1st blog posting...from Kathmandu !

Dear Family and Friends:

NAMASTE :-)

 

Blog opening !

This is my 1st week in Kathmandu and my 1st real "sabbatical-trip-week"....
Wouaaahhhh finally there...after such a rush :-)

Although I wanted to send you this 1st blog update before...I have only found the time now !!

You will see many kinds of pictures in this post (in Mexico I would say "de chile y de mole"...which means you will see pics from before, after, here and there, everything all mixed, as I haven't had time to upload anything before...upppsss...)

For practical purposes, I will write this blog in English…hoping that you will all understand and begging to the others that they forgive me…(but I would have to ask another sabbatical year if I had to write in French and Spanish and English…hahaha :-)

So as you already know, this blog will be dedicated to my sabbatical trip to Asia, starting with 4 months in Nepal. Wonderful experience to come, many places to discover, people to meet and things to do (especially the volunteering!).




 

"Pre-trip-happenings" !

...BUT...I did not want to start without sharing few (important) elements of my “pre-trip”…especially my first solo flight on March 19th !!...You can imagine my happiness…leaving for my sabbatical trip having finally succeeded to fly SOLO…:-) an amazing experience, which I will definitely renew when I come back !! 

Then the picture of my packing (a mess !) will give you an idea of my organization of the last week of March…hahaha ! But I did not forget to take the nice watch and booklet that my friends offered me on my departure party in Brussels (what a great goodbye party guys…thanks !)

Arrival in Kathmandu !

So now let’s talk about the trip…
After a difficult departure (why do I always leave the packing for the last night????...), a flight to London…then to New Delhi…I had to wait for almost 9 hours (sleeping on a coach!) for the Kathmandu flight to leave (grrrrr….).
Plane trying to make his way between the “cumulus” clouds (even I was scared !)…and finally there:” KATHMANDU…capital of the Kingdom of Nepal.

Fortunately, I met Noa at Delhi airport (we are now friends :-), and we shared our first days here discovering Kathmandu together...a great time for our first step in the country...:-)

Now talking about the city, have you ever thought about what Kathmandu looks like???...Well I personally had imagined that Kathmandu was a “zen” city, everybody super relaxed, kind of in-between Tibet and China….BUT NO WAY!!! Kathmandu is a crazy and bubbling city, lot of noise and traffic (just watch your steps in the streets cause you may not reach to the other side of the street…) motorcycles and cars everywhere (too few bicycles unfortunately…some rickshaw or tuc-tuc though…) competing for the “fastest driver Oscar” in the 5 meters wide streets ?!?!
I could describe Kathmandu as a “small” city that wants to be like her “big” Asian sister cities (like in the French Fable de la Fontaine “La grenouille et le boeuf”…) small streets hosting a huge density… Look at the pictures…it will give you and idea ;-)

I am sure the rest of the country and the province will be quite different…the other cities and villages seem really nice and I look forward to visit them and share more with you. The Nepalese countryside must be much more like I would imagine…mountains and "zen villages"…will let you know.




But on the other side, Kathmandu offers wonderful surprises….around the corner, you would turn and enter a small street, and get to a small place with a huge Stupa (there local Buddhist temples with the eyes looking at the 4 cardinal points) and hundreds of small colorful prayer-flags floating away in the wind... And the Nepalese population is really nice and helpful...that is for sure, I hope to make more portrait for the next blog updates.
Pictures also in this blog will transmit you a bit of the atmosphere we breathe in Kathmandu…

One of the main difficulties (worth mentioning here) is related to the power….electricity cuts up to 16 hours longs per day !!!! So you can imagine how difficult it is to recharge camera batteries or to get internet access some times….(you need to find a cyber coffee with his own power generator).



If you walk in the area of Thamel (center Kathmandu) will also find many little stores that will sell you some well imitated North Face jackets or sleeping bags (yes yes…for the “amateur” trekkers…) and plenty of local agencies to propose the local trips or (and especially) some of the highest treks in the world!!

So obviously Berangere (you know me…) cannot be in Kathmandu and not do any extreme activity !! (well…trekking is kind of extreme for me considering my current physical condition ;-( ). So I am planning to go straight away to climb the Annapurna Sanctuary…(actually...tomorrow!).
I need to get ready for it (equipment, permits, and so on) and be able to share some pictures when I come back (with all my stiffed muscles…).

For those who wonder “What’s up with the volunteering?”…yes yes… I have talked to the Orphanage and they prefer me to start after the trekking and do the whole volunteering straight after until July - without any stop in-between… So I am supposed to start around the 16th of April with the children, just before their “back to school”… This means you will get some news about the Orphanage mid-april…patience !!

So that’s the end of my first blog posting (youhouuuu!) but please remember to be indulgent and be patient with me….I am not an expert at all, but promise to make it better and better :-)
And please post your comments it would be great to read you from this remote country !!!

Cheers, Berangere.