling to Chitwan, the national park.
I went to a very good bookshop and there we bought a range of "How to draw" books (how to draw vegetables, how to draw people, etc.). I was very happy and lucky to find books like that.
Then we cleared the shop out of teaching chards for on the walls in the classrooms.
Number charts, alphabet charts, etc.

In my real catch up I will explain it more in detail AND I will add some of the promissed pictures!!

Now I have to run again, only half an hour of electricity left and I have to download the pictures taken so far on the USB stick, so I can hopefully put them on the site tomorrow.

Take care, lovely people

Namaste

Sanghita (a very happy Rita = derai kushi Sanghita)

Kathmandu!!! 02/02/2009

Life is beautiful!!!!
The feeling of landing in kathmandu!I almost felt like the Pope, kissing the floor, but it was too dirty of oil and petrol :)
Waiting a long time for the luggage (about 50 minutes), but then to the visadesk.
Filling in the embarkationcard, (thoe rest of the forms I prepared already at home), paid 61 Euro for a visum of 90 days and then ready for the attack: Carry your luggage Ma'am, Hoina (no), Taxi - taxi- minibus - hotel? Hoina.
Nanendra from Himalayan Encounters was waiting outside for me and there we go: cars - motors - mopets - pedastrians. Hunk hunk horn hoop hoop horns bler bler horns.
The smell of exhaustpipes mixes with the smell of Dahl Bath!! A 2-line way becomes a 5 (or 6 even?) line, cars everywhere. Children playing on the roofs, in the carbage, begging. Men, women selling their goods.
I FEEL GREAT -- I AM HOME AGAIN!!!

A fast check-in in Kathmandu Guesthouse; a double-room on the 3rd floor with gardenview.
Refreshing, a bit of unpacking.

A big welcome Namaste back at Himalayan Encounters. Namaste Rita, Namaste Ghita, Namaste Sanghita!! Thik cha? (you're okay?). Molai derai Thik cha. (I am very okay!).

Could not sleep when I was in the hotel in Bahrain last night. A big wonderful room in the Parshotel). Finally got up at 01:00. When I came down at 01:30 they said the minibus was waiting. Well, better hop on this one then, the next one is planned at 02:15, but after my experience of yesterday waiting 2 hours and 15 minutes for the transfer, I was not in the mood to risk it.
A lot of time to spend at the airport. First a seat for a coffee, which turned out to be funny. I ordered an Americano (a large espresso). The boy asked large-large? Oh, go on then. But boy, that was a LARGE one! Almost about a liter of strong espressocoffee in a cup so big that it even had two ears so you could lift the cup. No, that is even for me too much coffee, it would keep me straight up for about a week.

Time to go camerahunting. They had a fantastic Pentax Opti E 60 on offer: 149 U$ (109 euro). Exactly my budget (from my buoy-seaside lightlists that did my head in).
10.1 Megapixles, wide 3 x optical zoom, Auto Picture Mode, with a 2 GB memory card and a case. A big screen, an easy menu, I can even work it without my reading glasses!
Comes with a cable to connect straight with the laptop, so no cardreader needed.
And with this hughe memorycard I can make about 984 pictures!
You can count on it, I will and many many more!

A nice warm sun welcomes me, but now it is around 15:00 and with the sun disappearing behind the buildings it turns a bit chilly.
But, I am still sitting outside, in the front gardencafe of the Kathmandu Guesthouse, instead of sitting inside behind my laptop with the airconheating on and a blanket on my legs. :)

The prices so far are still the same: a big mug of fresh black coffee: 55 rupees (about 0,50 eurocents).

By the way: I started a kind of 'volunteering' already in the plane. Everytime I opened my eyes, another man/boy was sitting next to me, with a big smile on his face. About 8 men will go to their families now telling that he 'slept' with a white woman! One was really 'accidently' snuggling up, it did not bother me at all, it even started to be funny.

When the plane landed and was still taxying everybody jumped up and got their handluggage from the topcompartments. The stewardess just gave up trying to make them sit, : they are too many, they just wanna go home, she smiled to me.

But, also gentleman: one man got my handluggage for me and stopped everybody to let me go first!
I love the Nepali people, everywhere smiling faces, a glitter in their eyes, some cheecky, but all friendly!
Yes, I AM HOME! Yes, I feel GOOD. A bit tired, but happy!!

But, now some sad news. Just phoned home, then checked my email and got a message from Rita2. She could not leave Heathrow airport yesterday, they closed the runway down because of the snow!! She did not know if she can make it to still get the connecting flight in Bahrain, she had to stay in a hotel at Heathrow!! Poor girl, and... my mobile is not working here. I hope she will remember the telephonenumber of Himalayan Encounters I gave to her, so we will know whether she will be on the flight arriving at 17.30 today!!

I will go and try to ring her mobile from a steady phone here and will keep you updated.

Namaste my dear friends,
Sanghita