Return from Thailand to the "not so bright" lights of Kathmandu.

We're still on 16 hours load shedding a day and the rumours are that it's set to increase to 19 hours a day soon. Still there are there are only 24 hours in the day so it can't get much worse...although that said there are also rumours circulating that the Nepali government is considering increasing each day to 32 hours to enable further increases to the schedule should the power crisis continue to deepen.

So mid February and we returned with some trepidation from our hugely enjoyable sojourn to Thailand to a somewhat warmer Kathmandu than we had left three weeks before.So what news since then, lots some good, some bad and some very sad news from home.

The good news / bad news / good news and some in between first...

During the partially air-conditioned drive back from the airport (the window was open) in the ubiquitous Suzuki Maruti taxi (with no springs and no brakes), the talk was of what may have changed whilst we were gone. "It's certainly warmer so that's good!" said M, looking on the bright side for once, "there may even be less load shedding now? she mused "you know people bad mouth Kathmandu but its got charm" she continued in what was now becoming a rather disconcertingly unfamiliar and positive tone, as the taxi driver swerved to avoid a stray cow that had wandered out of a shop onto the road.

So spirits were reasonably high as we decamped back at our flat and started to un-pack.

"We must let Meena know we're back" says M. So off we trot downstairs to let the family know that we've returned safe and sound.No sign of Meena but her daughter Shristi was in and delighted to see us. "Welcome back, did you have a nice time?"....and so on.

"Great...but nice to be back too" we reply. So a couple of minutes chat and we're getting ready to head back upstairs."Oh by the way" says Shristi almost as an afterthought, "we're a bit short on water what with all this dry weather". "Oh really" we reply, "we'll be careful not to use to much then" forgettingcompletely that Nepali's truly hate to give bad news.

"...actually we've no water at all" Shristi eventually confesses "the well ran dry three days ago...but we might get a tanker of water soon".

So that was that then, a quick check of our 500 litre tank revealed about 50 litres left. So after a bit of swearing about f***ing Nepal by M (normal service resumed there then) we set about planning an immediate and draconian water conservation plan. This involves using what little water we have in combination with purchased mineral water (which isn't in short supply) and using as little of both as we possibly can.

So far it works like this. M has a wash or quick shower in a big basin, G follows, washing in M's dirty water (the rationale here being that M is always cleaner than me) , the dirty water is then used to a) flush the toilet and b) strained / boiled and used to make a nice cup of tea!

Based on our back of a fag packet calculations (we would have used a spreadsheet but there's no electricity available to run the computer) we reckon we can make 10 litres of water last about a month if we're careful!!!Any other water recycling tips anyone has would be gratefully received.

Stop Press - I can report that since then the water supply situation has eased. A "man" came round a week later and descended the well, dug for a day removing tonnes of clay and finally hit the water table again, so water pumping to our tank was able to resume. Even more miraculously another "man" came this weekend and in the course of 2 days he dug a new well right in the middle of Meena's lawn! How long all this "new" water will last nobody knows but we have now initiated a daily rain dance on the terrace in an effort to bring forward the monsoon...oh and we've also stopped drinking tea.

So water troubles aside life continues. Shortly after our return we were invited by Meena and her husband to a family wedding (his brothers son, so that'll be nephew then Mr Meena). This is an event that runs over three days and we obviously had little idea of the protocol or rules surrounding a Nepali wedding. Do you give a present?, what do you wear? Etc etc...As it turns out there wasn't much to worry about, it was a great celebration, Meena and the family looked after us and everyone made us feel really welcome. The first night was family only - strangely we count as family as we live in the house! - at a nearby "party palace" with lots of religious ceremony, followed by a big feast and on the third day it was an evening party at another "party palace" (only 800 guests !) with present giving and another big feast. Really aside from the religious stuff it wasn't so different from a wedding at home.

The really interesting thing was the amount of free booze, wine, beer, whisky which was laid on. Now many high caste Nepali's (Brahmin) don't drink but our lot are Chettri and they obviously do!..and therein lies a wee problem. I didn't think they did (drink that is) and during occasional queries from Meena over the months about the number of wine bottles going out in our rubbish I'd sort of indicated (to maintain our clean living image)that they were "like bottles of pop"...imagine my horror to be greeted by her at the reception with a glass of red wine firmly clasped in her hand...oh how she laughed..."pop" indeed !

Now we'd love to share the pictures of the wedding on the blog but unfortunately on a recent trip to the zoo, I contrived to leave the camera behind on a bench that we sat on to drink a coke and lo and behold it wasn't there when I rushed back 20 minutes later after M announced she wanted to take a picture of a litter bin ("you don't see many of those in Kathmandu"). So the wedding pictures went with the camera as did the snaps of the rhino, tiger, elephant and so on taken at the zoo. Ke garne as they say in Nepal.

The big adventure(s) in the last week was a trip I made with some other VSO volunteers to the Bhote Kosi river for a days rafting (I wasn't allowed to take the "new" camera) so no pictures of that either. Great fun after a 3 hour bus ride into the mountains, with an afternoon spent "shooting the rapids", the water was cold mind you as the river is fed from glaciers high up in the Himal. Still I returned to tell the tale...which was nearly more than can be said for M...As she didn't fancy rafting she had decided to go off on the Hash as usual and whilst out with the walkers they inadvertently strayed into one of the national parks on the edge of the valley. They were caught coming out of the forest (with no tickets I might add) by an armed soldier and a group of YCL (Young Communist League) cadres...an altercation followed, two hashers (not M I can report) were arrested and someone's (not ours thank God) camera was confiscated. Latest news is the two arrested were released later in the day and the camera returned. Honestly, I let her out on her own for an afternoon and pandemonium ensues.

Now of course we are also affected by news from home and last week we heard the desperately sad news that one of our friends from Winchester, Helen (Shone) passed away after a long battle with cancer. Helen was a regular contributor to our blog, both here in Nepal and whilst we were travelling in Europe. She was a wonderful person with a wicked sense of humour, a great smile and an incredibly positive outlook on life. This was so apparent in the regular e-mails we received from her over the last two years as she described what was going on in Winchester and her own experiences as she dealt with the treatment she was receiving. Our thoughts over recent weeks have been very much with Helen, her husband Barry and her young son James.We will miss her very much.