Leaving Nepal and a "warm" welcome to Oman

Hello again everybody!

I'm back in a stupidly hot Oman (highs of 46 degrees today!) having arrived back from Nepal on the 15th. It is strange to be back in Oman after an incredible four months living in Nepal but it's nice to be back and enjoying some home comforts. More on that later though, let's start from my final week and a half in Nepal.

Our final lunch with Sophie and Laura was great, we all enjoyed spending one last afternoon together and remembering all our adventures over the past 3 months. I'd organised a surprise for everyone in the form of some custom made group patches to remind us of the trip. Everyone loved them and we now all have a truly unique souvenir of our time together. Soon though it was time to say goodbye and with a few hugs outside the Utse (where we all met 3 months ago) we left them to head back to our village. It seemed a bit surreal that we now wouldn't be seeing them again in Nepal but I'm certain we'll be seeing them again in the UK again very soon.

Laura and Sophie with their goodbye cards and team patches

Me, Rebecca and Ollie at Sophie and Laura's goodbye lunch

 Back in the village that night I went to a neighbour's house for a bit of a party with Susma and Rajan. It was a great night and my Nepali served me well once again, although I do think the hosts were keen to get me drunk on rice liquor....
Our last full week of teaching went very well and I was keen to have some final fun with class 7. Remembering that Dad had donated a world map to the school during his stay I decided to do a bit of a geography lesson with class 7. "Chris' world tour" went down very well and the accompanying game of "Jeopardy" (an American quiz show introduced to me by Rebecca)  got very competitive. I enjoyed myself aswell and Rajaram loved to see the kids having so much fun.

Sadly Rebecca became very ill all of sudden on Tuesday so I ended up heading to Basuki for the final time on my own. That day was full of games with the kids and enjoyed my final visit, a shame Rebecca couldn't come with me though. We exchanged contact details with a few of the teachers during the final days of the week and we're both keen to keep in touch and supporting the school in whatever way we can in the future.

Before we knew it it was Friday again and we headed off to Kathmandu for our final weekend! I headed to Basant's office to pick up my passport and a few other bits alongside having a chat with Basant and say a few final goodbyes to his staff. We arranged to go out for drinks on my final evening as a final goodbye. Back at the Lhasa I discovered Ollie had joined his local village football team and Zoe was back in Kathmandu after her first few weeks teaching Tibetan Refugees in Pokhara. Before dinner I ordered a few customised T-Shirts as souvenirs before we all headed to Western Tandoori. After dinner we headed up to roof and traded teaching stories and advice for Ollie and Zoe before heading to bed around midnight!

The next morning we all met up at a great little cafe, "Phat Kath", for breakfast and Zoe and I had an hour and a half chess match! Most of my time that day was spent souvenir shopping for me and the people back home. Alongside prayer flags for my room at Uni I got a few books and some t-shirts for me aswell as a few other bits and pieces. It was western tandoori again for dinner and we were joined by Zoe's friend Ben (recently arrived from travelling in India) and his friend who was volunteering with him. After dinner we bought some beers and headed up to the roof of the Lhasa for the rest of the evening. Rebecca and I both got a goodbye card from Ollie and Zoe which produced a few tears. We've all become such a close knit group and we've all become great friends!

After a lie in the next day we all had our final lunch together at OR2K, Ollie and Zoe both got cards from me and Rebecca before we had to say goodbye to Zoe as she had to get the bus back to Pokhara. Ollie joined us on the journey to Logonkel and we said our goodbyes then. We've already agreed to meet up for drinks when I'm back in the UK.

On Monday I had a truly memorable moment in class 5. Ragaram was observing my class and he was surprised to see one particular student contributing so much. He said before I'd arrived the student had been very quiet and he credited me with getting him to speak up and share in the class. I was touched! Tuesday was our final day teaching so inevitably that meant games and a lot of sweets for the kids! Rebecca and I did a joint lesson with class 5 and 6 so we took them out to the bus stop to play "covertly". It's a popular Nepali game and the only way I can describe it is like a Nepali version of tag rugby. Rebecca and I got involved aswell and we all enjoyed ourselves, even if it got a bit hot! Throughout the day we kept getting flowers and cards from our students which was very touching. We were struggling to find places for all the flowers by the end of the day.

At the end of the day the students organised a farewell programme for us in the main hall. The students and teachers all thanked us for our time spent at the school and we got the chance to day a few words ourselves. It was a truly incredible experience to teach at this school and I was sad that it had come to an end. We got more gifts and cards from the teachers and students before we walked out of the gates one final time.

Rebecca with some of her students on our last day

Playing "Coperty" with class 5 and 6 on our last day

Rebecca and Surita

Me and Sunnil, one of my students and next door neighbours

Me and some of class 5

Me and Rebecca receive yet more gifts during our farewell ceremony, loving my hat!



Madhav sir says a few words



Me and Rebecca with the rest of the school teachers

 Our final day in the village fell on the "Dewari" festival. An event that sees families visit each other and goats are sacrificed for meat. I spent most of my morning splitting my time between packing and helping Susma peel garlic for all the food she and the extended family were preparing. I managed to watch the goats being blessed before their trip to the temple to meet a man with a Khukri.... Later on I discovered two headless goats by the water tap being skinned before being washed off in the shower block. Food was constant throughout the morning and afternoon and I tasted goat for the first time! Very tasty! I spent time with the HUGE extended family who had descended on the house and had a few final football games with the kids. Soon though it was time to leave and I had to say goodbye to my host family for the final time. I'll miss them terribly and leaving them and what has been my home for the past 4 months was a very strange feeling. I'll keep in contact with my host family and I'm looking forward to visiting agin in the future.

After yet more food at Madhav's house with Rebecca and Basant it was time to head into Kathmandu. As we left the village the sun was setting over the mountains and I got a lump in my throat as we left the village and incredible scenery behind. On the way back Basant gave us the location for our final drinks that evening before dropping us at the Lhasa. A few hors later we all me up at "Sam's Bar" for a final Ghorkha beer and goodbyes. Basant gave us a certificate as a congratulation for finishing our time in Nepal, apparently Rebecca and I had been given the "toughest" placement and he was pleased with how well we'd coped. Some parts had certainly been a challenge let me tell you!

A final Ghorkha beer :(

Me, Rbecca and Basant with our certificates from Basant during our final drinks

 Back at the Lhasa I gave Rebecca a thank you card and I got one in return. She stayed in Nepal for another 10 days to spend some time with her cousin who was visiting from India. It was truly sad to say goodbye to her after all we've been through over the past four months as she's become a truly amazing friend. I hope to see her again in the future wherever in the world that may be.

I flew out from Kathmandu the next morning on my flight back to Oman via Dohar (a seven hour stopover included). I felt like my Nepali adventure came to a kind of an abrupt end, over my last three days I finished teaching, left my host family and began my journey home. Needless to say my four months in Nepal have been a true highlight in my life, from living and teaching in rural Nepal through to an incredible trek in the Himalayas to a once in a lifetime visit to Tibet. I've had some amazing adventures and made some lifelong friends and I was sad that it has all come to an end. But I have some incredible memories from the past four months and I'll never forget my time in Nepal!

Now you find me back in Oman taking some time out to spend some with my family and enjoy some more time in Oman. The day after I got home I joined dad, my brother Matthew and our friends Neil, Chloe and Jack for a days snorkelling along the coast. It seemed a bit surreal, going from the Himalayas one day and snorkelling with a sea turtle the next! I had a great time out on the boat and enjoyed being back with my family.

Me, Dad and Matthew take a break from snorkelling

The sea turtle, we had to chase him for ten minutes before we could get this photo!

So, my plans for the near future. I'll be staying in Oman for at least another month or so and taking some time out to relax after Nepal. I'm hoping to be able to help out the dive centre from time to time to keep myself occupied whilst I'll also be putting together some gap year photo albums/scrapbooks together to take to Uni with me. Plans for the final few months of my gap year still need to be decided so we'll see what happens.

Thanks for reading guys, see you next time!

A relaxed week and a few goodbyes :(

Hi everybody! 

I'm back in Kathmandu once again and at the end of my penultimate week in Nepal! I have to say it's been a very relaxed week in the village this week. Rebecca and I have only taught for two days this week owing to a fair few days off during the week. Monday night was a lot of fun though, I ended up having a volleyball match with one of the neighbours in our front yard for an hour or so before giving Sissir a bit of a volleyball lesson (even if we spent most of it running up and down the hill after the ball went astray!).

Tuesday was the first day off as it was Nepali Mother's Day so I did everything I could to make Susma's life a lot easier for the day :). I washed up after breakfast and did some washing for her but she drew the line at me washing the porch (apparently it could be done another day). She and Sissir headed off to her mother's house for the day around 11 so that left me a chance to do some washing and do one final session of lesson planning. The rest of my lessons for the trip are now all planned and it was strange to see an end to my lesson plans...... Tuesday also saw me and Rajan head to a neighbour's house for dinner as Susma was staying the night at her mother's. We had a lovely meal and my Nepali served me well, the family were very impressed with my efforts :).

 Wednesday saw us return to Basuki for the first time since the month off. Our route up has changed somewhat with the building of some new roads, but most of them are now horrendous dust bowls! The humidity didn't help either, I must have drank a whole litre straight down when we arrived at the school! It was nice to see some of the teachers again and get back to teaching. We'll only be going there once more and then that will be it for our time at Basuki! 

Thursday was another day off so Susma dispatched me and Sissir down the hill on a shopping mission for soap and washing powder. Nice to be out in the fresh air even if a huge storm was blowing in! Monsoon season is beginning now and Thursday evening saw a rather large thunder and rain storm hit the village. Mind you, it was nice eating dinner and listening to the storm outside :). The storm continued through the night and into Friday morning so we got a bit wet walking to school. School seemed to have been optional that day for the kids (possibly on account of the rain) as attendance was well-down from usual numbers. My first lesson with class 5 had only four kids! Me and Rebecca decided to merge our classes and do a games session on account of the weather, after ten minutes a teacher popped in to say that school was to be cancelled that day on account of one of the founding members of the school passing away. After an assembly and minute's silence school was dismissed. 

Rebecca and I headed into Kathmandu soon after to link up with Ollie. This weekend sees the group come together on rather sad terms, it's Sophie and Laura's last few days with us! As a final farewell we organised a meal out last night  at the Utse with Basant and one of his staff, Jatak, along with Ram (our Nepali teacher) and Ratna (our guide from Langtang). Basant ordered a huge spread of food and we all had a great time sharing stories and experiences of our time in Nepal. It also gave us the chance to thank Basant and everyone else for their truly incredible support over our time here. We really couldn't have done it without them! The meal was also a chance to say happy birthday to Basant, and not to disappoint we'd ordered a chocolate cake! We all had a great time and it was the perfect "last supper" for the group and everyone that's helped us over the past 3 or 4 months. 

Today is our last chance to spend time together as a complete group before Ollie, Rebecca and I have to go back to our villages. So we're planning one final lunch together before we finally have to go our separate ways. It will be sad to see Sophie and Laura go after going through so much together and having such an incredible adventure! I'm so happy to count them amongst my friends and we'll all miss them. No matter though, we're already planning a group reunion in Nepal (when we all have money again!). 

The gang's all here! Thanks so much everyone for a truly incredible 4 months together! 

Our "last supper" :) 

As for me, next week is my final full week in Nepal before I fly back to Oman on the 15th. I can't believe it's coming to an end so quickly and I will be truly sad to see the back of an incredible four months here. But I'm trying not to get too emotional (yet) as Rebecca and I still have one more week to go. I'm not sure when I'll post next, it might be next weekend or possibly even when I'm back in Oman. Watch this space to find out how my Nepali adventure will end. 

Thanks for reading guys, see you next time.