First of all, I had a crazy ride to the airport in Bangkok. 15 passenger van (+ the driver), 14 people, 2 seats and the aisle taken up with luggage, one chaotic driver. Also, I’m pretty sure the seats weren’t bolted to the floor, because every time the bus lurched, the seats moved. I was glad to arrive in one piece. :)
Bangkok airport is HUGE! There were SO many check-in counters, and of course, Air India was at the OTHER end to where I was. :P I tried to change my Laos kip to USD, but apparently you can’t change Laos currency outside of Laos. So now I’m stuck with ~$60USD worth of kip. Great.
While deboarding in Delhi, all of the transfer passengers were herded together in a group and I got to chatting with a lovely gal from Australia, who was also headed to Kathmandu! We went through the transfer security together (I’d forgotten that women are processed separate from the men in India) and we proceeded to our gate. Upon arriving in Nepal, we banded together to sort out the visa process ($100USD for a 90 day visa) and exchange money so we could pay the taxi fare. We decided to share a taxi into town, me to the NGO I’m working with and her to meet a friend of hers. Finding a taxi driver was painless, and we even got a good rate! The best part is that one of the drivers remembered the friend of the Australian girl, having picked her up from the airport that morning! Crazy! The ride into town was BUMPY! I thought the roads in Laos were bad. At least the ones in the capital of Vientiane were in fairly good shape. Here in Kathmandu, I have yet to see a road that’s paved for more than 100m here. Mostly it’s rubble/dirt/broken concrete, and potholes everywhere. And like India, there are cows and chickens and people on bikes and kids running across the road. :P Also like India, most of the women are wearing saris (this is a predominantly Hindu (and Buddhist) country). I can even use the few words of Hindi that I know and people understand what I’m saying! Words like, ‘stop,’ ‘please,’ ‘thank-you,’ ‘a little,’ and ‘door.’ The last one isn’t too useful, but I remember it from riding the Delhi Metro (‘Doors are closing’).
There are HILLS (almost mountains) surrounding the city! I haven’t had a good view of them yet, but I’ve seen glimpses. :)
I think even if I don’t go trekking, Kat. will put me back in shape, it’s a very hilly city.
After being shown around the volunteer house and having a cup of tea, one of the other volunteers, Jack, offered to show me around the neighbourhood and point out the 5 childrens’ homes that the Umbrella Foundation runs. We ended the tour with dal bhat (the national food of Nepal) at the home where Jack is placed. Dal bhat is rice and lentils, and will be my main food intake for the next three months. :P
From what I can tell, the role of the volunteer is to have dal bhat with the kids in the morning, walk them to/from school, have dal bhat in the evening and supervise their homework/study time before bed. On Sundays, and any day that they’re not in school, we come up with various activities to entertain them.
I think I’m going to like it here. :)
P.s. There isn’t any internet in the volunteer house, so don’t be concerned if my blog entries become less frequent.
Bangkok airport is HUGE! There were SO many check-in counters, and of course, Air India was at the OTHER end to where I was. :P I tried to change my Laos kip to USD, but apparently you can’t change Laos currency outside of Laos. So now I’m stuck with ~$60USD worth of kip. Great.
While deboarding in Delhi, all of the transfer passengers were herded together in a group and I got to chatting with a lovely gal from Australia, who was also headed to Kathmandu! We went through the transfer security together (I’d forgotten that women are processed separate from the men in India) and we proceeded to our gate. Upon arriving in Nepal, we banded together to sort out the visa process ($100USD for a 90 day visa) and exchange money so we could pay the taxi fare. We decided to share a taxi into town, me to the NGO I’m working with and her to meet a friend of hers. Finding a taxi driver was painless, and we even got a good rate! The best part is that one of the drivers remembered the friend of the Australian girl, having picked her up from the airport that morning! Crazy! The ride into town was BUMPY! I thought the roads in Laos were bad. At least the ones in the capital of Vientiane were in fairly good shape. Here in Kathmandu, I have yet to see a road that’s paved for more than 100m here. Mostly it’s rubble/dirt/broken concrete, and potholes everywhere. And like India, there are cows and chickens and people on bikes and kids running across the road. :P Also like India, most of the women are wearing saris (this is a predominantly Hindu (and Buddhist) country). I can even use the few words of Hindi that I know and people understand what I’m saying! Words like, ‘stop,’ ‘please,’ ‘thank-you,’ ‘a little,’ and ‘door.’ The last one isn’t too useful, but I remember it from riding the Delhi Metro (‘Doors are closing’).
There are HILLS (almost mountains) surrounding the city! I haven’t had a good view of them yet, but I’ve seen glimpses. :)
I think even if I don’t go trekking, Kat. will put me back in shape, it’s a very hilly city.
After being shown around the volunteer house and having a cup of tea, one of the other volunteers, Jack, offered to show me around the neighbourhood and point out the 5 childrens’ homes that the Umbrella Foundation runs. We ended the tour with dal bhat (the national food of Nepal) at the home where Jack is placed. Dal bhat is rice and lentils, and will be my main food intake for the next three months. :P
From what I can tell, the role of the volunteer is to have dal bhat with the kids in the morning, walk them to/from school, have dal bhat in the evening and supervise their homework/study time before bed. On Sundays, and any day that they’re not in school, we come up with various activities to entertain them.
I think I’m going to like it here. :)
P.s. There isn’t any internet in the volunteer house, so don’t be concerned if my blog entries become less frequent.
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