My bus to Pokhara was early the next morning, so i set an alarm but had guessed the time wrong by over an hour so was woken by a phone call to room! 10 minutes later i was on my way to the bus and got to see a bit of Kathmandu in daylight, it was as i had been informed- dirty, full of poverty and extremely hectic, I waited in the bus and watched out the window as the world went to work, school and about their morning jobs.

The bus trip itself was incredible, about 5 hours long with stunning views of mountains,valleys, waterfalls and rivers-such a short journey from Kathmandu and so different in landscape and tempo of life. The towns and villages we passed at the side of roads were really quaint and always busy with people and cows, every bend in the road (there must have been thousands!) brought something different and so i content looking out the window for most of the bus ride.

I was picked up from the bus when i arrived in Pokhara and with a HUGE backpack and another massive hand bag, the revelation that my lift to the childrens' home was on a motorbike was quite worrying. I didnt take in a thing of my surroundings on the bike journey as there was the more pressing matter of potholes and balance to be thinking about. The Eco Childrens' home where i would be staying was joined to a travellers lodge for trekkers and also combined with the office for their business of organising treks, paragliding, water rafting and so on. I was told that the lodge and the other business were used to fund the childrens' home. On my arrival i was shown to a room with a basic classroom set-up where the 8 children lined up in age order. I was then presented with a garland of flowers by the oldest girl and welcomed, they took it in turn to say 'Namaste', their name, age and class in their best english, prompted firmly by the house mothers. It was a really nice welcome and very cute!

My room for the next few weeks was in the lodge, located above the orphanage and was very simple and pleasant- twin beds (although i am not sharing), and a room with a shower and pit toilet. After a short rest i returned downstairs with a large tube of smarties and immediately gained popularity from the children! Their cheeky personalities became apparent as they continually asked for 'more auntie!' and denied i had given them a second lot already, the little 5 year old even ended up running off with the tube and hiding. I was amazed at their english skills from this point on as they could obviously understand everything i said to them, even the youngest.

A mother and daughter from Denmark were also staying at the home as volunteers and had been there for 2 weeks already, there were very friendly and showed me how everything worked and reminded me of the childrens' names time after time. On the first day they showed me around lakeside and some places that they usually went for internet, momo and so on. The lake was incredible! just a 10 second walk from the home but something i had failed to even notice on the bike journey as we had rode a long side it. Fringed by green hills and unbelievably calm and beautiful, the road along lakeside was understandably the tourist centre of Pokhara. The tourists here are largely hippies and the majority of shops are selling fisherman pants and bongo drums to meet this market! It does not feel as touristy as places like Bali and Bangkok as the people here tend to be staying for long periods not holidaying with families and so the feel of the town is still very laid back.

The day that i arrived at the childrens' home happened to be a festival day and so there was no school to be attended. Instead the children were playing and then we helped with their last bits of homework before eating dinner. Dinner that night (and every morning and every night) was dal bhaat which is basically rice with a sort of vegetable soup. Very tasty.. for the first few days..! we sat on the floor with the children cross legged in the kitchen and attempted to eat Nepali style with our hands. A skill that is now improving with practice but i was told i was eating like a baby would at first. charming. After dinner there were final checks on the homework and then the childrens' favourite pass time- crowding round the small telly to watch some bollywood series, which apparently was in indian and not actually Nepali so they could only understand as much as me. They all fought to sit on my lap and then eventually settled down to watch this for what felt like forever (about an hour and a half) before going to bed at 9. I am now bollywood's biggest fan and can't wait for tonight's installment! ... :- |