Namaste.

Having bid farewell to the majority of my fellow Everest Base Camp trekkers, it was time for something a little different and a complete change from my original plan of visiting Pokhara for a few days.

I was supposed to be heading west to Pokhara which has a stunning lakeside location by the Annapurna mountain region. However, as I mentioned in my previous blog.. Ashok, our group leader for the Base Camp trek had such an influence on me that I decided to scrap my original plans and visit his village instead.

Panauti is a small village 32km from the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu and has a population of approximately 6,000 people. Over the last 4 years, Ashok has been working hard to help bring positive changes within his community by introducing tourism. He has created a “Homestay” program with the involvement of local families who accommodate tourists from all over the world to provide them with a true reflection of what day to day life is like as a Nepali. In return, money generated from the program is injected back into the local community.

Ashok and I built up a strong bond during the Base Camp trek so I was looking forward to catching up with him again and visiting his home. What made it even better was that two of my fellow trekkers also decided to join me.. Joel and Vera.

On Tuesday morning the three of us jumped on a public bus heading for Panauti. The journey only took 2 hours, yet it was one hell of an experience! As we set off from the station, on a very dated bus that did nothing to hide its clear signs of wear and tear, things didn’t actually seem so bad.. each one of us had two seats to ourselves. Not for long! Within minutes the bus began to fill up with a ridiculous amount of locals who stared curiously at the three tourists. Describing it as “uncomfortable” would be an understatement.. tin of sardines comes to mind! Yet this particular tin was so packed there were people spilling out the sides, with some doing their utmost to hang on to the outside of the bus. Just bonkers!

Between the awful traffic, the relentless racket of annoying car horns, people completely invading each other’s personal space, and the lack of oxygen on the bus, it made for a truly terrible ride. I felt more sorry for Joel and Vera who are both tall people.. I say felt sorry, more like I found it hilarious seeing them both squashed up against the window with their legs tucked in sat next to Nepalese strangers.

Needless to say, we were delighted when we finally arrived in Panauti. After a wander around the heart of what seemed like an extremely busy village in an attempt to contact Ashok, we were finally met by his 16-year old daughter, Amy, and her 17-year old cousin Cyarina. The both of them play a major role in the Community Homestay program here.

They lead us to the recently built base where we were reunited and greeted by Ashok, and with the assistance of Amy we were introduced to the program with an itinerary for the forthcoming days.

The three of us would be staying with Cyarina’s family for our first nights stay in their home just a 20-minute walk away from the base. During the short walk it became quickly apparent that the locals were hugely intrigued by the three foreigners walking through their bustling village. The stares were not uncomfortable, in fact we were welcomed by an abundance of “hello’s”, especially from the little children playing in the streets.

We met Cyarina’s adorable mother, her little brother who spoke brilliant English for such a young lad, and later on, her father when he returned home from work.

The money generated from the program has helped to build and improve their family home so it was already noticeable the effect that the program was having on their individual family. They’d even built an extension to their home with the soul purpose of housing travellers who come to visit and take part in the program.

After Cyarina’s mother made us a lovely home made Dal Bhat (it had to be!), Cyarina gave us a mini tour of the village.
We visited a local temple, and a small museum demonstrating the history of the village, yet I found it more enjoyable to walk amongst the streets and take in the daily life of Panauti.

Most of the houses are tiny and very old, and there are also clear signs of poverty within the community, yet the people appear happy. Maybe they don’t know any different but they seemed content with what they have, especially the children who were running around with smiles on their faces, with badminton appearing to be a very popular activity among the villagers.

Power cuts are a regularity here and they were plentiful during our stay, however thanks to back up electricity systems using solar panel energy we were never without power for too long.

Cyarina’s mother gave us a cookery masterclass in her modest kitchen later that evening, rustling up some spectacular tasting food with the use of a colourful array of spices. “Buffalo Chiola” was on the menu, as well as various other dishes that we could all dip in to. Safe to say.. we were well fed, despite Joel’s hilarious lack of tolerance to chilli.

Cyarina’s father dug out his special home brew of Rakshi which is a strong alcohol created with rice and combined with various other ingredients. Man it was strong, you could feel it going straight to your head as soon as you had a sip! Especially as he wasn’t shy on pouring us more and more despite our pleads of “no more please!”. It’s certainly an acquired taste.

Randomly, the evening continued with a freestyle performance of dancing from the two siblings who were more than happy to throw a few shapes around in front of three complete strangers and their encourageable parents. It was weirdly entertaining and they definitely knew how to shift! I threw a few shapes around myself, probably due to too much Rakshi, but I wasn’t in the same league as the youngsters.

Cyarina’s mother had our breakfast on the table the following morning, which was delicious, but eating spicy pakoras and other savoury Nepalese treats was a tough one to stomach when you’re not used to eating this sort of food first thing in the morning.

As Cyarina and her brother left for school, we thanked her family for their amazing and welcoming hospitality that they had shown us.. we had a great day with them! Before we left ourselves, I managed to whack the top of my head on a doorframe as we were climbing the stairs to admire the rooftop view. Nepalese doorways are notoriously small, and I’d been warned about it literally seconds before I slammed my head into one.. but did I listen? Obviously not! Big deep cut to the head.. great!

We waved goodbye to Joel as he left on a bus back to Kathmandu, but we’d be seeing him the following day when we made our return.

Vera and I were staying for one more night, this time at Ashok’s house which is also part of the program. We met up with him outside a cafe near his home and had some buffalo tea with his friends while watching another day in Panauti getting into full swing.

Shortly after, the three of us took ourselves away from the hustle and bustle of the main streets and headed out towards the hills through fields of farmland where rice and potatoes are grown as the main staple of their diets. Various other crops, herbs and spices are also farmed here.

I was surprised to see so many women from the village working amongst the farmland. However, a change has occurred in Panauti whereby the women are becoming more and more involved in manual work, taking them out of their homes while their husbands are away elsewhere earning money for the family.

We began speaking to a few of the women in a small section of the farmland and they kindly allowed Vera and I to help them plant potatoes for a short while. It’s dirty hard graft that these women have to endure planting potatoes all day.. actual back-breaking work!

We carried on further through more fields and isolated homes in the hills until we reached the peak of Chamksar Hill. This particular spot offers some stunning panoramic views over the layered farmland and green landscapes of Panauti, overlooked by the snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas in the distance.

Ashok has helped a local family to set up a restaurant at the top of Chamksar Hill where a nearby nature trail passes through. We ate a lovely lunch here and sank a well earned beer while admiring the views before us. In years to come I’m sure this particular restaurant will be a successful hotspot for the future tourism they hope to bring to the village.

We made our way down dusty paths through a different part of the village, stopping off for 10-minutes to chat with the locals, until we eventually made it back to Ashok’s house.

For dinner, we headed into the centre of the village passing by the local football ground. Although it is currently under construction the pitch was packed with children and teenagers enjoying a kick around. It doesn’t matter where I’ve found myself around the world, whether it be in a large city, a small village, or a monastery in the mountains, football has a huge impact on communities worldwide.

Ashok’s friends house was a very old, but a typical representation of a Nepalese home with its tiny basic rooms, narrow staircases and small doorways.. this time I learnt my lesson and managed to avoid any more head injuries!

We had buffalo prepared for us again by Ashok’s friends wife, and once again the food was exceptional. She also kept pouring us their homemade Rakshi which was even stronger than the previous nights.. we polished off a whole bottle between us by the end of the evening! Tipssssssssy!

Ashok’s friends may not have been able to speak a word of English, but between their son and of course Ashok, we were able to communicate back and forth leading us to have a really fun night. As we experienced in our previous homestay, the friendliness of these people and the phenomenal hospitality they’d shown us was truly humbling.

After an extremely comfortable nights sleep and a lovely breakfast at Ashok’s house, it was time for Vera and I to leave on an early morning bus back to Kathmandu.

Having spent the majority of the last couple of weeks in Ashok’s company, and having the most incredible time with him, it was with great sadness that we were finally going our separate ways.

I actually can’t speak highly enough of the man, he is a true inspiration, and even more so now that I’ve witnessed how he has made such a positive transformation within his community.

If you ever happen to be in Kathmandu and you have some spare time on your hands or looking for something unique, I urge you to take part in the Panauti Homestay Program and experience a true reflection of Nepalese lifestyle.

The local bus back to Kathmandu was once again an experience in itself. Not only did it begin to start pouring with rain, but just when you thought they couldn’t pile any more people into an already jam-packed bus.. they do!! There’s no such thing as personal space here.. I had various strangers limbs draper over me, bags digging into my ribs, folk trampling on my feet, and an umbrella dripping on my head. If I didn’t laugh I’d cry.. Vera found it funny mind, since she had the window seat.

We breathed a sigh of relief when the bus finally made its way through some awful rush-hour jams arriving back to a very wet Kathmandu. Dodging some very sketchy traffic crossings and massive puddles on the way back to the trusted Fuji Hotel for my third visit, was the main challenge.

We quickly caught up with Joel again grabbing a coffee at a nearby restaurant before we had to wave him off again.. however, this time he was leaving for home though, back to Australia. What a great lad, I had an absolute scream rooming with him on the Everest Base Camp Trek, so needless to say it was another sad goodbye.

After having some down time to myself in the afternoon I met with Vera at the same restaurant as earlier on in the day. We were the final pair of the Everest Base Camp Tour to be leaving Kathmandu, so it felt necessary that we met for one final time and reminisce about the previous couple of weeks. Vera is an exceptional young woman with an exciting future ahead of her, and had been fantastic company to be around throughout my time in Nepal. This was the last sad goodbye that I would have to say and I wished her well for her forthcoming travels.

I’ve had an extraordinary time here in Nepal, met some wonderful people, and made some truly unforgettable memories. However, it is time for me to move on again now.. I’ve an early morning flight tomorrow heading for Delhi where I’ll begin the last leg of my trip.

Cyaaaa xx