One year past!

Namaste.

I have now been living in Nepal for just over a year.  What an interesting time this has been, and how much I have learnt and experienced. This page is a reflection of the things that have made the most impact on me during the year.

   
• Lovely smiley Nepali people. The people who live near to me in Besisahar, greeting me with smiles and “Namaste” as I leave for work in the mornings.  The children on their way to school who love to say “Hi” or “Hello” or just occasionally “Good morning”.  The curious rural folk that I pass on my journeys to schools, who stop to ask who I am and what I am doing.  Although some stare because I’m a ‘biddeshi’ (foreigner) so many more smile and their faces light up. So many smiles, and I find myself smiling too.  A smile is so infectious!
•  My warm-hearted colleagues at the Lamjung office of Global Action Nepal, who made me so welcome, have helped me and looked after me, not only when working but to settle here in Besisahar. I value the kindness and patience from this group of lovely young people, for someone older than many of their parents! 

  

  Cheers! Celebratory lunch in the office
  of momos and orange before Dashai holiday.

• Emerald green rice paddies layered up the hillsides as far as the eye can see.  Each one planted, tended and harvested by hand – hours of manpower or more often women-power.  Even on the steeper slopes the land is utilised and often essential for a family’s survival. 



Rice terraces early in the season.     

• The constant sound of running water during the monsoon time, as water drains down off the hillside, sometimes irrigating the paddies, sometimes spilling over ledges into spectacular waterfalls and sometimes eroding narrow gullies down through the earth and soft rock.

• The amazing Annapurna mountains, so high and snow-capped, seen from many places around this area.  They excite me each time I see them; so impossibly tall, towering behind the nearby smaller hills (that we would call mountains if they were in the U.K.)

• 

  The view of Lamjung Annapurna from Besisahar.

•  The festivals and celebrations.  Nepali people love festivals and there are many throughout the year, each one for a different reason and celebrated in a different way. 

  

  These are Gurung women in a parade in Besisahar
  to celebrate the birthday of Buddha.

•   Colour!  Nepali women with their dark skin and beautiful black hair look fabulous in bright colours. They use colour combinations that in the west would be startling, but here they look so good.  Often the women are stunningly beautiful and their brightly coloured saris or kurtas just emphasise this.  

  

  A family in Kathmandu celebrating Teej

• Walking long distances.  Many people in Nepal have to walk, as that is the only way to get to and from their isolated villages.  Some people daily walk for 2 hours to go to work, and then return in the evening.  Some walk for hours carrying large packages, baskets or bags on their backs.  If a person is sick or injured, he or she must be carried down from the hills, by friends or relations, in order to see a doctor or go to hospital.  I also walk far more than I did in UK to visit far away schools, and am much fitter.

  

  Hay for fodder being carried in the hills above Besisahar

• Wonderful temples and palaces in the Kathmandu Valley.  Many of these are World Heritage sites and are on most “Must see” lists.  

  

  Patan Durbar Square, one of my favourite places in Kathmandu.

Beautifully painted stupa at Swayambu.

 













My first year in Nepal has, at times, not been easy, but what a catalogue of sights and experiences!