Hi everyone,
Been a long old week in the village this week, we've had our classes switched around so Rebecca is only teaching two classes a day now whilst I somehow keep teaching three classes? Not sure how they figured that out but we'll see how it goes. Time just seemed to pass very slowly in the village this week, no idea why but with hindsight (it's such a wonderful thing!) it's passed by fairly quickly and we were soon back in Kathmandu, and we had reason to celebrate! Firstly it was Zoe's birthday on Friday so we spent the afternoon in "The Garden of Dreams" in Thamel and played a little bit of frisbee before meeting up with everyone for dinner. Secondly, it's Ollie's first weekend back in the village after is first two weeks of teaching so it was great to have the group all together for a bit of a catch up. It was a late night for us aswell, probably didn't get to sleep until gone midnight (very late by Nepali standards!).
Today we met up with some of Rebecca's friends who have been doing some charity work in Pokhara (having arrived in Kathmandu late Friday night having spent 13 hours on a coach!). We all went to the Farmer's Market just outside Thamel and had waffles and crepes for breakfast! After a look round the souvenir stands there we left Rebecca with her friends so they could catch up whilst the rest of us boarded a bus for the medieval city of Bhaktapur, forty minutes outside of Kathmandu.
The city is beautifully preserved and is such a nice place to get lost in the backstreets, and with hardly any traffic much easier than Kathmandu! About a hundred meters into the city we got pulled into a side courtyard to help some local women spin some thread! Sophie and Laura got stuck in as there was only room for two to help. It was a great little window into the life of the people who live here, and the weaving machines were pretty cool aswell!
Sophie lends a hand with some weaving
A few stops down we got the chance to try the city's iconic dessert; "King Curd"! Hands down the best yoghurt in the country and one of the best yoghurt a I've ever tasted, especially at 25 rupees (15 pence!) a tub. Later on at lunch we'd have it again but this time in clay dishes made in city itself. Local production all the way!
Me and Zoe enjoy some "King Curd", delicious!
Alongside the desserts the architecture of the city was amazing, all manner of wood carvings covered houses and temples alike and the details were impressive. At the centre of the city stood its Durbar Square, an area with plenty of amazing temples and shrines all interact lay decorated in stone and wood carvings. Alongside seeing the sights our visit to the city was also a hunt for some souvenirs. For me, I wanted to find some special photo albums to put all my gap her photos in. I was in luck, Bhaktapur is one of the main centres for the production of "Lokta" paper. This paper is made from the bark of trees above 2000 meters and the end product is used in all Nepali official documents because of its durability and it's unique property of never being able to be creased! I picked up two great locally produced albums and came away a very happy man, I can't wait to fill them with all my photos when I get back home!
The east end of Durbar Square
After lunch in Durbar Square we headed to another city highlight; Potter's Square. Here local potters churn out all many of clay products from water jugs, yoghurt bowls and even money pots! The process is open to view and you can even have a go yourself. After forming the products are set out around the square to dry in the sun. It was really interesting watching the skill of these potters, no way could I do it!
Potter's Square
An artist at work
Whilst it's been a great weekend there has been a bit of sadness building up. Zoe and Ben leave for Pokhara on Monday to start volunteering projects whilst the "Oyster Group" (me, Rebecca, Sophie, Laura and Ollie) now only have one more week as a complete group! Sophie and Laura now only have one full week left on their project before they fly home a week on Monday! It will be so sad to see them go after an amazing months together but we have one more weekend to enjoy with them before they depart for sunny old England.
The end is approaching fast for me and Rebecca aswell, two weeks on Tuesday our time will be up aswell and before we know it we'll all have scattered around the world! I've been lucky to become part of such an amazing group of people and share this amazing experience with them and I'll be sad to leave Nepal behind in just over two weeks :(. But two weeks still remain and I'm intending to make the most of it!
That's it for this entry guys, thanks for reading!
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