Namaste!
Namaste!
So I'm here living in Kathmandu now experiencing Nepali culture first hand. In fact I've learned to say much more than just Namaste. The organisation who are looking after us over here are pretty awesome and teaching us a lot about being Nepali before we head off to the remote village (Nirmal Pokhari) on the 7th of Jan.
It was pretty amazing flying in and getting a glimpse of the Himalayas above the clouds. They aren't visible from Kathmandu, but apparently they'll be amazing views in Nirmal Pokhari. Once Anna and I arrived in Kathmandu we were greeted by Asim and his wife and a few of the other volunteers from Aus who I'm getting to know pretty well. It really is a good bunch of people, with most of us being complete strangers only a few days ago. We've even recruited 2 poms too.
As for my first impression of Kathmandu, it's a pretty different place to anywhere else in the world. Traffic in Mongolia or Bangkok don't even compare. The streets, if yo ucan call them that, are busy with little tiny suzuki swift style cars, bikes, trucks, buses, pedestrians, stray dogs and huge potholes. So it's been an adventure just getting around, especially squeezin in 4 big boys into the back seat of these miniature cars. But walking around without being hit is even better. The place is pretty damn dusty and polluted, but it gives it its character and has given me an annoying persistent cough every afternoon so far. Oh and did I mention that it is quite chilly, with some nights being absolutely freezing. And yeah, only one hot shower so far, this morning was freezing cold water. But the guest house we are staying in is alright.
We've done a couple of cool things so far, basically our first few days have consisted of language classes, lunch with a new type of Nepali food, a bit more class then sightseeing. We visited the monkey temple yesterday which was just a temple with great views over the city and heaps of monkeys. Then today we visited another large temple on the other side of the city and also a place where the Hindus cremate bodies. However, the sight of a dead body wasn't the best thing to see. It was an experience, I give it that.
Night time has been pretty cool too actually. It was Anna's 21st yesterday so we had dinner at Asim's house which is 5 stories and pretty damn nice. Then we wandered the streets in search of a bar called the Funky Buddha. Eventually we found out and drank a few nepali cocktails with 3 shots in them for about $4 AUD, not bad at all. The dance floor then called and we tore it up as we welcomed random Nepalis into our circle and took up the whole area. Great times. Tonight we're gonna hit it up again actually, should be good.
Lastly a few weird things. They're customs are still a bit bizarre and we're picking them up slowly. Like eating food with your RIGHT hand and not being Jhuto by contaminating other foods. Also, no hot water is gonna be real tricky and its not great when its already freezing in the morning. Squat toilets. Electricity dropping out at scheduled and other random times. The incredibly noisy streets from all the honking. The random hippy foreigners around. Being offered weed 4 times last night in such a short time span. And just learning to forget about your watch and not follow the time. I'm sure I'll be used to it soon, but it's only been 3 days.
Hope everyone is well back home. Keep enjoying the summer whilst I'm freezing over here and eating Dhal Bat.
Hawasta!
Ram (my new nepali name)
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