Orla's travels in Nepal

August 14, 2018

Our plane from Doha arrived in Kathmandu at midday today. It was a really tiring journey and none of the volunteers slept much - we arrived in the airport feeling a bit groggy but ready to start our journey. Kathmandu so far has been great - the vibe of the city is completely different to any I've been to before (having been to only European cities). Driving in a taxi to the hotel it was amazing to see the chaos and noise; a cacophony of beeps and revs of motorbikes. There seems to be no order on the streets here; cars driving into the middle of the road to dodge people on bicycles and motorbikes weaving in and out of traffic being some of the common sights. Walking on the streets can be quite scary at times too, as I found out later, with loud beeps making you jump to the side of the road in fear of being run over. After arriving at the hotel located in Thamel, we went out for Dal Bhat in a local restaurant. We all ate with our right hand as is done in Nepal (eat with your right, wash with your left being the rule) wanting to begin absorbing ourselves in the Nepali culture. There are so many interesting shops in Thamel, selling hippie trousers and homemade arty things, as well as cheap label hiking gear. They're meant for tourists really, but they're still fun things to take back home and wear in Nepal. If you show any interest to street sellers though (selling things like wooden flutes and mini violins) they will start to follow you down the street even right to your hotel. On the whole, the people in Kathmandu come across as really smiley and friendly, and finishing off the evening eating some momos and watching people bustle along was a great end to the first evening of exploring.

In our group of volunteers we have quite a few musicians; I play the flute, Ashvi and Eli the guitar, Vivienne the violin, Kieran the clarinet and Oscar the drums. I didn't realise that everyone was going to bring their instruments along but in the end it was so lovely; we sat in the hotel on some steps outside (after coming back from eating momos) and played along to tunes we knew and also improvised. I'm excited about playing more music with everyone over the year, and playing flute with Ashvi at our project.

Saying goodbye at the airport to Frank, my family and everyone else over the past few weeks has been hard, and it was an emotional goodbye, but I know I'm going to get so much out of this year in another continent.