Nepal 2012

We left for the airport at 6pm and of course there was the inevitable traffic jam. Lucky we had not left in the last couple of days the festival was right next door to the airport and evidently there had been 500,000 to 600,000 people there so we would never have made it to the airport on time. The fairy lights looked very pretty though.

We sat around in the airport for ages and they are so inefficient. We were the first in line to book in (there is no such thing as book in on line here) and still the 9 of us were scattered around the plane, I couldn't work that one out. Their attempt at booking us on the second leg was even worse, not one of us was together and we were from rows 43-70!!!! Fortunately we could change those seats in Hong Kong and at least sit in two's and closer together.

The Dragonair flight left on time at 11.20pm and we hope to never have to catch these flights again. We were served a meal and flew for 1 hour to Dhaka in Bangladesh where we landed and we had to remain in the plane for the next hour, and it became very hot and stuffy. We then took off again for a 4 hour flight to Hong Kong and were served another night meal and then breakfast on this flight. They were rude enough to wake everyone to see if they wanted food too!!!!!! Surely if someone is asleep leave them, no way. Of course coming back that way you lose 2 hours too so by the time we landed in Hong Kong at 7.10am we were all absolutely exhausted.

We staggered literally off the plane and found the nearest coffee lounge, scrapped up enough HK dollars and all had strong coffees. It took about 1 1/2 hours for the caffeine to take effect before we could even think of moving.

We dragged ourselves to the information desk, where we changed some money and decided to catch the train to HK Island and look around. I might add it was drizzling and foggy again so there was no real incentive to go out.

The train was very comfortable and we all napped, so much for sightseeing. We got off at the end and wandered around and through some shops, nothing very interesting, although we did watch a building site for some time, found a good old McDonalds where we had some lunch and another coffee and Katie fell asleep leaning on the wall. There was no point going up the cable car to Victoria Peak as it was too foggy to see anything. We decided to catch the ferry across to Kowloon and have a look at the markets which information had said we could do. They forgot the vital information that it was a very long walk from the ferry after wandering for a while we all decided it was well and truly time to return to the warmth of the airport. It was still foggy and spitting rain.

The Kowloon station was too far away so we caught the ferry back to HK Island and then the train back to the airport. In here we commandeered a table once again at McDonalds and sat there from 3.30pm until 6.30pm when we moved to the lounge our plane was departing from. I was so exhausted I fell asleep with my head on the table and I have no idea what the others did.

We had all intended to have a shower and freshen up but talk about daylight robbery........ $30 Australian each a wash in their handbasins did the job. Darren left his mobile on the cupboard and when he went back a few minutes later it was gone. Fortunately no credit on it so it was useless to anyone else. We did send a message to it with our flight lounge number and departure time in case someone was handing it in, and we did speak to lost property and desk personnel but to no avail, no telephone turned up.

We had another bag check before boarding this flight but eventually we found our seats thankfully. The flight departed at 7.20pm and we were served meal, then they turned the lights out hooray and we could sleep until breakfast before we landed at 6.30am the next morning Thursday in Adelaide.

We did catch up on some sleep and customs weren't a problem although we did have to open the cases to show them the wooden items which we declared. We had a good sleep in the day and felt a lot better and ready to face life again.

We awoke at 8.30am and again had a lovely hot shower. Ken left for Dhumbarahi to complete their battery lights so they are safe, not that they know the meaning. Liya was home from school and she was Ken’s messenger fetching and carrying screwdrivers and bits and pieces. She has really grown up in the last 12 months and we can see Srijanna’s good influence on her.

We all split different ways this morning as we all had shopping to complete or in my case to start and finish…… Han and I had an omelette at LeBistro and then completed our shopping.

We all met back at the hotel and cleared out our rooms, they already had people waiting to enter them. We then walked out to Dharbar Marg and went to the Pizza Hut for lunch, probably the most expensive meal we have had so far and it was good but still with an eastern flavour.

We had to reprint some of our flight itinerarys as Dad has filed them safely and I am sure we will find them when we get home. Thankfully
I have the passports!!

There are so many visitors here now that it is well time to go. We are exhausted and have just walked back to Expresso Bar for the last time for Frappuccinos. It is warmer today and the cold Frappuccino is very nice. We are just sitting here nearly asleep and we need to be back at the hotel by 6pm for the bus to the airport and our plane leaves at 11pm tonight.

Too big and sad a day and too late to write now will update tomorrow morning.

UPDATED

We awoke at 8.30am and again had a lovely hot shower, then breakfast on the go. Darren was up early again……… and off to the airport for the Mt Everest flight. He did enjoy is but said we had seen some pretty good views of Mt Everest and the Himalayas previously too.

Ken left early to go to Dhumbarahi first to try and fix their battery lights again. They don’t have much idea on these things even though they are shown every time and are so reliant on them, they must charge properly to be of any use.

Hannah and I arranged some printing for the children as it is a holiday here today and a special meeting has been arranged. As it could be a long one we have decided to do something to keep the children occupied. We also had some presents too buy so we ran around and did it this morning.

We all had so many bags of things to deliver we caught a taxi to Chubahil. Wow we picked a really grumpy one. He said he had no meter, which is illegal here but many actually don’t work. His first offer was 400R and we said no way 200R he came down to 300R but we said ‘no’ and started walking off to find another taxi. He called back to us ‘ok’ so we came back piled the bags into the back and jumped in. He then started the meter but left the lights on it off so it was hard to read. He drove out to the mouth of Thamel where we were stopped by a procession and he turned the car off but the meter kept going and clicked over another 50R while we were waiting. We started off and he drove as slow as he could but he did go the right way and not ‘take the scenic route’ as they will try to do by meter. The meter came to 197R at Kulapul Bridge which was where we had asked him to go. We are sure he was going to stop when it reached 200R and leave us where ever we came to but it didn’t work for him. We made sure we had all the bags out before I paid him and I said to him “see that was a reasonable fare wasn’t it!” and we got a string of Nepali back which fortunately we cannot understand but we made our point to him, we are not foreigners to be taken for a ride.

Hannah, Kathryn and Katie came later as there was money that needed to be changed. Our money changer was not open until noon although he had told us last night he would be open at 8.30am so we didn’t change it last night. They had to wait for him as some were Ken’s cheques and as he knows us he would do it without the passport rigmarole you have to go through. It is extremely hard for the Nepali people, when we came 4 years ago the conversion rate was about 52R to the dollar, we are now getting 83R to the dollar, so for them the essentials of life have gone up so steeply, it makes it cheaper for us but they lose out badly.

Small change was needed to day as it is a holiday, there are children everywhere and they are holding string etc across the street and you have to pay to get through. Abi, Shelley and Joanna were only a few minutes in front of me and they didn’t get stopped but I did twice, in the 10 min walk to the hall after we left the taxi. There are processions and parties with bonfires everywhere today. We are told that today it is legal to have hashish and a few are smoking it in the streets you can smell it and they are high. A shop keeper who had obviously imbibed was trying to sell Kathryn a large carved wooden fish and he was saying that she could cook it and cut it up and eat it with her friends, very nice and tasty he said.

Abi, Shelley and Joanna arrived at Chabahil just before 12 to find many ready and waiting, I had stopped on the way to buy large paper for a map so was a few minutes later and Darren arrived just after me straight from the airport. We didn’t tell them where he had been. We started the meeting at 12.20pm but of Ken there was still no sign and he was meant to be commenting on the readings and then taking questions. Darren was to follow later and complete the wilderness wanderings from Sinai to the Promised Land.

We sang 4 hymns and read the 1Corinthians 1&2 reading and still Ken had not arrived so Darren stepped in and gave some excellent comments on the reading straight off the cuff. From there he moved into the wilderness wanderings and Ken arrived around 1pm. The other girls arrived soon after and we stayed at the back of the hall with the children and supervised them completing puzzles and colouring pictures. The class went until around 4.30pm and was once again interactive. We closed with hymn and prayer and biscuits and drinks were passed around. We all stayed talking, answering questions and saying our goodbyes until about 5.30pm when we went upstairs to Bro Kishan’s.

Here we were served noodles and coffee and we had to say even harder goodbyes……… Bro Kishan and Sis Kalawati insisted on driving us back to the hotel and the children were going by taxis, so we asked Bro Kishan and Sis Kalawati to stay with us for dinner (even though we didn’t need any more food). To our delight they agreed to stay with us, so we took them to Weizen’s Restaurant and we shared an evening meal together. It gave us a chance to talk through some of the welfare requirements of the bre and sis uninterrupted too.

Bro Kishan has cataracts and is to have an operation to remove them shortly, Bro Gopel’s hearing aid needs attention, maybe a new one, Bro Laxmi requires ongoing care after his stroke, and there are several bre and sis with high blood pressure that are going to need ongoing medications, Sis Manju’s blood pressure was 170/130 and she has 3 young children to care for on her own. We have convinced Sis Kalawati to have a proper eye check and correct prescription glasses as she is having terrible headaches after an hour of concentrating on her bible or translations and she is so essential to having information translated into Nepali from English. She was working on the Commandments of Christ and Bible Reading Companion last year and they have just been printed and handed to every member of both ecclesias which is a great work. Next project is a small leaflet outlining Christadelphian beliefs with quotes which can be easily handed out, this should not take long as there are not many words to translate.

We had a lovely meal and evening with them and they departed at about 10pm, another difficult goodbye to say. We were given cards from them, Sis Pinkie and Sis Sucra to read later which have made me cry.

We were too keyed up to sleep yet so went to have hot drinks and chat with Han and Kathryn who arrived as the others were leaving. It was too late and I was too tired to type so the update had to wait.

We awoke at 8.30am again and had a lovely hot shower. We all had different things to do for an hour or so this morning until we met back at the hotel at 10.45am when we are leaving for Sis Uma’s home for lunch. Ken collected from the photocentre two prints of Auntie Denise Essex’s of the Temple that we had found rolled up in Chubahil library and taken there to be mounted. They have flattened them and mounted them on black board with a small border showing and they look fantastic. They have hangers on them and will go up on the meeting hall walls.

Darren was up early this morning again, he left on a bus trip to go driving 3-4 hours into the neverlands up near the Tibetian border to a canyon to go bungy jumping and on a canyon swing out, 250mts at 150kms per hour and he had to jump out twice! Once for the bungy that was head first and then again feet first for the canyon swing . It was an all day trip and we are still waiting for him to return. It is now 9pm and you will be pleased to know he has returned safe and sound even all in one piece. Auntie Jen and Ruth will be especially pleased to know. He says he really enjoyed it and is looking forward to getting the DVD tomorrow.

We spoke to the boys this morning as it is the first time we have been available when they are likely to be home.

We walked out of Thamel and caught taxis to Sis Uma’s home. We did get slightly lost just finding their home, we were in the right area but didn’t recognise the street so we had to ring and Deepika and Junu came to meet us. Sis Uma has a small pharmacy come little shop which she has now moved to larger premises, and the small shop at the front she has turned into a coffee shop. It was here that we were served lunch. Deepika said they would have about 100 people a day through the little tea shop, so she has a very profitable little business, and she is definitely a very good cook. We were served momo and sauce with chilli chutney and then rice and chicken, beans and cauliflower. Katie and Shelley are definitely over Nepali food, they are ready for good old Aussie food. Some of us probably have no taste buds left from the chilli.

We taught them how to play UNO and left them with the cards. UNO is a big hit over here and we played it last year, although then we only had a couple of packs, this year we brought plenty as they have no games at all let alone these sorts of cards. Normal playing cards are all they have if you are lucky. Sis Dunmeyer was fascinated and Deepika, Priskilla and Junu really enjoyed it too and didn’t want to stop.

We finally left at 3pm to walk to Bro Hari and Sis Rhada’s for the sisters’ class, we were late as they had changed the start time to 3pm and although they had told us this we weren’t sure it was true as normally it is 5pm. This was a full class and as there were many brethren there Ken took the class on the Mark 15&16 daily reading. There were several questions after again and this kept us going until well after 6.30pm. Once again out came some food and most of us refused, there is no way we can eat any more. It was beaten rice, goat that evidently was very tasty and soft and cooked beans/lentils.

We all left there about 7.30pm and we walked out with Sis Punum, Alisha, Bro Jonah, Sis Sucra, Sis Radika, Pabita, Kabita and Monika to Sukedhara where we all parted and we caught taxis back to Thamel. We went to LeBistro for coffees. Then back to the hotel for bed.

We woke at 8.30am and had a hot shower, beat the others this morning. We all had our own breakfast and met at the hotel at 9.45am ready to leave for the memorial meeting. We all taxied as we had too many bags to take.

Dhumbarahi and Chubahil are combining this morning for the meeting and it was crowded. Ken exhorted on Mark 14 which was a great chapter for the memorials. They asked Bro Ashok from Dhumbarahi do the reading. After the meeting we all gathered together for lunch and everyone stayed. We catered for 100 and we had 3 packets of momo left over and some of our girls had decided they didn’t want any so there was just over 100 there.

Dev who works at the hotel and had arranged our trip to Pokhara also arranged the lunch for us at an extremely good price. We had momo (chicken or vegetable) with the hot sauce, roti (a bit like a donut) and fizzy drink. Dev arrived with the food at 1pm and it was all hot and wrapped in alfoil to keep it hot. There were plates, serviettes, forks everything we needed. Everyone seemed to enjoy it very much and they all sat around chatting afterwards.

Katie and Abi took Sunday School again. They had taken photographs of the children last week when they were decorating their Tshirts and had the photos printed during the week. They took coloured card this week and the children mounted the photos on the cards and decorated them with stickers, coloured papers and glitter so they could hang them at home, they were very proud of what they had done and were showing them around after the meeting.

We gave the sisters the bags we had made to carry their bibles in and they seemed to like them, we also gave the brethren some coloured gel pens for highlighting in their bibles. Next time more gel pens and exercise books. We take so much for granted, Radika and Estha were fascinated by the information on the back of the exercise books, the times tables, measurements etc. they said they had never seen these before.

We started youth class at 2pm and had about ½ of them remained for the class which Darren gave on the Tabernacle. Once again it was a very interactive with questions and comments. They love having pictures and diagrams and open up more and are comfortable asking questions in this kind of format. We gave them all an insert to keep in their bible on the tabernacle, I had brought these last year and didn’t use them so it worked well as they were still in my suitcase.

After the class some of our group went up to Chubahil markets as they had Punjabis to collect and some went back to the hotel. Ken and I went up to Bro Kishon and Sis Kalawati and had a cup of coffee with them. Sis Kalawati brought some of the Sunday school games out and asked how to play them so we spent some time teaching them all how to play them and talking about Sunday School matters. Sis Maya who has only ever smiled and bobbed her head, was there and played the games too. We discovered that not only can she speak English but she can read it very well too, so no rest for her now we know that, we will talk and ask questions of her now too as she attends just about every meeting but we never realised what she could do.

Hannah, Kathryn and Abi returned from the markets and we walked back to Kulapul where we caught a taxi back to the hotel. Poor Joanna she had returned earlier with Darren, Katie and Shelley and then they had gone back out shopping and forgotten that she had been with them, so she sat in the hotel room for the next couple of hours as she had no idea where they were. They returned only minutes before we did all apologetic as they had forgotten her. Luckily she had the computer so she caught up on emails and did some school homework. As we have been invited to so many brethren and sisters homes there has been little opportunities for homework for her or shopping for anyone.

We received a phone call from Srijanna, she had not been there this morning which was most unusual and Liya had said that she was fine but she had gone to her grandmothers, I thought it was unusual but didn’t follow it up. She had not had her phone on for a few days and when she turned it on her mother had been trying to call her from their village as her sister is being married tomorrow and she was to return for the wedding to be a bridesmaid. Srijanna had to arrange to be on a bus this afternoon as it is a 10+ hour trip home to be there by tomorrow. Her family is Hindu therefore it will be a traditional arranged marriage. So we were unable to say goodbye, but maybe it is God’s good hand as we would not have wanted to part with her and the thought makes me cry even now.

We all went to Food Bazaar for dinner, but the wait for the food is far too long. I am sitting here typing and am now not even hungry we have been waiting so long. It is now 1 ½ hours since we ordered so there is no way I am coming here again and there had better be a substantial discount.

Oh the food came eventually but the bill followed promptly, when we asked them for a discount they could not give one as there was no manager there at the time. They told us to ask for one next time and we told them there will be no next time….

The young people all decided to go to Baskins and Robbins for icecream which they did then it was back to the hotel for bed.