Well I am home (kathmandu home not uk home don't get too excited)

And i have internet BONUS!!

So first things first. How have you been? Are you all well? Rob hows school? Lucy and matt yay on the wedding booking can not wait to see the place!! I love reading your messages keep them coming!!

Well i am not sure where to start really!! I guess the beginning apparently its a very good place to start!! So i left you last time waiting for a Heli to Kharachola (i wish someone would teach me how to spell that dam name!! And i have been there for a month!) Well unfortantly that heli never happened! But instead i got up at 5:15 and went to the airport where i waited and waited and waited (not sure what for) then eventually i was hushered through security and on a very small, very old, very loud, very scary plane and this thing was supposed to make me get to Lukla!! But once that plane lifted off the ground and i saw the views out of my window everything went quite (so this is why people come to Nepal!) it was as if i was floating through the air no plane just me and the view magnificent!!! unfortantly the views only lasted half an hour but as the snow capped mountains and tiny tiny villages faded away and relitly sunk in i again realised my life was hanging on this plane and the captain who i think cared more about his looks than the fact he was flying a plane!! And the fact we were getting lower and lower i could not see a run way PANIK!!! Where the hell is the run way then next thing i no BANG!! (not crash notice thank budda!) but bang and we were on the runway and it is may i also just say the shortest runway ever!! and to top it off it has a brick wall at the end so if you do get a bit giddy and over run there is no hope just a brick wall to finish you off! PHEW!!

Well thats the flight experence i found my bag and my porter and i was off!! My porters name is Pemba he is 15 and during the holidays from school he is a porter to pay for his education! I paid him in my eyes not enough but the going rate of the porters he walked away with the equivlient of about 7 pound a day! Nothing for us everything for them! And my bag was HEAVY!! So the walk was interesting as i was suffering somewhat from a stomach bug! so as you can imagin i lived of imodium!! Hoping to god i would not get cut short in the mountains!! Can you think of anything worse. Luckily i made it the guest house with no such incidents however i did throw up fanta and ate nothing for many days!! Once i arrived at the guest house on the way i was also sick JOYS!! however it was bright orange from the FANTA!! and into a bag which school girl eror had a HOLE! but the funny thing was i did not realise so i put this bag on the floor to lie down for a moment and when i went to take it to the toilet i realised and if that was not bad enough it had dripped through the cracks of the floor boards and into the LIVING ROOM ARRRRGGGGHHHH!! horrific at the time hilerious now! so the next morning more walking to kharachola just 6 hours we stopped for lunch (not that i ate) and there was a lovely young mother with a beautiful little girl she was full of mischief i gave her one of your teddies emma she loved it never let it go her face just shone. She also had a terrible rash on her neck so i gave her mother my savolon to help it get better! So at around 3;30 we arrived at my home beautiful place Cammie (ngima's lovely wife) was there to greet me with a big hug! and then i flopped down and did not move only do drink fanta and then of course throw up!

So now let me tell you about Eddie (Rob i thought of your bob and eddie when i came up with this name) Eddie is a spider but no ordinary spider but the BIGGEST SCARIEST SPIDER IN THE WORLD!! and where does eddie live??? In the toilet right next to where you pee!! And to make it worse he only comes out at night when things are already that big scary in the first place!! I thought if i give him a name he may not be so scary and it worked also i had an understanding when i go into the loo i would blow on him and he would scurry off into a hole in the wall! i could pee in peace sigh of relife! We became friends i would ask how his day had been blah blah blah he would go on ..... But one day on the 23rd october someone destroyed his wonderful web!!! and he was gone very sad day!! every now and again there would be new spiders smaller and just not the same!!

Anyways the first few days where fun Sonam was passing on a Trek and who was on the trek too only the people who did the same trek as me!! They had walked extra fast so they could spend 2 days in the village they wanted to see the hospital, school and monestry ect... So thats what we did the hospital is a small building with 5 rooms tiny and very little equiptment in!! Me not being much for hospitals looked round and left xander who is a hand surgen to look around!

The monestry is beautiful wait till you see the pictures so many colours so bright amazing! When i visited for the first time there was a fetival and and all the villages had gathered on the green to drink Chang (a millet milky type drink with bits in) of course they offered me some (bare in mind i have not eaten in 4 days and i am still ill) i have to have of course it was horrible i am also aware that its made with tap water i don't need any more illness! And then it was raining so it was beening filled up faster than i could drink it!! Then i remembered a trick my mum taught me ( the clever woman) you find a distraction and tip it away find a plant pot!! so when they were not looking and tipped it on the grass said mmmmmm and passed back my bowl! SORTED!

So during my time i have met so many people from children to adults. english to nepalese. family to friends and everyone i have met have been wonderful and made kharachola my home!! Ngima's and Cammie's mothers and such characters full of smiles and laughter. Chikki is a 12 year old girl related to cammie she lived with us in the guest house to help during the school holidays she was wonderful we spend soo many hours playing cards and snakes and ladders, i taught her english we would have daily lessons! When i left i could not help but leave her most of my possesions. My bag was suprisingly light!! I would try everyday to do one activity with the children of the village maybe play frisby or my persoal high-light colouring.

The first time i got out my colouring it was just me and chikki sitting in the sun. Next thing i no 2 children arrive nosying at what we were doing i gave them a picture then 4 more kids arrive news travels fast in a small village eventually i had 6 kids 4 monks and guess what 4 adult porters just passing they could not rissist and the thing which suck out to me was the smiles on there faces and the laughter as they tried to say zebra! this was my favorite day of all!!

So eventually after 20 days of being there i started teaching my day would go like this

7:00 up and sit in the morning sun

9:00 Thing about having breckfast

10:00 have breckfast

11 - 12 Play games with chikki and the kids

1:00 have lunch

2:00 teach

4:30 Come back and more games

6:00 tea

7:00 bed

This would alter if we had guests but most days where like this sometime it got kinda boring, Sometimes i would go and meditate on the green in front of the monestry that would be really peaceful.

My job in the guest house was FOH greet people get there order sort out payment. I had the bonus of speaking english!! Everytime i would get the same thing "what are you doing here" i must have explained my story hundreads of times!! my favorite was a man from england "you don't look nepalese"but i met some wonderful people there was 2 brothers one from austraila and the other lives in africa older men but a great laugh very very funny pair!! There was a lovely couple from england Emily and Chris they spent a day in the village because of a knee injury. They are at the start of a wonderful 6 month trip together lovely couple!!

I met a few guides and porters that will become great friends too!!

There is soooo much to tell you all it hard to write it all down i wanna have some things left for when i do my tour of england to visit you lovely people!! I have decided because i have missed you all so much i am gong to do a tour round england to see you all Coventry (finally see the finished house) kings lynn, sheffild, buxton (of course) and liverpool i fly back on the 5th of December so i have time before christmas!!

So now i am back in Kathmandu and my journey here was pretty spectactlar i was lucky enough to have a wonderful nepalese father Ngima who sorted me a heli from kharachola to lukla the view where magnificent upon leaving all the villagers gathered to say goodbye some gave me white scarfs (sign of respect and safe journey) Some also gave me orange flowers (hindu equivilent) it was a very heart warming moment!! I then flew from lukla to Kathmandu and home!!

I was me by Ngima but there was no rest i rushed to Sujans home to join him and his family for the last day of the Tihar festival (festival of light) all the houses in Kathmandu are lit up like christmas trees its beautiful. Kids go round singing ( like carol singers) and the city is buzzing!! When i arrived i was welcomed by his wonderful family his mother and father and 4 brothers and 1 sister all wonderful!! I then got the best seat in the house and watched the worshipping of the brohers and then of the sisters. Its wonderful how they respect each other so much they worship each other. In england we just fight and argue!! where is the love?? The process was wonderful...

1st the sister made 3 rounds of the brothers dribbling oil and then did the same with water

2nd she dribbled water into there hands which they tip and away and sip

3rd she began to tikka colours onto the forhead yellow, pink,red,purple,white ... they were so vibreant and colourful

4th she gives the brothers flowers

5th she gives them offereing of food one plate of fruit, one of nuts and the other of bread...

Then the bothers do the same to the sister only she gets money not food as an offering.

This happenes to all family borthers and sisters they all travel to see family it wonderful!! Really made me understand hindus more!!

We then spent some time chilling before the feast arrived and what i feast it was huge silver plate each of rice, dal goat meat (which was delicious) veg, cucumber curry it was amazing and tasted soo good!!

Then the fun started a group of children arrived with speaker and colourful dresses to perform for us they danced and sang and then of course we got up and dance. Now may i just say the men in nepal can and do dance very well and sujan's brother had some pretty awsome moves but as did Sujan!! Sujan is great fun and i am really enjoying spending time with him. its nice to hear about hinduism and we chat about scouting we have alot in comon! Mum you were right as usual very lovely kind man!

So that just about brings me to now i was woken early this morning by sonam who wanted to say goodbye before he leaves on his 18 day trek my plan today is to spend it with sujan seeing kathmandu and enjoying his company!

Gosh i have just realised how long this is!! oh well enjoy england and i will be back with my next installment tonight maybe if your lucky just to let you no 26 days till i am home YAY!!

Love to all

Polly

xx