It was my Bahini (little sister's) birthday today, her name is Singetia and she is 15 years old. Like many of the children here in Nepal she looks younger than her years. I'm not sure if this a genetically Asia trait or a result of poor nutrition, but it certainly makes age determination very hard here. So it appears that birthdays here are only celebrated in the evening, so Singetia has to wait all day to receive her birthday gifts. When we arrive back at the...

For my placement I am to be living at Saila Dai house in Tinpiple, about 11km north of Kathmandu, up in the hills. About a 20-30 minute local bus ride from Belaju where the VIN office is in Kathmandu. Let's start with the building, the house in on the side of the hill, on one of the main roads out of Kathmandu. Due to the poor road conditions in Nepal this means that with the constant stream of traffic passing during the day, there is dust thrown up everywhere...

The first day of our volunteer induction was postponed because it was the Diwali festival and it is a public holiday where brothers and sisters celebrate. Buphi the Executive Director of VIN (Volunteer Initiative Nepal) invited all the new starting volunteers to come over to his house and join in their celebrations. It was the most wonderful opportunity and a true privilege to have been invited. Family life here is so important and the getting together for thes...

As there are a few days spare before I start my volunteer project, me and Sarah have decided to go on a trip down to Chitwan National Park for 3 days and 2 nights. The trip starts with a 7 hour bus journey, but that is nothing compared to some of the days we did on the truck. Before this trip I would never have driven all day to get somewhere spent on whole day there and then left the next day to drive all day back again. Its funny how your perspective changes....

Finally we have reached our destination of Kathmandu, 52 days on the Dragoman truck have now come to an end. I have had the most wonderful time on the truck, full of ups and downs but that I think that is India summed up. I certainly don't think that I would have been able to travel India independently, I enjoyed having the safety of the group and it is always nice to have some company. Kathmandu is not what I had expected, I had thought it would be more like ...