Unfortunately the clouds are blocking my view so I am yet to see the rather sublime mountains that are pictured in my blog photo. Hopefully tomorrow morning the skies may clear and show me the natural beauty of this rather cosmopolitan little city that I am now in.

The journey to Pokhara began at 7am with the beginnings of a 7 hour bus journey across the Himalaya's to the city. In all honesty, it was a lot better than I gave it credit for. Although at first apprehension was at its peak seeing how far the drop down the mountain was and how close the bus drove to the edge, but then a little self assurance in that, I'm sure these people know how to drive and what they are doing kicked in and let the rest of the journey go a lot smoother!

Sorry had to take a brief pause there due to power switchover.

Yes that is one thing I need to get used too, Power Shedding, apparently Nepal has the worst in the world, and with the power linked to water; which has been relatively scarce, power might be a bit of an issue. Although it is really cool to use Hydroelectricity, go Nepal!!!!

The other volunteers are really nice, Adam the Australian, Sarah the Lady from Colchester and Georgia the Girl from Richmond, and its rather reassuring to have someone my own age around! Bindu herself (the lady who runs the hotel/homestay) has already begun to mother me which is really cool, I think they put a lot of effort into making volunteers feel as comfortable as they can. Tomorrow I go around looking at placements and trying to find one that I think will suit me but I'm already beginning to think that the Annapurna Primary School, where everyone else is might be a nice suited place.

There are a few things that I'm going to have to get used to. Bottled Water, Bartering, Cockroaches, Spiders, Gechos, Cows in the Street, Kids being hit as a form of discipline, the Missionary church behind the Hotel....just to name a few, but I think it should be fine.

Tonight we are going out for a welcoming dinner for me, it's going to be cool!

Although maybe I should stop using the word cool, its not ironic at all in comparison to the weather.

11.04.2009

The mountains have come and gone and come again, and believe me when I say they are absolutely awe inspiring. They are huge, and it is amazing to think that they are always there in the distance, beckoning you to test life, and experience a thrill like never before. Im very tempted to try some kind of like trek in the Annapurna mountains, but i still have a lot of time to decide, so in time maybe. Tomorrow I'm off to the hike up to the World Peace Pagoda, which should be very interesting in itself.

Work for me doesn't start until 21st April, which is rather far, and I've seen the school i'll be helping out at. Shree Krishna Lower Secondary School, which for a playground has a huge amount of rubble and stones to make up for the lack of balls. The two empty tetherball posts stand alone, aimlessly with the classrooms reminiscent of some kind of prison cell(which I would not know of.) To think that kids spend a whole day cooped up in there is slightly bewildering, but I guess you can't just run into a country and change the system.

15.04.2009

The air is beginning to become stifling hot, but in some ways its rather relaxing, a nice incentive to interact with the people and find a refuge in the cool which is pretty awesome in its own right. A lot has happened since my last blog update; a night of Cockroach attacks, braving the Nepalese barbers and cutting my hair, Trekking up to the World Peace Pagoda and Volunteering at Annapurna Primary School where all the other volunteers are working. So as it goes, as bad as it is, I already have favourites there! There are these two adorably cute Nepalese boys who are brothers and they are just so awesome! I would love to bring them back to England, although I shouldn't be talking about them like they are souveniors!

My night run in with cockroaches was far from fun. Having one brush against my arm and try to scuttle in my sleeping bag was not cool, and having a number trance around the room was also uncool, and having one settle on my toothpaste in the bathroom was again uncool. Resulting in a night of sleep that lasted about 2 hours. Paranoia was at its height, and yeah it was a rough experience. Thank God for Nuking the room in the morning, as cruel as it is, it is rather satisfying to see a Cockroach dead on its back, knowing, 'that was the one that tried to attack me last night!' Although I'm sure it was just wanting to get to know me, actualy, I'm pretty sure I did here it sing , 'You got a friend in me!' Hmm.....maybe if you didn't look so scary I might join in that song. Should I embrace the cockroach world, maybe I should just understand, that, life is full of cockroaches here, it is the way Nepal...hmm.. or maybe Pokhara works at its best.

Electricity lasting has been rather suprising, coming here I was under the impression of Blackout nights, which emanated from Adams' '8 hour power days' post on Facebook. But thankfully light has always been available when needed, especially in the last nights where I have been taken back to my childhood in sleeping with a light on. Although I did see that book in a shop here, 'Are you afraid of the dark' casting my mind back to that very corny Nickelodeon show, and all I can say is at the moment yes...yes I am very afraid of the dark.