Lazy Sunday Afternoon.....

My favourite cafe is shut on Sunday's.. And there is yet another bloody strike which means no transport. While it's only 4pm into town it's so hot today and when it's hot, it's dusty plus the walk is past all the tips and it stinks. If ever there was a place where you need a face mask it's here!!!
There is another cafe that serves good coffee and a nice omelette so I've parked myself here for a few hours.
The lessons went well. 'how many' and 'how much' . The first class of the day is a real challenge to keep their attention. The second two are a joy to teach. Attentive and well behaved. I've brought some stuff to the cafe and will spend some time planning the lessons.
There is a little courtyard 'well it's more of a front yard' with some seats. At the moment four of the family are washing the blankets. The father explained to me that they pump their water from the ground and it is coming to the end if the rainy season. Soon they will have to buy water from the water truck so they are taking advantage of the fine weather and the free water and cleaning all the blankets. This involves spreading them out in the yard. Taking a bar of soap and getting on their hands and knees. For a change the men are getting involved too, nice to see a bit of equality going on.

The omelette I had was good and only 40p. There is a huge difference in prices between here and town...

I have spent hours so far thinking up games to warm classes up in the morning. Last night I came up with a whizzo idea. All the students stand, make a circle. Question are asked 1 by one. If they get it right they stay standing. If they get it wrong they sit down. Last one standing wins the prize. ( a new pen or pencil) it worked a treat. I'm now recognising the good ones so question on what we've already done. The less capable get slightly easier questions and the very incapable get a ' pick what hand it's in' sort of question. It worked well. Time constraints ( the lessons are only 30 mins) mean the lesson us somewhat condensed but I always finish with 7 mins of video. It's a great motivator. Good lesson, video. Bad lesson, no video. While I was playing the video I looked through one of the Monks' exercise books. They appear at first sight quite advanced but the methodology is repeating and drilling. There are no concept checking or context checking and therefore no comprehension testing. I'm pretty sure only a few of them know what they are writing..









Ha ha. Now the blanket washing is done the bloke is washing his wifes hair on the table next to mine. Classy joint....

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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

A private Lesson

My first private lesson in Nepal, granted, not a fee paying customer. One of the older monks is studying English and has an IELTS exam, coming up pretty shortly by all accounts.
I was sitting in the courtyard, listening to the horns, drums and chants of the afternoon Puja when he approached me and asked if I could give him lessons. It seemed pretty urgent as he wanted a lesson that evening, 7:00 while 8:00. I agreed so we shall see.....

The afternoon was spent preparing for lessons tomorrow. Having read through some of the text book and the exercise books I thought it would be a good idea to put some text together and then some questions on the text to test comprehension. I still have my doubts as to how successful it will be but if it works it will open up avenues for more comprehensive lessons. I will only do this for class two and three and the first class is nit at that level and I can see it ending up in organised chaos. Besides, I had promised this morning that we would make a video of them singing Do Re Me;-)

And hey, for only the third time in two weeks the water is working. Unfortunately I spotted this only after I had filled by massive bottle. That said, I did take the opportunity to fill all the containers I could lay my hands on...

As my favourite cafe was closed on Sunday I wandered down to the main road in an effort to get something to eat. Last Sunday I had stumbled on a restaurant, typical roadside but had a decent menu. I wouldn't risk meat but a veg curry and some chapatti seems safe enough. It was actually quite nice. Not a patch on the usual and the command of English will always present the potential of a surprise when the meal eventually does arrive. In this case it was a pleasant surprise when it arrived. Don't think I will swap it for my usual haunt. I really must try and persuade them to open on a Sunday!

I found out today that the other volunteers actually get Sunday off. Bummer. Not sure why I am working Sundays. I'll need to look into this. I am hoping to do a few trips in the coming weeks, so I'll need to look into the chance of having a couple of long weekends anyway.

Just as I finished my late lunch the heavens opened as usual for this time of year. I'm sure I'll regret saying this but I will be glad when the monsoon season is well and truly over. I moved inside the restaurant which is actually quite nice. Complete with a bar! The is no action at the moment, I wonder if it gets busier in the evening.
I do wonder how some of these places make a living. The price of food outside Thamel must barely cover the cost and there never seems to be anyone in the places. Like I say, maybe it will be different on an evening.

Up to now I'm keeping myself reasonable busy with the lesson plans and reading but I'm really not sure I can keep it up for another six weeks which is how long I have left on the placement. I am quite keen to sit through one of the Puja sessions. Apparently they are quite spiritual although you do need to sit cross legged for a whole hour. Maybe I will use the opportunity this evening to ask the question.

Because of the transport strike the roads are noticeably quieter in terms of traffic and people. There do appear to be a number of taxis and some of the busses are also running. I'm really not sure how it works. I understand that most of the ubiquitous "micros" are run by the government. This is the third strike in three weeks, it appears to be a common occurrence. The general advice is to stay holed up in your hotel. Noticeably there is a much increased army presence on the streets and I understand that occasionally it can turn nasty. Given that the army are armed it makes no sense risking a trip into town today, despite the fact ha I have my laundry to collect. Once the rain has abated I will go back to my room and make some worksheets for tomorrow.


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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

Weekend charity dinner.

It's been an interesting week. Here I am, Saturday lunchtime sitting in my favourite coffee shop, a lovely morning, no rain, nursing a bit of a hangover.
Last night was the Nepal Children's Home launch event. It was great event, very successful by all accounts with around 200 people attending. We were all given a job. I was the official photographer...
The food was excellent, the beer was reasonable and the entertainment was... Well ... Er different..

After lessons of friday I headed into town. Met one of the other volunteers at the monkey temple and took a bus into the office. Bhupi had asked that we all go down before the event. It was a bit of a waste of time. There is a certain undercurrent of disorganisation in Nepal. It reigns everywhere. Jobs were allocated. Crazy jobs,including someone sitting by the bar and recording how many drinks were sold (VIN were getting half the margin for the evening) someone even had the job of watching if anyone was pissed and then guiding them away and out of trouble....

My brochure was finished. Unfortunately someone had messed around and there were bits of text missing and some typo's

Once the jobs had been allocated, I together with a few of the other volunteer made our way on foot to the Hotel Premium. I was so much looking forward to my hot shower. It's no big deal not having hot water but you do have a feeling of constant "grubbiness' only another 6 weeks to go.

I had had the foresight to book my room last week. Some of the other volunteers had not and were disappointed. My room was actually nicer than the last one. Not hard, but welcome. The shower was perfect. Small things.....

I really didn't know what to expect of the charity dinner. Apparently about 200 tickets had been sold. We arrived at 4:30, the kick off was 5:30 but that was Nepali time. The venue was cool. A three star hotel not far from the Premium Hotel. Snacks were served, they were delicious, probably the best food I've had since arriving and the main buffet was yet to come.

Eventually, at 6:30 it kicked off, not before a big black car had swept into the car park. A Nepali flag on the front and an armed solider had jumped out. Apparently this was a government minister. The first part of the evening was a presentation. The VIN story and update on the projects. After that they went through the plans for the children's home. The minister had a slot too. Of course it was all in Nepali but sounded very passionate. I was sitting with one of the advisors. She enlightened me that this was a party political speech and the minister was using the event as a platform. No mention of VIN.

Raffle tickets were on sale and guess what? I won! When I went go collect my prize was told by Dinesh 'you will get it later' I suspect not. It was only 100 rp for the two tickets but it was still a bit cheeky of him...

After the official speeches were over, it was time for the entertainment. Unusual to say the least. A 'comedy' act and then the equivalent of a 'cabaret' act. Theme Ali can drink. Most tables had a bottle of spirits. Bhupi and Dinesh also seemed to enjoy a drink. The food was great. A selection of nepali traditional dishes which seemed to go down very well. Everyone's plates were piled high . I met the architect of the home, a young, recently qualified chap who had made a great job.

At the end of the evening there was dancing. It would have been rude not to join in. All in all it was a great evening. I had a couple of beers and certain he noted myself .

The evening was over by 10:00, I Maria walked home, she was staying at one of the nuns' homes and was worried about walking on her own. Don't blame her. I was back at the hotel and in bed by 11:00.

I had a lie in.... 11:45. A fruit juice at the usual place.
"how much today" I asked.
"how much will you pay " was the quick response.

I think he got the message that as a regular, if he continues to rip me off I will become an ex customer. We agreed 70rp.
Coffee at the Java Himalaya coffee house then lunch at he Food bazaar opposite. I made a bad choice. A mixed curry which consisted of a few chicken bones, some dhaal Bhat and some veg. Not brilliant and nearly as expensive as the lovely chicken tikka masala and about three times as expensive as the lovely veg curry I have come to know and love from my 'local' I know for next time!

After a couple of hours I headed back to the hotel. I had already checked out. My laundry wouldn't be ready till later so I agreed to collect it the next day. I'm beginning to think that I will sling (nay burn) most of my clothes when I leave. Each visit to the laundry leaves them looking slightly less attractive. The whites are now grey and the colours are looking decidedly worse for wear. Good job I brought cheap stuff...

I was back at the monastery by 6:30 and doing my prep for the following days lessons. No rest for the teacher.......


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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

Mrs Frumpy Bitch....

I live my refuge in the monastery. But I also love my refuge in the local cafe. I've spent hours here, chewing the fat with other travellers and volunteers. The coffee is good, I've not tried the beer yet, it's only a matter of time, I'm sure.

Yesterday I had my teaching shift changed so got to stay in bed till 8:00 this morning Little did I know the fuss it would cause.....

Monday was good, lessons went well. The first class is always a challenge as they are the youngest, a big spread of ability and all they want to do us watch the Ipad. I've downloaded a few cartoons. We watch it. I write up questions, then we watch it again. Great fun. In fact it worked so well I changed my plan and did it for all three lessons. Result. I've now got two lessons saved for later in the week.

After class, I tend to wander to my cafe and have breakfast, coffee and chill. Monday was different though. I got a text from the office, "could I go there now" to finalise the brochure for Fridays charity launch dinner for the children's home. I jumped on a 'micro bus' and headed down. We did get it finished but not before a degree of anxiety with the constant changes. The monastery closes it's gates at 8:00. At 8:05, despite promising myself I wouldn't do it ever again, I was jumping in the back of Bhupi's bike and weaving through the still busy streets onto the ring road, back to the monastery. Not wise but unavoidable if I wanted a bed for the night. We got there with only seconds to spare.

Tuesday was good, once again good lessons. Amusing, we were doing 'what' and ' how many' having watched a cartoon.
"how many gold coins did jake collect"
"two" was the shout, correct answer.
What is the name of jakes parrot"
"two" ....... Oh well.
"how many = number"
"what = name"
I think we got there.... So fir a nice breakfast of eggs and toast and a good cup of coffee. Back to the office on the bus. We hadn't gone more than a mile when we were back ended and shunted 10 metres down the road. It was bound to happen, given the appalling driving and poor road sense of everyone in Kathmandu. Fortunately, no injuries although watching the conductor trying to get fares from us all as we left the bus to get on a working model was entertaining. It was never going to happen and I suspect I was witness to some very choice Nepali language....

I did get back at a reasonable hour. I made sure by leaving when most of the staff left and travelling with one of the girls. It was just before 5:30 when I pulled up outside Monkey Temple, just across the road from Samate Ling. Popped into the cafe for some veg samosa and a sprite. I've decided to make more of a healthy effort with the food. Most has been fried. Not good, from tomorrow.....

On to today, a good nights sleep, a lie in and lessons from 8:45 to 11:30. Sounds good I was 10 minutes into my lesson when a frumpy woman burst in. She was a volunteer and made out that she had an arrangement for five years. "we need to talk" she said. "We can talk at break" I replied. She didn't appear at break but did collar me before my last lesson, also claiming this was her lesson. She was really rude. It turns out this was her first day and her and her friend thought they were doing the lessons I was taking. I had no issue, I will go back to doing the early shift...

I laughed with the resident teacher later as we agreed I would go back to the original schedule. I'm sure this wouldn't satisfy the frumpy bitch. She said too many English lessons would confuse them. My view, you can't have too many English lessons.

I didn't have any food when I'd finished, I'd arranged to give one of the girls English lessons at the office do took an event free journey towards town.

The lesson went well. Writing and reading English was the objective.
I was in the cafe at 4:30 and enjoying my new non fried regime of a veg curry and sone beautiful little rolls. I treated myself to a beer... Half way through the week and all that ...


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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

Busy, Busy , Busy

Day three in the monastery house......
Awake again by the gong at 4:30, actually, it's quite cool. A really nice and gradual way to wake up. Perhaps not so early mind, but then. I'm not exactly having late nights....

From the balcony I watched assembly, it was really amusing. Most were on time but those that weren't, and they came running across the yard to a crack on the head by one of the elder monks. You could see they were used to it...





















Lessons at 7:20 and 8:55 today. I got there 10 minutes earlier than start time. For some reason Class 1 were I'm a particularly boisterous mood. Lesson went well. Actually a bit too well, can't help feel that they have been holding out on me....


















We started with a bit of a game, smiley, sad, happy faces. It went well, sort of till they started slinging the balls at each other. I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that this type of game is a bit difficult to manage with at least 32 kids in a room that is exactly the size of my bedroom.....

The second lesson (and I'd been told to expect this) didn't go quite to plan. I'd expected to do a bit of revision on the previous lesson from Friday. And planned the lesson around that. As I came out of the classroom I was asked to take class three rather than class two. I quickly had to think about what to do with the spare 10 mins I just had gained. You can't revise something they hadn't done yet!!!no worries. We got by.

After class wandered to the office to ask if I could get another big bottle of water. (those that you use for water fountains in offices....) there was still no running water. In was actually quite resigned to it now, whether I'll be resigned to it in 2 months, I'm not quite sure....

I couldn't have made myself understood as I got an empty bottle. I had noticed a big tank in the courtyard. I took my bottle, and half filled it with water. I'll fill my bucket and them get some more later.

After class, I went to my favourite cafe, good coffee and Internet access. Alas, it was closed on Sunday's. Fuck!!!

I did find a very poor alternative. Nice chapati and omelette and a milky coffee. Back to my room, a small nap, a read, made some flashcards for tomorrow's lesson. Then out for a wander and to pop in the stationers to pick up my order. It had arrived. I also bought a few other thinks I would use for the games and the warmers...
As I was coming back a couple of the kids were handing money through the railings to the woman who had the shop across the road. The giggled when they saw me. Caught red handed!!!












Later afternoon, and it was a glorious day, I sat in the courtyard and chatted to the kids and a couple of the older monks. Really friendly. They were fascinated with my tattoo.

Great day.... Again.





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Location:Karma Samte Ling Monastery. Kathmandu.

A night on the town........

I took a taxi into town when the rain finally stopped. I had packed a few things I would need into my daypack and chucked a pile of washing into my dry bag. The taxi wanted three hundred but we eventually agreed on two hundred. For some bizarre reason he didn't take the ring road, instead took what appeared to be the back roads, most of which were flooded from the torrential rain. He got the last laugh, dropping me off at what he claimed was Thamel, I only realised as I got out that I was about 2k from where I wanted to be. Oh well, good exercise for if I want to go trekking.....

I arrived at the Premium hotel, checked in, got my old room and everyone appeared to be happy to see me. Namaste they all yelled as I walked through the door. The owner told me that I could have. Room 402, the room that had been my home for two weeks. Great I said, I just need a hot hot water. He looked at me alarmed, "there was no hot water last time' he enquirer. "no no" I explained, no hot water at the monastery, in fact no water at all. As I walked up to my room it dawned me that actually, for a good five days out of the last 10 there was indeed no hot water....

Anyway, today there was hot water and I gave myself a good scrub. I took my laundry to reception and asked if there was any chance i could be done by Saturday lunch time. He would try but it dries in the sun.. We laughed looking at the weather this morning.... I told him that it didn't matter if itbwas still dam, I would dry it at the monastery. I then went out to BK's for chips, chilli sauce and Pakora, the best chips in town..... Then a small sleep.

It was a pretty low key evening. I had dinner at the Mandep. The usual of chicken tikka masala and a garlic naan. Washed down with a couple of beers. After which I went back to the hotel and bed.....

I had a lie in, a week (actually it's only 3 days!) of 4:30 wake ups had clearly taken their toll. It was 11:00am before I had breakfast. Hard boiled eggs (which came as fried) and hash browns which weren't, they were however good. The food at the hotel, given the facilities, is quite nice and the beer is cheap....

It was a beautiful morning, the red sky the previous evening had promised that. After breakfast I checked out. My laundry wasn't ready, no worries, I was going to get a coffee anyway. I called in to get my vitamin drink of pineapple juice. This guy as a bizarre charging structure, it's been 70, 80, 90 and 100 rupees. This kinda pisses me off. I have had to ask for my change a couple of times. Today he gave me 10 back from 100. "Has the price gone up." He looked puzzled.. "On Wednesday it was 80 rupees." "agh", he said, "it's special" yeah right. I know it's not much but the principle of the matter pisses me off. Does the man have no comprehension of "lifetime customer value". Of course not. But he just lost a customer who would have happily spent about £20 with him over the next two month. There are plenty of other fruit juice vendors...

Coffee at the Himalaya Java, it was packed so I had to ask this rather over dressed (in a scanty sort of way) and rather over made up (in a tarty sort of way) if I could sit opposite her. Two sofas with a table in-between and she had pretty much taken over the table with all her "stuff" she looked at me as if I had just asked for a shag and shrugged her shoulders. Some people are complete twats...

I am finding Kathmandu quite a strange sort of place in terms of meeting people out an about. There are loads of "hippies" complete with dreadlocks and grubby clothes. There are loads of trekker types, there are loads of french. I've only had conversations with about 10 foreign people since I arrived... Hey ho..

I found a nice little app that let's you upload batches of photos onto Face Book. Something I've not done much of before. I spent the next couple of hours drinking coffee and doing that. Every time I looked over, the women opposite glared. She was eventually joined by her boyfriend, both America, although she did have a South American look about her. But there you go. American again, with a couple of examples (if you're reading this Randles- you're exempt ) they appear to be rather a dysfunctional race. Listening to these two only reinforced that view....

The beautiful morning had turned into a pissing afternoon, dark clouds and torrential rain. I decided to have a shave... Nice head massage, all for the price of a beer. Having made that splash out, well worth it. I went to the hotel, paid my bill and checked out. As I'd been extravagant with the shave I decided to walk the 4km to the monastery. Arrived absolutely wet through.

Lots of waves from the monks as I walked through the gates. Still no water. Guess I'll have to get another HUGE bottle from the head monk. At 50 rupees it's not going to break the bank...

Having forgotten my glasses, I had a bit of work to do in preparation for the lesson tomorrow.

It won't be a late night either....


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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

This is just fantastic....

The calling to prayers woke me at around. 4:30am. It's a strange feeling to really be in the thick of it.
I had prepared all my stuff for the morning so went to take a shower. There is a constant feeling of 'grubbiness'. having trekked down road I was in need of a good scrub. The slight inconvenience of no hot water yesterday paled into insignificance. Today there was no water at all. I had a huge bottle of water in my room which I emptied into a bucket and had a very thorough 'body wash' and a shave. Any thoughts of wearing the same shirt as yesterday's were quickly dismissed as I looked at the collar in the light. It was bloody loopy. Dirty gypsy bastard...

It was a miserable day, absolutely pissing down with rain. I had two classes again. One with the real youngsters, and then a second with the older boys.

As I walked towards the first classroom I was hijacked by a young monk from the second class.
'sir, sir.... In here. In reasonable English he said the first class had a teacher.
I went in an started the class with a 'Simon says' warm up. Very quickly it became evident that my first class didn't have a teacher at all. The monk thought it was hugely Funny that I'd been had. The first class again was the 30 youngsters. 'good morning sir' they shouted as I went in. 'Video, ,video' they yelled.
'good lesson - then video' was my deal.
They ca Ss went well, reinforcing what we had done yesterday. Getting them to converse in English with me and then in English with their peers. The is a real breadth of skills. Some very competent and some not at all so. One of the older boys was obviously the 'leader' and I got him on side. He was OK at speaking and really helped with the controlling of the younger monks.

Great lesson again, completed with a song. They love the Do Re Mi... I feel like Julie Andrew in the sound of music.

We finished the lesson with 5 minutes of video. I am showing them the road trip across the lower Himalayas by Motorbike. Using the opportunity to pause it from time to time and ask questions. 'What is this.' the area we travelled had a lot of monasteries so it is good that they can see Buddhist culture in another adjoining country. I am planning to use this every lesson till we've seen it all and use it to increase their vocal and allow them to name a few of the Buddhist gods etc...

The second take of the second lesson was great too. Again, there are couple of bright cookies, but also those at the other end of the spectrum. I think I have identified those that need most help. The trick is to keep them all motivated
The context of the lesson was 'feelings' and the the form was 'present, past and future simple' with an irregular verb thrown in for good measure. Went very well. Need to think a little bit more as to how I can get everything in as the lessons are only 35 minutes and I like to get a bit of a game in. I will try starting with the first class earlier and try to squeeze 45 mins in each. We actually managed to get most of the stuff in and the. Finished with a game to test the learning. Some of them certainly got it, others not so much. I will think how we can broaden it out to capture everyone. Being new to this lark I'm not sure how to do this yet. I will seek some expert advice...

All through at 9:00 and it's still tipping down with rain. At least the transport strike is over. My plan is to head back into town for the night and get a hot shower and a bit of a lie in tomorrow. Saturday is my day off.. Back to tomorrow evening with lessons starting again at 6:30 on Sunday.

I'm having breakfast of boiled eggs and toast and milky coffee thinking when shall I make a move . I need to let the rain subside.

I've not taken any photos yet... The weather is too bad and I've been too busy but there will be some cracking opportunities .....

This is so enjoyable. And it's going to get better.....



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Location:Kimdol Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

First day teaching.....

It was certainly an eye-opener, my first day at the monastery. There are quite a few in Kathmandu. Most operate by donations. I was to be staying and working at the Karma Samte Ling monastery in Kathmandu. In a way, it was ideal, not far from the charity offices. Not far from the centre of Kathmandu and not far from shops, indeed, it was actually right across the road from one of the major KTM sites, Monkey Temple.

I was expecting very basic accommodation, this is very very basic. No hot water. A mattress on the floor. I could have been excused for thinking I was in the local prison, the only difference was I had a key!

In the usual Nepali way, things were not that organised, the vice principle of the monastery did not really know when my lessons were going to be or, indeed where and what classes I would be teaching. A year on the road gets you used to this and I prepared a few different lessons to cater for the ages in the 'potential' classes that I would be teaching.
I had brought a bit of stuff with me in terms of material so spent the early evening making 'stuff'
A knock on the door at around 6:00. It was dinner time. I was given a metal plate and headed after a monk who had been charged with settling me in. I was surprised with the level of English that some of the monks had, it was quite high. I would be teaching the youngster it transpired. 8-10 and 11-13.

Now dinner was an experience, not so much the food, a massive portion of steamed rice, some vegetable curry and lentil soup. It was edible, just although the 'dining area' was what could only be described as a cellar. One lightbulb and all the monks sitting or kneeling on the floor eating. It actually made fagan's den look rather like a five star resort hotel....

I was surrounded by young monks, just like normal, everyday kids, they were curious, boisterous, enquiring. Some had really good English, they have English lessons each day. They wanted to know where I came from, what was my name, was I married. They were incredibly welcoming. After dinner I chatted with a few of them then made my way back to my room to finish off planning for the following days lessons.

Most of the activity stops at around 8:00pm. It's an early start, 4:00am. Despite this, a monk in the adjoining room felt it necessary to practice his 'recorder' or similar instrument till at least 10.00. I was awake quite early, assisted by chanting and gong sounding. I showered, in cold water. It was actually a bucket shower at around five ish and then stood on the balcony and observed the activities going on in the main monastery courtyard. Fascinating, cleaning, brushing teeth, washing under a cold tap in the yard. The place was a hive of activity.

Breakfast consisted of a sweet bread, tea with yak butter and salt. Hmm lovely. I'm afraid there are limits.

After breakfast, I grabbed by stuff for the two, lessons and headed to the office to be shown the way to my first lesson, the old lady saw who served tea in the office, saw I was having problems with the salty tea and kindly provided me with a hot sweet chai. Very nice.

I had been given a timetable by now, I had two lessons. The first one at 7.00am and the next one straight after just next door. As I shown into the first office I was greeted by about 25 smiley faces, all dressed in the burgundy robes with bright yellow trim. The room was packed. The vice principle basically said, off you go. As I had walked in the monks had jumped to their feet. My 'good morning' was greeted with a 'good morning sir' in unison. A asked the students to sit and was given an equally 'thank you sir' . Although the normal lesson was 50 minutes,this one was cut short by 20 minutes, so much for lesson planning. Never mind, you have to think on your feet all the time in this job. I introduced myself and asked a few simple questions to test the water. The English was very basic, but then they were only P1 standard. I had quickly assimilated the time left, the standard and kicked off a warmer. Out of my bag I pulled a prop. Three sticks of dynamite that I'd made the previous evening.. Boom! Was a retort from some of the brighter students , the others looked on in wonderment. Is it real I could see them thinking. I demonstrated passing it around and then counting down 5-4-3-2-1. BOOM. " My Name is Steve. I like Football' not very original I know but was a good icebreaker. Not surprisingly, with 30 students it takes quite a while, but it was getting to know the boys. After we had completed the task they were quite boisterous. Time for bit of fun, after all this was the first lesson.

The rests of the day was free, can't think of another job where you start at 6:00am and finish at 9:00am!

There was a transport strike in the city today, so no taxis, no buses. If I wanted to go anywhere I would have to walk. Bhupi the ED of VIN had called in and sat through my second lesson, I had agreed to call in the office later in the day to finish off the orphanage brochure. To be fair, it's only about 4km away so it was no great hardship and will keep me fit. I got to the office at about 1:00pm and spent the rest of the day downloading some songs for the classes and getting the lesson plan together. I set off back at around 4:30pm, again walking and called in at the nice coffee shop for dinner of fried rice and coke. I'm afraid I'm going to be eating there a lot.

It's a good job I got most of the lesson planning and the 'props' sorted out as there was another electricity cut just as it was going dark. I had bought a few bits form a local toy shop and put an order in for some coloured paper at a small stationers just down the lane. Think the guy thought I was mad with the stuff I ordered. !

Was in bed for 8:30. Another early morning.... When the lights did come on I completed my planning and went to sleep......

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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

A hard days night......

Today I have been mostly working on the brochure for VIN's
The Nepal Children's Home it's nearly finished, earlier i sent a copy to Bhupi and he is delighted with it. We are meeting tomorrow afternoon to put the finishing touches and then it should be good to go. I'm very pleased. Aa part of the 'research' process I read lots of papers on the web. Fascinating but incredibly disturbing. There is much to do to even make a tiny improvement. The total cost of the project is a modest half million dollars, christ, that's £310k. Less that my house is worth, yet it would make such a difference to numerous street kids and give them a chance in life. It does make you think about things.

I'm not sure how many hours I put into the work but over the last few days, it has been considerable. It was not unlike writing a sales plan. Thanks BT!

Anyway, with the back of it broken, it being a Saturday night I'm going to chill and have a fee beers. I did have a trip out for breakfast this morning. I'm losing weight like a good one! I would be the first to admit, my diet hasn't been brilliant over the last few months. The food in Thailand was pretty much rice and noodles with the off salad (and a KFC) thrown in. You really need to make an effort, both here and in Thailand to make sure you get your 'five a day'. Fresh veg and fruit are there but the staple duet is carbohydrate rich. I have now started to have at least a couple of fresh fruit juices a day and it's doing the trick. I did that this morning (after a full American- I was hungry!) Its not that I didn't need to lose a few KG but anyway,it's gone now.
On the way back from breakfast I called in one of the many 'trekking' shops and managed to purloin a pair of 'North Face' lightweight trousers, that convert into shorts for about £6. I wonder if they're the real McCoy. Probably not egh!

Surprisingly there are a disproportionate number of French people here, I've not seen as many since Laos. And there, there was an explanation, ex-colony and that. I shall make it my mission to find out....
There is no shortage of Bars here, pricey by comparison to other parts of Asia, and very pricy if compared to other third world countries, that said, I am in the tourist Mecca of Kathmandu. Take out beer is roughly half the price of bars.

Tonight my first beer is in New Orleans, a typical Nepali bar ( ha ha - only kidding) but excellent 'lounge music.





I'm desperate to chat with someone who doesn't want to sell me drugs or a trekking trip, we'll see. ....

Moved on to the Maya bar... 2 for the price of one cocktails. Now this could get messy !.....


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Location:New Orleans - Thamel - Kathmandu.

Back to Work....

I'd arrived in Nepal ten days before the start of my job in the Monastery started. Part of the 'selection' process to be a volunteer with VIN, is that you supply a copy of your CV and a couple of referees. Bhupi, executive director of the charity was quick to recognise the fact that the charity could utilise some of my business experience. There is a shortage of volunteers generally but a significant shortage of volunteers with business experience and I'm bow working in a couple of things that hopefully will help. Not surprisingly, most of the financial resources go into the various programs that VIN are involved in. These leaves very little to fund things like marketing and business plan writing. My little task is to use my experiential and educational past to create some marketing collateral for the next project which is due to be launched on 26th August. The building of a 50 bed orphanage on the outskirts of Kathmandu. At my first meeting with Bhupi we went through the objectives and during the week I have created a mock up document. My meeting today was to agree some of the content detail and fill in the gaps.

Most of existing orphanages run by foreigners. VIN want to create a Nepali model for an orphanage which uses the successful model they currently deploy in their other programs of sustainability. A significant challenge. As I'm writing this blog, sitting in a small cafe, one of the very people the charity is hoping to help, one of the unverified thousands of street kids of Nepal is begging just outside the entrance. It's a moving and pitiful sight. Not surprisingly one of the customers, puts his hand in his pocket and thrusts a 100Nrp note into the dirty outstretched hand and the child, no more than ten moves on to the next potential donor. The 'gift' is a natural reaction, yet, it is that very action that perpetuates and makes the problem worse. Impressionable youngsters, many orphaned, living a miserable existence in the rural parts of the country see the freedom of the big city as inviting, add to that the fact that willing tourists are often easily parted from their money, it would seems a more attractive proposition. Unfortunately the donation is more likely as to be spent on solvent abuse as a square meal. Hard as it may seem, that donation is making matters worse not better.....




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Location:Chaksibari Marg,Kathmandu,Nepal

Will I ever learn......

This morning was glorious sunshine, we are thankfully coming to the end of the monsoon season. I was up early, did a bit of transcribing and then out to try the famous Java Coffee. I also planned to do the local monastery and temples.

Coffee and a chocolate muffin at Java coffee was everything that the lonely planet. Apparently this second floor coffee shop, overlooking the crossroads in the centre of Thamel serves the best coffee in the city, they roast their own beans daily. It was certainly good, served in a mug too. The warm chocolate muffin was good too.


















Moving on to my sightseeing trip. The Nepali don't seem to be early risers in Thamel. It was 9.00 am and not that busy, save the trekking and taxi touts. I had become quite good at smiling and saying no, but not that good. Given, apart from a few weeks, I have been on the road for nearly 12 months, I am constantly surprised at my naïveté and today was no exception. As you wander through the streets of any city, lonely planet it hand and day pack on your shoulder you are a target. Most of those targeting you are keen to relieve you of a few dollars.






As I came out of the coffee shop a young lad greeted me with "namaste" and asked where I was from. Usually you have a brief conversation but no more and they move onto the next "unsuspecting" target. Today should have been no different except I asked for directions. As it happened this guy actually worked as an artist in the monastery I was heading towards. As we walked, we chatted, I told him I was a volunteer and would be working in a buddhist monastery for the next two months.
Arriving at the temple and monastery he gave me a great briefing of the history and before I knew it I had a tour guide. Naive but not that naive that I didn't expect that money would need to change hands at some point. I've been in this situation so many times before, I can't count them.






Anyway, we wandered through the local part of the area, fascinating it was too and some great photo opportunities. So much so that I was stopped by a Belgium tourist at one particular temple and asked if I could send a few photos I had taken at one particular temple to him via e- mail. ( such is the speed of the rather temperamental Internet connections, they are still sitting in my ipad outbox. At some stage soon I may need to renege on my promise and try when I get somewhere with a little quicker connection).
In the meantime, my guide was making a plan, where he would take me. It didn't dawn on me till we were in the taxi (he could get local rate...) on our way to the ghat and the largest Stupa in the world that This may turn out a little pricy.



As we got put of the taxi I asked how much it would be to enter the ghat. It was 500 NRP. About a five, I do intend to do it but the first three days next week with the charity are "orientation" which includes a guide of Nepal, in addition, you can get a "pass" as a volunteer which gives cut price entry to some of the sights.

When I asked how much the taxi was and got the answer " about 1500 Npr I thought it was time to call it a day. This could turn out ridiculously expensive for something I was going to do anyway next week. I explained to Asish that I was on a tight budget and this was really expensive, especially as I only had 1300 on me. "But you have an ATM card"
He said. Across most of the world people associate an ATM or Credit card with unlimited funds. " yes I do, but I don't have this type of money especially as I can do these sights for free next week" . To be fair, he took this all
In his stride ( he told me he was a devout Buddhist, which I had no reason to disbelieve him - Money wasn't important". That did not stop him from asking for tip. I showed him my empty wallet. The 1300 had gone to the taxi driver. I suspect he took a cut!

I was dropped off at Thamel feeling a little embarrassed at my stupidity and my wallet a little lighter than when I started out in the morning. Every day a school day. Pity I seem incapable of retaining this learning. Till next time egh!



On the way back, I was was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of hundred NPR in my pocket and had a refreshing pineapple juice and bought a couple of apples and bananas to cheer myself up. Given I had just frittered my eating budget for the day, this would be my lunch and dinner.

By this time it was around 3.00pm, calling off at the ATM I took out another 20,000 towards paying for my volunteer placement (70,000 for two months) and headed back to the hotel to do a bit more work, promising myself I would not be taken in again . As I say, till next time.....


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Location:Kathmandu Guest House Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

A busy day at the office

This morning I was going to visit the Volunteer Initiative Nepal offices which were about 2km from where I was staying in Thamel. I was up bright and early and wandered into the main area to grab some breakfast. I'm acutely aware that the diet both in Nepal and Thailand was sadly lacking in fresh veg and fruit so, in addition to taking my supplements. I'm also aiming to have at least a few of my 'five a day' this started with a fruit salad in the curry kitchen. When it arrived and I looked at the amusingly 'pale' colouring, the waiter said "sorry, we only have apples and bananas" nevertheless less it was more healthy than an american breakfast (though not as filling).

On my way to way to the curry kitchen, as is often the case, in was 'accosted' by a street seller, this one introduced himself and a "shoe doctor". Hen had noticed that my hiking shoes were in need of some attention over an above a good clean. Thats what you get spending days trekking in the deepest jungles of Borneo and hiking around the hill tribes of Northern Thailand. I hoping he had found some other custom). Quell surprise, he was still there when I came out so, good as my word, I let him have a look at the shoes. I asked "how much" and he was reticent to give me a price without a full inspection.
After sitting on a step in a small alley off the main street he gave me a could of insoles to put my feet on and gave the boots the once over. He decided that stitching the rubber that was coming away was the "cure". For this and a clean he wanted to charge me 950 NRP. About £9.00. "You can bugger off, I could buy a new pair for that. Besides , you said it would only take 10 minutes. At an hourly rate that is more than I used to get paid!"
He was clearly chancing his hand and as I was putting my shoes on he graciously accepted my only price. 500NPR, still not cheap. I was still concerned that stitching was not a good idea but he convinced me that he was the doctor, and if I was not happy, I didn't have to pay. Fifteen minutes later we were done. I couldn't pay him there and then he told me, but further down the road as he had sneaked onto someone else's patch!






After the shoe emergency room, I headed for a taxi to the offices VIN. It was only 2k but the taxi isn't cheap here and charged a couple of quid.
Now I know the way, which is really straightforward, I'll walk next time.

Once there, I met a couple of other volunteers, a really nice guy from Nottingham who was working in an orphanage and a really irritating girl from California who was doing something in health education.
I had arranged to meet the executive director of VIN who wanted to use some of my business expertise on a couple of things they had in the pipeline. By the end of the couple of hours in had agreed to look at the business plan for an orphanage they were planning to build and open in 2013. Bhupi wanted a document that could be used to "sell" the project to potential donors. I also agreed to look at another project and create the same type of document and review their funding model for the core business. I'm going to be a bit busy.

I was there most of the morning and left back for my hotel at around 2pm after having a delicious lunch of Momo's a steamed parcel filled with veg and a spicy sauce. Lovely.

I decided to push the boat out in the evening and have dinner at the place that served delicious chicken tikka masala. It turned out to be quite an enjoyable evening, a teacher from east anglia was on the table opposite and we ended up sharing a table and had good conversation. It wording though that I seemed to know more about English grammar than he did. After a couple of Everest beers I was a bit squiffy and made it to my bed at 10.30.





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Location:Paknajol Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

Another nice morning - We'll soon change that!

It was a lovely morning, again, bright sunshine and quite warm. I was up early. The plan was to do some sightseeing.
I had breakfast, a full English, at the curry kitchen. It was a great location, overlooking the tiny streets of Thamel and the hustle and bustle of a sunday morning. After a nice relaxing couple of hours I set out to the supermarket to get toiletries, shampoo, body gel and deodorant. I had left stuff at Chiang Mai to save carrying it. Back to the hotel to drop it off. Took in 3kg of washing and was about to get a cab to Durbar Square when the heavens opened. I'm still in the room now at 5.30. Got quite a lot more of the transposing done though, and updated the blog. Hopefully I will get out later. I still haven't had a beer in KTM and it's my third day!


















I did get out later, much later due to the weather. It seems to piss it down every single day at about 5.00pm. At least the power stayed on. Hungry at about 9.00pm I hopped, (in the rain) across to Thamel. I didn't fancy a meal but I could have killed for a few Pakora. Could I find any, could I fuck. Eventually I settled for a bag of crisps and a bottle of chilled beer from the little shop in the alley between my hotel and Thamel. I could not resist his pitch " why pay 160 when you can pay 14o here." Why indeed!

The evening was spend writing up my course notes between swigs of "Everest" beer......

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Location:Paknajol Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

First day spoiled by the bank....

Now I'm not so distracted training to be a teacher I will spend more time keeping the blog up to date.

My first full day in Kathmandu gave me a first hand experience of the monsoon season. Fuck, did it rain,and, and rain. Warm rain, but every bit as wet as the stuff back home.



The frog chorus I had come to know and love has been replaced by pigeons. Hundred of the appear to live in Kathmandu. To be fair, they are not the nasty, often deformed, rats with wings that you see in the UK . More like cooing doves....

I awoke to a fine morning, the sky was blue and you got a really nice view of the Kathmandu valley from the rooftop garden at the hostel I was staying at.
My first task of the day was to get some cash. I had no local currency so need an ATM. There are not hundreds of them in Thamel, very unlike Thailand. The first one didn't work, the second one kindly told me that my card was "closed" great! I found a money changer, changed my last sterling into grubby Nepali rupees and then headed back to my hotel to try and find out what "card closed" actually meant. Having incurred around £30 in mobile charges the last time I had to call the bank, I decided that I would try and use skype. That was a test in itself. The first attempt didn't connect, the second attempt I got as far as explaining what had happened, finding out that my card was still active, and being transferred somewhere or other. Then the connection went down.



Third time lucky! After running through the scenario again in was put on hold, being transferred to "control". After a wait of some ten minutes and some serious praying that I didn't lose the connection again. There was non"warm handover" and I was eventually barked at by some shit who proudly announced belonging to the "fraud department" hmmm. That's encouraging. He would have made a good security guy at Manchester airport. . We went through the security questions again and he told me that my card had been suspended due to suspected fraudulent activity.

I hate that, as if isn't worrying enough that your card doesn't work. Surely they could brief their people to use better words. "Hi, my name's John. Could I just check a few things with you" would be so much better. Or why can't they text me like MasterCard do, and ask me to call them, instead they just block the card and wait for you to call them. I guess I should be grateful that they are protecting my interests, except they're protecting their own.
A couple of recent (2 weeks ago) had been flagged up as suspicious and the computer had said "no"

Anyway, after convincing them that a 100 withdrawal a few days earlier and payment to my MasterCard credit card were of my own doing, he said he would lift the block. I thanked him for his help, grateful I had got through the conversation without getting cut off again. Till next time you Fuckwit!

My guesthouse, the Hotel Premium, is a couple of hundred yards from Thamel, the touristic ( is that a word) part of Kathmandu. It is like a rabbit warren. Once the card was back and working I set out to have a look around. As is my want, I didn't take a map and ended up getting hopelessly lost. It took me a good couple of hours to get back, picking a few Nepali touts, trying their luck on the way. And in the pissing rain too. I eventually, luck rather than judgement, found my way back and deposited some bits in the hotel before heading out yet again for a late lunch. I chose a quite classy place and had a delicious chicken tikka and nan. Not cheap but this is not a cheap area, making the most of the tourists. The shops are same same but different. Every one of them is selling either pashmina, trinkets, tours and treks or trekking and mountaineering gear. Quite cheap too. There is something a bit romantic about the fact that thousands of Everest climbers have passed through this area. Indeed, one restaurant will allow you to eat free for like if you conquer the peak!

In the evening, it being Saturday, I would go out for a few beers. The best laid plans of mice and men. I was scuppered. I experienced the first of the fairly regular power cuts at 6.30. Its called "load shedding" and happens pretty much every day. Its not that there isn't ample electricity, its that the Nepali government sell most of it to India and China, especially China who they appear to owe a lot too in terms of economic support.

All dressed up and nowhere to go. As it went dark, and I'd used up the remaining battery on my iPad, ( although surprisingly the ADSL worked during the power cut, they must have battery backup) I decided at 9.00pm in would go to sleep. At 11pm everything came back on again. By that time, although wide awake, I didn't feel like going out.

In an effort to cut down on the weight of by backpack, I had undertaken to transpose all the notes and handouts from the last months TEFL course into word documents. That kept me busy for a couple of hours. I have broken the back of it now having done a couple of hours a day for the past couple of weeks. Probably saved about a kg of weight too. I should have been smarter and offered to sell the documents on to my fellow students. It would have been worth at least a few beers.

There is plenty to see in Katmandu and tomorrow I plan to do a bit of sightseeing.



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Location:Paknajol Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

Top of the World

After an very enjoyable six weeks in Chiang Mai, it was time to move on. The next destination, Kathmandu, Nepal. I had been accepted on a two month volunteer placement at a buddhist monastery teaching English. This in fact was the while reason behind my doing the teaching English course with UniTELF. Originally I thought to only fair, if I was going to sign up to teach English, then I should St least be competent and know the difference between a conjunction and preposition. Having done the course and enjoyed teaching kids I may well continue.

At 9.00am on 4th August, nearly two months since I arrived in Chiang Mai, I made my way down the soi that had been my home to get the Sontel to Chiang Mai airport. The next 24 hours were going to be a bit tiring, I was flying at midday to Bangkok. At 7.00pm I would fly to Delhi in India and then on to Kathmandu in Nepal the following morning. Arriving at Tribhuvan international airport at midday on the 5th August.
All went to plan, no hold ups or delays on the first stage of the journey. I had hoped to get checked in early for the flight from BKK to New Delhi but good old Air Asia had other ideas . I must have flown 50 times with the airline in the last 12 months. Only in Thailand are they unhelpful. Nevertheless, no sweat , Emirates had an office in the airport, I would use the time to change my ticket. I had booked my flight in December 2010 and, because you cant book more than 12 months in advance, my return flight was for 8th Dec 2011. My intention was to return in July 2011. I was informed that the ticket had only a 12 month validity so the latest I could return was 8 June 2012 and I would need to pay £75 . This makes a nonsense of the 12 month validity rule. Unless I had booked on the day I flew it would not be valid for 12 months without paying the charge. Oh well. Cie la vie.
I eventually got checked in and wandered through to the departure lounge. I continued my Fast Food Frenzy. KFC yesterday, Burger King this morning and now Pizza. The 5kg I had lost since I arrived in two months would be back on very quickly at this rate...

An hour before the flight I wandered towards the gate sitting down I glanced at this absolutely HUGE Indian man. The 'I hope he's not sat next to me' went through my mind. In my speed to book the flights, I had mistakenly booked a premium seat. To get a six month visa and the Indian embassy they needed to see evidence of the flight in and out of India. It was 2:40 on Friday and they shut at 3.00. Hence the best seats in the house and priority boarding. Well, priority boarding didn't happen but when I did get on the plane the two seats next to me were free. As lucky as I am, the next bus arrived at the plane, disgorged the fat man who promptly came and sat by me. By the time we got to India I was nicely moulded the window and Walls of the plane. Not my best flight ever.

My memories of Delhi airport from the last time I was there are it was a skip. How things change, it is very nice now. Terminal three was build for the commonwealth games (although not completed till they we're over) . I was departing from terminal three and had 10 hours to relax. SpiceJet, an Indian low cost carrier flight SG41 was leaving at 7.40 for Kathmandu, a short 2 hour flight. As expected the check in didn't open till 3 hours before the flight. After making a short trek to the terminal, going through security I was in Terminal three. I have never seen so much security and so many automatic and semi automatic weapons. I found myself a corner and made a nest to get a bit of sleep. At 4.00am I checked in and made my way ti ti luxury of airside and a very tasty McDonalds chicken wrap. For obvious reasons beef was off the menu.

The plane left on time and 2 hours later, having adjusted my watch for the odd "15 " minutes time difference I was at Tribhuvan airport queuing for my ridiculously priced $100 dollar 90 day visa. That took about as long as the flight!



I was supposed to be being met at the airport by Bhupi, the executive director of VIN, the charity I was working for in Nepal. Coming out of the terminal I looked for the sign, nowhere to be seen. There are loads of taxi and hotel hanging around hassling you. I firmly said I was meeting someone an proceeded ti text him. Speaking to a guy I met, he kindly offered to call him on his phone. It turned out that the traffic was bad so Bhupi suggested I get at taxi to the accommodation and he would meet me there. I said goodbye to Santos, promising I would call by his office, he ran a travel agency at some time in the next few days and jumped into what could only described as a skip on wheels for the 20 minute drive into town. Bhupi was waiting outside the hotel, he huge me and presented me with a silk scarf. What a nice touch. After checking in, we had a wander around. He is a charming man. Very committed to the charity. He took me on a little orientation walk around Thamel and we had a cup of "chai" while I asked about the charity and what they were doing. He had suggested that I might be able to help while in was there as they had seen quite a significant drop in volunteers and revenues. I agreed to call by his offices on the Monday after a weekend of relaxing. I was staying I. The Hotel Premier, at £5 a night there is very little 'premier' about it but the beds are comfortable, itnhas wifi in the room and is comfortable.
I'm getting a nice feeling about Nepal


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Location:Mandala St,Kathmandu,Nepal