Final post...?

Hi all

It's been a while since my last post but apparently in Tibet the Chinese government doesn't like you accessing your own blog site....

Anyway I will just wrap up by saying that we returned to the village on the 14th of may for the house dedications. It was a happy and emotional time for all and some of the smiles were as wide as the Himalayas. Suffice to say that I think everyone has had a great time here in Nepal and each of us has experienced it in own way and been touched by the country and it's people in different ways as well. So while this may be the final post for this trip, r may not be the final post for the story of our involvement with the Baluwa Village...

Final Day in Pokhara

We were up very early (3.30am) and on the bus to Sarangot. This is a hill overlooking Pokhara and offers excellent views of the Annapurna ranges. The reason for getting up so early was so that we could catch the sun rising over the himalayas. Luckily for us because of the heavy rain we had very clear skies and had an excellent view of both the sunrise and the mountains.

After breakfast back at the motel it was again free time as another Banda had been organised, this time by the transportation companies. This included restricting travel on roads by parking lines of buses on them and then later a mass line of taxis, probably 150+ streaming through lakeside all tooting their horns. Luckily the bhanda finished at 12pm and everything went back to normal again.

After lunch we boarded the bus and headed to the devils falls and mahendra cave. This where a river falls through limestone caves and then disappears underground. The final stop before the airport was the Tibetan refugee camp where we saw woman making carpets.

From here it was a short drive to the airport where we said our goodbye to Rajev and Lalit our driver. While we had a 25 min flight back to Kathmandu, they had a 5 hour drive back.

Pokhara

With another bhanda (strike) organised for today we had a free reign on the day as our sight seeing scheduled had been destroyed by the strike. That being said it was nice to go off and do our own thing at our own pace.

Pokhara seems to be the adventure capital of Nepal. There are lots of bikes, boats and scooters for hire. So we all went our separate ways today and explored the city ourselves. Some off us went off on push bikes, others went off in boats and some even braved the Nepali roads on motor scooters, which I have to say was a lot of fun. I think everyone enjoyed doing things at their own pace, and this was finished off with dinner at "Public Cave" a restaurant owned by a friend of our guide Rajev.

While we were having dinner a presentation was made to Max for being one if the instigators of talking a lot of "shit" in the back of the bus. So despite the frustrations of yesterday, today was a lot of fun.

Journey in to Pokhara

We have finally arrived in Pokhara after what has been a bit of a mission. The protests were still on going today and we saw evidence of some of these along the way, with rocks strewn across the road.

As we arrived in Pokhara however we found that everything was closed. Some police then told us that we couldn't take our bus in to town as it would not be allowed to go past the protestors. So we had to go and park up the bus and the poor bus driver had to wait till after six to drive the bus in to town. So we then had to walk about twenty minutes into town to the lake, from there we climbed into some boats and were rowed around to near where our hotel was, this took about an hour, and then it was a short walk to the motel. We did pass the protestors along the way and it was a typical type of Nepali protest with a lot of people just standing around and not doing a lot. So it's been a long frustrating day as we had a five hour bus ride and then a difficult journey in to town. This is now being compounded as we have been waiting over an hour for our lunch to be served, it's now four o'clock and we were scheduled to have dinner at seven...

Tansen

We had a shortish trip from Lumbini to Tansen. The trip took us from the low plains back up in to the hills as we climbed from 80m to 1500m. There were still strikes going on and we had to stop several times at road blocks made by the protesters. At all but one stop we were waved through. At the final road block there was some discussion as to we should be allowed through but through some sweet talking from our guide Rajev and driver Navin we got through. The advantage of the protests were that we were the only vehicle on the road which meant the trip was quite quick and a lot safer without having to worry about a truck coming around a blind corner on the wrong side of the road.

Tansen is a hilltop town, much like you would find in Tuscany. The temperature was a lot more suited to us Kiwis so we were quite happy to arrive.

After lunch we walked down in to town to explore a little. We saw a palace that had been built by an exiled minister in 1923, this was then later gutted by fire in 2007 by the Maoists after they threw out the Nepali King.
We also visited the towns major Hindu temple.

As we walked through the streets we came across lots of friendly children saying hello and asking us where we were from. Some of the kids were playing cricket in the street so Kiwis being Kiwis we joined in a few games and had a bit of fun with them. On the steep walk back up to the hotel, which was at the top of the hill, we came across two women carrying an old pedal operated sewing machine. They were clearly struggling so Jim, Max and myself helped them carry it to the top of the hill to where it was going to be fixed. You could see on the faces of the two women that they were a little embarrassed by three men helping them out, but they were most grateful and we had done our good deed for the day.

As we were walking back from dropping off the sewing machine we could see down in to the opposite valley. It was getting blacker and blacker, as we arrived back at the
Hotel the wind hit, we were the treated to a spectacular electrical storm as we watched forked lightening streak across the hills and valleys.

This morning we are in the bus again heading to Pokhara. I've written this post in the back of the bus as we wind through the hills so I apologise for any spelling mistakes or typos !

Lumbini

Yesterday we left Chitwan for Lumbini. As we left we stopped off in the village for a bit of shopping. Mainly t-shirts and trinkets.

We then had a long hot journey to Lumbini. Along the way we ran into protestors who were blocking the road. The political situation in Nepal at the moment is tense as they are trying to form a federal government. The Maoists have suggested creating states based in ethnicities, and this is what the people were protesting about. However it seems like the government will not form states on this basis. Either way we did have a police escort at one stage through a town. We never felt threatened as if you smiled and waved the protestors would generally smile and wave back.

Because of the threat of protest we decided we would look around Lumbini after we arrived so we could leave early in the morning.

Lumbini was very hot and humid. It's a complex of temples and monestarys built in honor of lord Buddha who was born in Lumbini. So we visited the place where he is said to have been born from the armpit of his mother. We also viewed some of the various monestaries that have been built by different countries. Most impressive were the Chinese and Korean.

After this we finally checked into our hotel. Unfortunately the hotel was not what we expected. The place itself was nice but a lack of power and water made out stay there a little uncomfortable. Espiecially when it's forty degrees outside and there is an air conditioner on the wall that won't work. This however seems to be the way things are in Nepal, things aren't always as they seem, and while things may be started out with best intentions, so often it seems as though things are left half finished or incomplete. So it was a restless night for all as we sweltered in the heat and listened to Mosquitos buzzing around our heads. We were all quite happy to board the bus and head to our current stop, the hilltop town if Lansen.

Elephants and Tigers (shit)

We had an amazing time in Chitwan. We started our day early with a ride on a jeep to the elephants. When then had an hour or so far safari on the back of an elephant through the jungle. We saw a mother and baby rhino cooling of in a small pond. We also saw some deer wandering around and several peacocks.

But the real stars are the elephants, they walk with such a quiet nonchalance. We had some banana to feed ours, so our driver would tap him on his head and the next thing a trunk would appear looking for the banana. This was then taken out of the drivers hand and then consumed. Trunks really are amazing appendages.

After the elephant ride we then had the opportunity to ride them bare back as they went for a swim. Again this wax an amazing experience, first getting hosed down by water sucked up the elephants. Then the elephant would crouch down in the river and slowly roll over, throwing us off his back. We would then climb back on and get hosed down again.

After lunch we went for a ride down the river in a canoe where we saw some crocodiles lazing on the riverbank. This was then followed by a walk through the jungle where we were lucky enough to see to full grown rhinos bathing in a small lake. We also saw evidence of Tigers , we came across some "shit from the tiger", would have better to see an actual tiger though. Finally we visited the elephant breeding centre where we saw a very cute baby elephant running around.

That night we mismanaged to finish of a bottle of scotch and a bottle of rum. All while we had a discussion about rotary and how it works and how it can keep its appeal especially to the younger people. All in all a great time was had at Chitwan.

Chitwan

It's been a few days since my last update do I will try and fill you in on what's happened over the past few days. Firstly we are all safe, the flooding that occurred was in the Pokhara area while we have been in the Kathmandu valley.

After our final day on the village we spent our last night at the Mirabel Resort and packed our bags to head to Kathmandu city. On the way we stopped off at the Banepa SOS children's orphanage. This is simply an amazing set up. The principle is to get children in to a loving and family like environment. To do this they have 14 houses with ten children from all ages. The children are looked after by a mother who cares for them, cooks for them and acts just like their mother. We were all blown away by the setup especially the school. These children are very lucky and they look so happy and well adjusted.

After the orphanage we went and did a bit of sight seeing in the old city of Bahktipur. So we got a taste of Nepali history. Finally we arrived in Kathmandu and checked in to our hotel. That night we went to The Rum Doodle, this is a favourite restaurant of Trekkers and mountain climbers, if you summit everest you get to eat for free.

The next morning we were off early for the mountain flight. We had arranged for Bijay our guide to come with us. This was his first time on a plane and he was pretty nervous and excited. The group got amazing views of the Himalayas and of course Mount Everest. After the flight we went to where the Hindus cremate their dead. When we arrived a young girl was being prepared. This was a very sobering and solem thing to experience and we all felt that we were intruding on this ceremony. It was something that none of us will forget I think.

The next stop was the Buddhist Temple (Monkey Temple). It just so happened that the day that we visited was the same day as Buddhas birthday so the place was absolutely packed with people. We didn't spend too long there because of this. We then headed back to the hotel and a few of us went shopping in Thamel (the main tourist area in Kathmandu ) that evening we went to "Fire and Ice" an Italian pizzeria. We had a good meal if pizza and a few drinks.

The next day we boarded our bus and travelled down to Chitwan. We got an appreciation of just how high Kathmamdu is as we descended for about three hours. The drive to Chitwan was an experience in itself, if you have ever seen worlds deadliest roads it was a little like that. With people passing on blind corners and narrow roads. We had probably four near head on collisions.

When we did finally arrive we had a late lunch and then explored our surrounds, which included an Elephant stable. That evening we were entertained by some local Tharu (the local people) with dances and music. The last part involved getting us up and involved in the dancing. I think we proved conclusively that white men can't dance. That brings us up to date.

An update from Viv.

Our team of Ted, Warwick, Pauline and myself Vivian, were fortunate enough to have been allotted a house build on the edge of the communal village fields on offsite side of the village to the other two groups. Around us are scattered trees, a few houses, goats, cattle and an expansive view across the valley floor.

It's been hot, humid at times, dry at others, and our bosses are many and various. From the lady of the house to be to the uncle and other elders. To the younger women and men who have their skills on different areas.

Piles of mud bricks were moved, chain gang style with two to six in the line, then thrown to the upper floor layer and redistributed for use there. Clay mixed with water and stomped to make cement. Buckets full of clay cement were relayed up to the floor we were working on. Corners carefully built up by the two experts using the most even bricks, plumb lines and a straight edge.

Generous amounts of clay cement were used to spread over the previous layers. Bricks were carefully laid in patterns over each. You had to choose your bricks carefully, to ensure they fitted properly.

Some highlights included:
Always there was the constant chatter of the Nepali people, the family the house was being built for, their friends and extended family. Young ladies are carrying twice the load of Warwick. The smiling faces, the figure 8 head wobble which means yes or ok. A snake hiding in the brick pile. The first upstairs window put in. The plastic covers over the bricks in the rain. The hard working house owner.

The Final Day

It was a slightly weary team that boarded the bus for the final journey back down the hill to the Baluwa village. On the way down we asked our driver Bikram to stop and let us take some photos of the terraced hillsides. After a few photos and a few more turns down the hill we stopped to look at the milk collection.

Milk is brought to a small shop where it's tested for fat content. It's then hand transferred via milk cans and a bucket into a small milk tanker. A far cry from the fleet of Scania's Fonterra have roaming our country.

When we finally reached the village it was back to work. It was to be a shirt day as we had to say our farewells straight after lunch.

On house one I think it was the most fun we have had since we had been there. We started off by heading straight to the brick kiln to get some more bricks, this time we had the full team and also the children from the house. We had great fun doing what is really a pretty dull task, you could see the other workers who were again just standing around and watching thinking that they perhaps would like to be in on the fun.

When we returned to the house and the bricks were dumped we again formed our chain gang to move as much as we could in the shirt time we had left. We even had some help from Sunil, the son of the owners of the house. He was a great help and I think had a lot of fun with us.

Then the time came to pack up and say goodbye. We left all our gloves and any other equipment we would no longer need with the family and this was appreciated. Then we made the 15 min walk back for lunch.

Shortly after we had our lunch a rain storm hit and there was a mad dash as we all (Kiwis and Nepalis) rushed to get a tarpaulin over our heads. This proved to be a great team building experience in its own right and as we huddled under the tarp waiting for the rain to stop we talked and made jokes and had fun with the kids from the village. We were also visited by some of the teachers from the school who had some letters written in reply to the ones given to them on Tuesday from Marlborough Girls College.

When the rain did finally stop we went to visit the other houses to see the progress that had been made on them. We are hoping to be back in the village before we leave to hopefully see some finished houses.

Finally we handed over a few more goats and then it was time to say good bye. We were each marked with some red chalk which was for good luck and give some more flower leis, then it was back on the bus for the trip home.

However the day wasn't finished yet. As we were winding back up the Hill we came across a traffic jam. It didn't look like it was going to move for a while, so rather than wait we all piled
off the bus and walked the final three km up the hill. We soon found the source of the traffics jam. A collision between. Landcruiser and a bus. No one was seriously hurt but it came as no surprise to see this, given the way the Nepali people drive. If you have ever seen worlds deadliest roads, it's exactly like that.

That night we had a farewell dinner with the team and our helpers, Bijay, Santos, Prakesh and Laxman. We wre also joined by Ashok, who without his help this would have been a lot more difficult. So now it is off to Kathmandu and see the rest of this beautiful country.

Build Day two

Second day of the building and some of the highlights (if you want to call them that ) included finding a snake in a pile of bricks and trying to sneak good bricks out of the brick factory when were only allowed to take broken half bricks.

House One

We were dropped off by the bus a little bit shorter than we normally would have as there was a ceremony going on in the centre of the track. The purpose of the ceremony was to keep evil spirits away from the village (I hope they weren't referring to us). There was a chicken with its legs tied up which appears was going to be part of the process, and we weren't keen on witnessing that.

Temperatures in the mid thirties today. Our house owners have two young sons, but there are a lot of people who seem to be hanging around, do its difficult to know who will be living in the house when it's finished.

Today we walked about 20min to a brick kiln to load a truck with bricks for the house, you guessed it, by hand. The men who work at the kiln, and there are lots of them, sit in the shade and watch us. The wife of our house is there with us though pitching in and keeping an eye on quality. We were supposed to get a second load of bricks after lunch but the organisation was not so good on the kilns part, having double booked there truck we could have sat and waited for an hour, but that's not the kiwi way, do we arranged to do it first thing in the morning.

Our goal for the day was to finish moving all the rock to the building site which we achieved. However it was a pretty tired and weary team that trudged the 20 min back to the bus where we were again greeted with a cup of chia.

House Two

Namaste from Ann Owen, at the time of writing its 35 degrees so I'm sitting in the bus out of the sun as a wire these notes. We are building a mud brick house in the middle of a group of houses. Chickens run about, goats and a cow are tethered eating dry fodder.

We have made great progress on our house today, the stairs are currently being made out of timber, bricks are being made about 50m away and carried to the site. I have been lifting up bricks and handing up containers of "mortar" - soil mixed with water in a pit next to the house. My husband Dave is also handing up bricks. Yesterday I was standing knee deep mixing the mortar. The hospitality of the Nepalese people here has bee amazing.

Day One Building

Yesterday we rolled up our sleeves and got work helping to build some houses in the village. In all we are helping to build three houses, some of the projects were well under way while others we barely started.

We were split in to groups of three by our able guide Bijay and then set off to work.

House One.

House number one was barely started and unlike the other houses is being built from stone. This means that progress is a little slower as the right rocks have to be found and then worked in to place. We spent a great deal of the moving rocks from a stock pile above the house to various areas surrounding the build. This was pretty heavy work but we soon formed a chain and with that we were able to move the rock far more efficiently.

We did also spend some time learning how to make the rock walls and transporting the "mato" (Nepali for mud) on to the walls. We didn't really feel comfortable building the rock walls as the builders seem to have a process and we found it was faster if we provided the labour, getting rocks and mud to them. By the end of the day we had started to build a friendship with the people we were working with, even though we can't understand each other, though we did at least learn one new word to day "ramro" which means "good" in Nepali. Hopefully we hear that a lot more over the next few days.

When we were finished for the day we were greeted at the bus with a cup of hot chia. This is a spicy sweet tea which was quite refreshing after a head day working in the 30+ temperatures. It was back on the bus for the trip back up the hill, where everyone was a little quieter after a hard days work.

House Two

It seemed right from the get go that today was going to be a tough labour filled day. It turned out my assumption was correct.

Our group (Andy, Anne, David and myself Jeremy) were working in one of the cluster of houses close to where the bus was being parked. So we were straight into it, or should I say straight in to a rest.
"first we rest" - Laxman

After some nagging from me and a touch of observing we were ready to start, again.

Constructing the simple brick house didn't involve too much. Carrying bricks, making mortar (mud) and laying the bricks was as technical as it got. The locals preferred to do the corners, checking with plumb lines to make sure they were straight.

So we fitted in wherever they needed help, and the day progressed, rest work, rest, work, rest, walk to get bamboo for scaffolding and of course anther rest. In saying that, after all the resting the house still progressed and we went home knackered at the end of the day.

Points of interest
- Carrying bricks with the back strap around your neck. I carried 16 -18, a young wirey girl carried 18 - 20. The young man (also wirey) carried 26.

- The locals had an understanding of sustainable harvesting as we walked 10 - 15 minutes to get bamboo rather than use that which was right next door.

- The Nepali people are amazing hosts (and cooks) we felt welcomed this whole time and ate beautiful meals.

- Maina's relish is better than anything we had at restaurants do far.

An Emotional Intro to Nepal

Yesterday we saw the results of all the hard work and donations. It was a very emotional, exciting and inspiring day to see how we can make a difference in the lives of these people.

We started the day by boarding our bus for the 45min journey down into the valley. For those of us who had not travelled on such roads before it was an interesting experience as we wound down the terraced hillside with cars and motorbikes tooting as they pass us on blind corners.

Our first stop was an eastern part of the Baluwa area where we were welcomed by members of the community and Maina Danuwar, the leader of the woman's cooperative, which includes around 300 women. She described our arrival as "the sun and the moon had come to earth"., which was very touching. Jim presented her with a Paua shell teardrop pendant and told her she was his Nepali mother, to which she replied, "when are you taking me to New Zealand?".

We then began the presentation of pairs of goats and a cow to the village people. It was so gratifying to see the smiles and thank yous from these shy people. We have many photos and when I get a chance I'll put them all up.

The next stop was the Bhuwaneswori School. This was perhaps the most emotional moment if the day. The school is where the $15000 matching grant was used to supply filtered drinking water, build hygienic toilet blocks and reroof the school buildings. As we walked through the entrance to the school, the children had lined up on either side and as we walked through they cheered and threw flowers and gave us flower lei's. By the time we had reached the point where we were to sit down there was barely a dry eye between us. The reception was just simply amazing.

After we were welcomed and had exchanged a some letters from Marlborough Girls College, we then had the privilege to hand out supplies to the approximately 300 children. The smiles and thank you's of the children will stick with us for a long time. As will the images of us high fiving them (something Jim managed to teach them within 2min of entering the school). It's hard to put in to words exactly how overwhelming the response we got from the school was.

After the school visit it was off to lunch supplied by the woman's cooperative. It was nice to sit under the mango trees and eat real Nepalese food. Once lunch was over we went and saw the two house sites we will be working on over the next three days. Although we can't expect to finish them in the short time period, we can at least help accelerate the build.

The final part of the day saw us handing over more goats and cows to the village people.

It's hard to look around and see how these people live and not want to try and do something to help them. It's very difficult to try and change the world but hopefully we are at least helping to change one small part of it, if we each could do that, then the problem isn't so big.