Greetings from the lap of the Annapurnas!

Hi all. Its been a week already in a place called Pondeli, halfway up the hill to the Sarangkot view point. From the viewpoint one can see the full glory of the Himalayan ranges of the Annarpurnas and Machhapuchhare. Anyway, the journey from Kathmandu to Pokhara, the last stop before the trip to my residence as a volunteer with my host, was quite eventful. It took an eternity to leave Kathmandu valley. The valley is one of the most enclosed urban sprawls I've ever been to. It's no surprise that back in the 1950's you could only get to Pokhara by mule. The descent into one of the great river gorges of the low areas of Nepal was spectacular. So was the long line of intercity buses and lorries. We went past a section of road that was hit by falling rocks. The bus conductor just had to give me the mortality statistics of the road at that point. Thank you very much, I feel so much better now. The river gorge opens into a wide valley as you go west and at intervals one can see the scary looking steel pedestrian suspension bridges and the occasional cage cable cars that villagers use to cross the river valley. It seems that round here one has to climb stuff to get anywhere. The rivers are so wide and clear, they are great for swimming and just chilling on the river beaches at the bends. Unfortunately I was non-stop with a few refreshment stops.

Let's fast forward to the journey from Pokhara to Sarangkot. (I can talk more about Pokhara later). I was on a "tourist bus" from Kathmandu to Pokhara, but now I was on the real deal. The 25 rupee 'hill winder' (i just baptised it) to Pondeli. It was more than just a hill winding journey. It was the bumpiest freakin' bus journey I have ever been on (beating the famous Kenya potholes hands down). Some of the road literally hangs over the edge. The area suffered from major landslides during this year's monsoon so its a miracle that buses still go up this hill. Just for some background, the hill where my home family lives is mainly soil and slate and so landslides have the added hazard of sharp rocks falling your head. In fact along the bus route some houses were pulled down by landslides and there were fatalities. At the moment it doesn't rain so much so landslides aren't much of a hazard. The scarring is very evident on the landscape. Lots of rice fields were literally wiped out and paths obliterated. Enough of natural disasters.....

I will keep this blog entry short by just introducing my habitat. I live with nice host family with 2 kids - boys. One is 9 yrs old and the other, 6 yrs. My host dad speaks decent English but the low levels of conversational English at my disposal with the other villagers keeps my crappy Nepali in check. Two things are in abundance here: Water and Dhal Bhat (Lentils and Rice)!! Water coz there is a constantly dripping well used by the villagers, and there is so much that the surplus is used for the domestic buffalo bathing pools. Dhal Bhat needs no introduction as that is the staple here to the point that you have to be creative around the dhat bhat. One day with goat meat, the next day a bit of radish curry. Food is basic but tasty once you get used to it. The slow pace and lack of privacy is another thing to get used to. There are so many kids here, every time they say hi, I have to keep asking their names. Don't even ask me the names of the kids I teach! A smart bunch, but I have to write their names down all the time. Im now popular in the primary school as I gave them all sweets. I'm starting a little project in providing some science equipment for a new lab using the money i've raised for the volunteer programme. Also, trying to organise a volleyball tournament. The teachers are very enthusiastic and full of ideas so it will be fun.

That's all folks! Will write more soon.....Hope all is well with you!

K.