A 2 year update: How my Gap Year has helped me

Hello everyone!

I'm back on the blog after an almost 2 year absence! You find me at home after finishing a few months at my summer job and getting ready to start my final year of university! I've decided to write this update as my gap year is never far from my mind and the more I think about it the more I realise how much my experiences have helped me over the last few years and hopefully will continue to do so in the future. So I'm going to take you through a few of the things that have been going on over the past few years, both inside university and out, and share how what I learnt and experienced on my gap year helped me out through some incredible new experiences!

Let's start with year one of university, beginning in September 2014 with the last major adventure of my gap year being 4 months in Nepal with Oyster Worldwide (http://www.oysterworldwide.com/) at the start of the year still in the back of my mind. I arrived at Plymouth University, ready to start an undergraduate degree in International Relations, with plenty of emotions running around. For many of my course-mates and flat mates it was the first time they were away from home and fully responsible for themselves, with all the tasks of cooking, money management and laundry now resting solely on their shoulders. Whilst I was apprehensive about doing these things for myself as-well I counted myself lucky to have had some great preparation throughout my gap year in learning to look after myself. Throughout my time in Israel I often had to cook for myself and the rest of the group and this was great preparation for my first year in a shared university halls flat! I shared a flat with 7 other people from all walks of life and my adventures throughout my gap year helped me in making friends from across the world, so I was in great stead to get to know 7 strangers from the UK!

New flat? New people? No problem!

First-year of university offered me plenty of new opportunities for fun! Alongside a great course there was plenty of time for other activities! Alongside a regular running schedule I joined the university Nerf-Gun society to keep me occupied outside of coursework! Every two weeks we take over one of the university lecture buildings and let all the stress out in a day of Nerf-wars! I met some of my now best-friends at the society and I can't imagine university life without them. I was lucky enough last-year to become chairman of the society which bumped up my responsibility a few levels! My role sees me interact with the student's union regarding promoting our society activities on campus, helping organise society events and solving any issues our members might have. I don't do it all on my own though as I have some of best-friends with me on the committee to help me along! Here as well, lessons from my gap years served me well as I had to work in a team, communicate effectively and make sure everyone was having a great time. Whenever I'm working with the committee I'm reminded of how my time with the group in Nepal tested all kinds of communication and organisation skills whilst my time helping out at the Euro-Divers centre in Oman tested me in a formal work environment (especially helpful when I'm dealing with the Student's Union). My role as chairman has further developed all of these skills that were tested throughout my Gap Year and they've definitely helped me out over the last few years!

Halloween 2015 event with the Nerf-Gun Society, I'm bottom row second from left

Me in May this year manning the Nerf-gun range we'd set up to raise money for Diabetes UK at a local fair in Plymouth



Alongside university I've been lucky enough to get some more travelling under my belt. Christmas 2015 saw me return to Oman to visit Dad for Christmas. Christmas Day was spent at a local hotel for an incredible lunch and for new year's eve we managed another beach BBQ with our neighbours. New Year saw us take a road trip north to Dubai for a few days of sightseeing which took in the tallest building in the world, the Burg Khalifa, and the most incredible shopping mall I've ever seen (complete with its own aquarium!). The highlight of the trip though was an early 20th birthday present; my first skydive! It was one of the most amazing things I've ever done and doing it just down the road from the Palm and the Burg Khalifa made in an experience I'll never forget! The photos say it all really!


Falling at 120mph over Dubai! The face says it all!

 Over the palm in Dubai!



Me and Matthew in front of the Dubai Mall aquarium

The Easter break in 2015 gave me an opportunity to return to a place I didn't think I'd be back to for a while; NEPAL! I'd lived there for 4 months teaching English just outside of Kathmandu on a programme with Oyster Worldwide (see the link at the start of this post) and had loved it! Dad had organised a trek through Basant (our volunteer rep whilst I was there) and his company to do a trek along the Mardi Himal trekking route northwest of Pokhara with a group of our friends from Oman. I jumped at the chance to return to Nepal, so much so that I headed out a few days earlier than the rest of the team to give me a chance to re-visit my host family. I spent a day with Rajan, Susma and Sissir playing on the new swing in the garden and enjoying Susma's amazing cooking again! It was amazing to see them again and remind myself of my Nepali adventure! I met the rest of the team the next day and after a trek briefing and a few days sightseeing we were off to Pokhara to start our trek. The route didn't disappoint and there were hardly any other groups on the trail. The trip let me share my love of the country that had been my home for 4 months with our family friends and I couldn't get enough. Sadly our trip came to an end and I headed back to the UK to finish my first year of University.

With Rajan and Susma at Easter 2015, it felt like coming home!

Me and Dad on the morning of our ascent to the highest point of our trek

Mairi leads the way to the viewpoint

At the highpoint of the Mardi Himal trek. Awesome scenery, awesome people!

Sadly, a week after I was back the devastating earthquake hit Nepal. Whilst I was glad to have been home I was very upset and shaken for a few days afterwards, luckily none of the people that I knew had been injured or killed (including my host family and Basant). My family did donate some money to one of the schools I'd helped out through Basant which enabled Basuki School to get roofs on some temporary classrooms in time for the monsoon season.

I'd learnt a lot over the course of my gap year about the world and I've been lucky enough over the last two summers to share my enthusiasm for the outdoors and the world through my job as a Tribe Leader for the Bushcraft Company. My job involves leading a 'tribe' of kids between the ages of 8 and 15 as they come to the woods for residential school trips to learn some bushcraft skills. These include fire lighting, trap making and shelter building amongst others. I'm always keen to share what I've learnt form my travels with the kids I've worked with and hopefully inspire them to try new things and hopefully travel in the future.

Sumer 2015: Showing off a trap made by one of my tribes

As you've probably guessed by now, the 'travel bug' that I caught on my gap year has not gone away and I'm still taking any opportunity I can to travel. I'm thankful for all the opportunities I've had to travel both during and after my gap year, which helped me realise that there's a great big world out there to experience and that you've got to take any opportunity you can to get out there! I think my favourite quote about travel best sums up why travelling has meant so much to me:

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page" - St Augustine

I think this is relevant in a number of ways. Firstly, travelling teaches you so much not just about yourself but also skills you'll use for years afterwards. And secondly, travelling lets you create your own stories that you'll remember and share for years to come. All of this is true for me and I can honestly say that my gap year experiences are still helping me in my day to day life in so many ways.

Well that's it from me for now, I hope you've all enjoyed and got a sense of how my gap year is still an important part of my life! Until next time, goodbye!



Helping out divers and home to England!

Hi everybody! 

This next posts finds me back home in the UK after 6 months absence! I'm currently in a rather cloudy Somerset at my Nana's house, ticking over until I meet up with mum back in Portsmouth on Saturday. More on that later though as my last month in Oman was great! 

I joined Matthew and Dad on a dive at Fahal island a week after my last post. It was great to be back diving again with them after so long away. We saw plenty of Moray eels en route along with loads of fish and amazing coral. The water was bathtub temperature for most of the dive, although thermoclines caused a few shivers form me in my short 3mm wetsuit! Nevertheless I had a great day out! 

Me taking the plunge off Fahal Island on my second dive of the day 

Me and Dad check out a "leopard print" Moray eel 

To stave off the boredom I arranged to help out at the Euro Divers centre where Matthew is working. I mainly helped out with the office work but there was plenty to do with helping load the boats and assist the guests with getting their equipment before their dives. I had great fun working there and made great friends with the team! There wasn't a day that went by without plenty of laughs! 

Taking a break from work at Euro Divers on the Marina

Back home with Dad I managed to get back into my running and even joined dad for a few spinning sessions at the Intercontinental Hotel. Their cooled training pool was a great place to spend the afternoon! Alongside the exercise I joined the monthly poker night with some of the guys from the compound and happily came fourth out of ten players! 

But my time in Oman was soon to come to an end. And two days before I came back to the UK I managed to head out with the guys and girls from Euro Divers for a few drinks on the beach at the Oman Dive Centre. Aswell as this being my leaving party Matthew had received his PADI instructor's certification and could now begin taking courses! Needless to say it was a great night and the best way to end my time in Oman. 

Me and Matthew enjoy the party on the beach at Oman Dive Centre.

I flew back to the UK a few days later, although every stage of my journey was delayed by an hour. To make my connecting flight in Abu-Dhabi I had to run about a kilometre to catch my flight to Heathrow! Back on UK soil it was a three hour bus ride to Somerset where mum picked me up to bring me back to Nana's. 

Two nights ago I managed a reunion with Sophie and Laura in Bristol! I was happy to see them again and catch up with them after our 3 month adventure in Nepal. I'll admit it was a bit strange seeing them in the calm of Bristol. The last time I'd seen them was when we waved goodbye on the corner outside the Utse Hotel in Kathmandu! Needless to say we had a great night and we'll be seeing each other again I'm sure. 

The gang's back together again! Me, Sophie and Laura just after dinner in Bristol 

So what's the plan for me now? Me and Mum start a bit of a road trip down to our house in France on Monday along with her friend Sophie and Oscar the dog. And that is where I'll be staying until late August when it'll be time to return to the UK and get ready for Uni! My "year to remember" is coming to an end but it seems like only a few months ago that I was on my plane to Israel. That was almost a year ago now! I've still got some time in France to make the most of before Uni starts in September so I'll keep you all updated as and when things happen. 

Thanks for reading guy! See you next time! 

Leaving Nepal and a "warm" welcome to Oman

Hello again everybody!

I'm back in a stupidly hot Oman (highs of 46 degrees today!) having arrived back from Nepal on the 15th. It is strange to be back in Oman after an incredible four months living in Nepal but it's nice to be back and enjoying some home comforts. More on that later though, let's start from my final week and a half in Nepal.

Our final lunch with Sophie and Laura was great, we all enjoyed spending one last afternoon together and remembering all our adventures over the past 3 months. I'd organised a surprise for everyone in the form of some custom made group patches to remind us of the trip. Everyone loved them and we now all have a truly unique souvenir of our time together. Soon though it was time to say goodbye and with a few hugs outside the Utse (where we all met 3 months ago) we left them to head back to our village. It seemed a bit surreal that we now wouldn't be seeing them again in Nepal but I'm certain we'll be seeing them again in the UK again very soon.

Laura and Sophie with their goodbye cards and team patches

Me, Rebecca and Ollie at Sophie and Laura's goodbye lunch

 Back in the village that night I went to a neighbour's house for a bit of a party with Susma and Rajan. It was a great night and my Nepali served me well once again, although I do think the hosts were keen to get me drunk on rice liquor....
Our last full week of teaching went very well and I was keen to have some final fun with class 7. Remembering that Dad had donated a world map to the school during his stay I decided to do a bit of a geography lesson with class 7. "Chris' world tour" went down very well and the accompanying game of "Jeopardy" (an American quiz show introduced to me by Rebecca)  got very competitive. I enjoyed myself aswell and Rajaram loved to see the kids having so much fun.

Sadly Rebecca became very ill all of sudden on Tuesday so I ended up heading to Basuki for the final time on my own. That day was full of games with the kids and enjoyed my final visit, a shame Rebecca couldn't come with me though. We exchanged contact details with a few of the teachers during the final days of the week and we're both keen to keep in touch and supporting the school in whatever way we can in the future.

Before we knew it it was Friday again and we headed off to Kathmandu for our final weekend! I headed to Basant's office to pick up my passport and a few other bits alongside having a chat with Basant and say a few final goodbyes to his staff. We arranged to go out for drinks on my final evening as a final goodbye. Back at the Lhasa I discovered Ollie had joined his local village football team and Zoe was back in Kathmandu after her first few weeks teaching Tibetan Refugees in Pokhara. Before dinner I ordered a few customised T-Shirts as souvenirs before we all headed to Western Tandoori. After dinner we headed up to roof and traded teaching stories and advice for Ollie and Zoe before heading to bed around midnight!

The next morning we all met up at a great little cafe, "Phat Kath", for breakfast and Zoe and I had an hour and a half chess match! Most of my time that day was spent souvenir shopping for me and the people back home. Alongside prayer flags for my room at Uni I got a few books and some t-shirts for me aswell as a few other bits and pieces. It was western tandoori again for dinner and we were joined by Zoe's friend Ben (recently arrived from travelling in India) and his friend who was volunteering with him. After dinner we bought some beers and headed up to the roof of the Lhasa for the rest of the evening. Rebecca and I both got a goodbye card from Ollie and Zoe which produced a few tears. We've all become such a close knit group and we've all become great friends!

After a lie in the next day we all had our final lunch together at OR2K, Ollie and Zoe both got cards from me and Rebecca before we had to say goodbye to Zoe as she had to get the bus back to Pokhara. Ollie joined us on the journey to Logonkel and we said our goodbyes then. We've already agreed to meet up for drinks when I'm back in the UK.

On Monday I had a truly memorable moment in class 5. Ragaram was observing my class and he was surprised to see one particular student contributing so much. He said before I'd arrived the student had been very quiet and he credited me with getting him to speak up and share in the class. I was touched! Tuesday was our final day teaching so inevitably that meant games and a lot of sweets for the kids! Rebecca and I did a joint lesson with class 5 and 6 so we took them out to the bus stop to play "covertly". It's a popular Nepali game and the only way I can describe it is like a Nepali version of tag rugby. Rebecca and I got involved aswell and we all enjoyed ourselves, even if it got a bit hot! Throughout the day we kept getting flowers and cards from our students which was very touching. We were struggling to find places for all the flowers by the end of the day.

At the end of the day the students organised a farewell programme for us in the main hall. The students and teachers all thanked us for our time spent at the school and we got the chance to day a few words ourselves. It was a truly incredible experience to teach at this school and I was sad that it had come to an end. We got more gifts and cards from the teachers and students before we walked out of the gates one final time.

Rebecca with some of her students on our last day

Playing "Coperty" with class 5 and 6 on our last day

Rebecca and Surita

Me and Sunnil, one of my students and next door neighbours

Me and some of class 5

Me and Rebecca receive yet more gifts during our farewell ceremony, loving my hat!



Madhav sir says a few words



Me and Rebecca with the rest of the school teachers

 Our final day in the village fell on the "Dewari" festival. An event that sees families visit each other and goats are sacrificed for meat. I spent most of my morning splitting my time between packing and helping Susma peel garlic for all the food she and the extended family were preparing. I managed to watch the goats being blessed before their trip to the temple to meet a man with a Khukri.... Later on I discovered two headless goats by the water tap being skinned before being washed off in the shower block. Food was constant throughout the morning and afternoon and I tasted goat for the first time! Very tasty! I spent time with the HUGE extended family who had descended on the house and had a few final football games with the kids. Soon though it was time to leave and I had to say goodbye to my host family for the final time. I'll miss them terribly and leaving them and what has been my home for the past 4 months was a very strange feeling. I'll keep in contact with my host family and I'm looking forward to visiting agin in the future.

After yet more food at Madhav's house with Rebecca and Basant it was time to head into Kathmandu. As we left the village the sun was setting over the mountains and I got a lump in my throat as we left the village and incredible scenery behind. On the way back Basant gave us the location for our final drinks that evening before dropping us at the Lhasa. A few hors later we all me up at "Sam's Bar" for a final Ghorkha beer and goodbyes. Basant gave us a certificate as a congratulation for finishing our time in Nepal, apparently Rebecca and I had been given the "toughest" placement and he was pleased with how well we'd coped. Some parts had certainly been a challenge let me tell you!

A final Ghorkha beer :(

Me, Rbecca and Basant with our certificates from Basant during our final drinks

 Back at the Lhasa I gave Rebecca a thank you card and I got one in return. She stayed in Nepal for another 10 days to spend some time with her cousin who was visiting from India. It was truly sad to say goodbye to her after all we've been through over the past four months as she's become a truly amazing friend. I hope to see her again in the future wherever in the world that may be.

I flew out from Kathmandu the next morning on my flight back to Oman via Dohar (a seven hour stopover included). I felt like my Nepali adventure came to a kind of an abrupt end, over my last three days I finished teaching, left my host family and began my journey home. Needless to say my four months in Nepal have been a true highlight in my life, from living and teaching in rural Nepal through to an incredible trek in the Himalayas to a once in a lifetime visit to Tibet. I've had some amazing adventures and made some lifelong friends and I was sad that it has all come to an end. But I have some incredible memories from the past four months and I'll never forget my time in Nepal!

Now you find me back in Oman taking some time out to spend some with my family and enjoy some more time in Oman. The day after I got home I joined dad, my brother Matthew and our friends Neil, Chloe and Jack for a days snorkelling along the coast. It seemed a bit surreal, going from the Himalayas one day and snorkelling with a sea turtle the next! I had a great time out on the boat and enjoyed being back with my family.

Me, Dad and Matthew take a break from snorkelling

The sea turtle, we had to chase him for ten minutes before we could get this photo!

So, my plans for the near future. I'll be staying in Oman for at least another month or so and taking some time out to relax after Nepal. I'm hoping to be able to help out the dive centre from time to time to keep myself occupied whilst I'll also be putting together some gap year photo albums/scrapbooks together to take to Uni with me. Plans for the final few months of my gap year still need to be decided so we'll see what happens.

Thanks for reading guys, see you next time!

A relaxed week and a few goodbyes :(

Hi everybody! 

I'm back in Kathmandu once again and at the end of my penultimate week in Nepal! I have to say it's been a very relaxed week in the village this week. Rebecca and I have only taught for two days this week owing to a fair few days off during the week. Monday night was a lot of fun though, I ended up having a volleyball match with one of the neighbours in our front yard for an hour or so before giving Sissir a bit of a volleyball lesson (even if we spent most of it running up and down the hill after the ball went astray!).

Tuesday was the first day off as it was Nepali Mother's Day so I did everything I could to make Susma's life a lot easier for the day :). I washed up after breakfast and did some washing for her but she drew the line at me washing the porch (apparently it could be done another day). She and Sissir headed off to her mother's house for the day around 11 so that left me a chance to do some washing and do one final session of lesson planning. The rest of my lessons for the trip are now all planned and it was strange to see an end to my lesson plans...... Tuesday also saw me and Rajan head to a neighbour's house for dinner as Susma was staying the night at her mother's. We had a lovely meal and my Nepali served me well, the family were very impressed with my efforts :).

 Wednesday saw us return to Basuki for the first time since the month off. Our route up has changed somewhat with the building of some new roads, but most of them are now horrendous dust bowls! The humidity didn't help either, I must have drank a whole litre straight down when we arrived at the school! It was nice to see some of the teachers again and get back to teaching. We'll only be going there once more and then that will be it for our time at Basuki! 

Thursday was another day off so Susma dispatched me and Sissir down the hill on a shopping mission for soap and washing powder. Nice to be out in the fresh air even if a huge storm was blowing in! Monsoon season is beginning now and Thursday evening saw a rather large thunder and rain storm hit the village. Mind you, it was nice eating dinner and listening to the storm outside :). The storm continued through the night and into Friday morning so we got a bit wet walking to school. School seemed to have been optional that day for the kids (possibly on account of the rain) as attendance was well-down from usual numbers. My first lesson with class 5 had only four kids! Me and Rebecca decided to merge our classes and do a games session on account of the weather, after ten minutes a teacher popped in to say that school was to be cancelled that day on account of one of the founding members of the school passing away. After an assembly and minute's silence school was dismissed. 

Rebecca and I headed into Kathmandu soon after to link up with Ollie. This weekend sees the group come together on rather sad terms, it's Sophie and Laura's last few days with us! As a final farewell we organised a meal out last night  at the Utse with Basant and one of his staff, Jatak, along with Ram (our Nepali teacher) and Ratna (our guide from Langtang). Basant ordered a huge spread of food and we all had a great time sharing stories and experiences of our time in Nepal. It also gave us the chance to thank Basant and everyone else for their truly incredible support over our time here. We really couldn't have done it without them! The meal was also a chance to say happy birthday to Basant, and not to disappoint we'd ordered a chocolate cake! We all had a great time and it was the perfect "last supper" for the group and everyone that's helped us over the past 3 or 4 months. 

Today is our last chance to spend time together as a complete group before Ollie, Rebecca and I have to go back to our villages. So we're planning one final lunch together before we finally have to go our separate ways. It will be sad to see Sophie and Laura go after going through so much together and having such an incredible adventure! I'm so happy to count them amongst my friends and we'll all miss them. No matter though, we're already planning a group reunion in Nepal (when we all have money again!). 

The gang's all here! Thanks so much everyone for a truly incredible 4 months together! 

Our "last supper" :) 

As for me, next week is my final full week in Nepal before I fly back to Oman on the 15th. I can't believe it's coming to an end so quickly and I will be truly sad to see the back of an incredible four months here. But I'm trying not to get too emotional (yet) as Rebecca and I still have one more week to go. I'm not sure when I'll post next, it might be next weekend or possibly even when I'm back in Oman. Watch this space to find out how my Nepali adventure will end. 

Thanks for reading guys, see you next time. 

A day in Bhaktapur :)

Hi everyone, 

Been a long old week in the village this week, we've had our classes switched around so Rebecca is only teaching two classes a day now whilst I somehow keep teaching three classes? Not sure how they figured that out but we'll see how it goes. Time just seemed to pass very slowly in the village this week, no idea why but with hindsight (it's such a wonderful thing!) it's passed by fairly quickly and we were soon back in Kathmandu, and we had reason to celebrate! Firstly it was Zoe's birthday on Friday so we spent the afternoon in "The Garden of Dreams" in Thamel and played a little bit of frisbee before meeting up with everyone for dinner. Secondly, it's Ollie's first weekend back in the village after is first two weeks of teaching so it was great to have the group all together for a bit of a catch up. It was a late night for us aswell, probably didn't get to sleep until gone midnight (very late by Nepali standards!). 

Today we met up with some of Rebecca's friends who have been doing some charity work in Pokhara (having arrived in Kathmandu late Friday night having spent 13 hours on a coach!). We all went to the Farmer's Market just outside Thamel and had waffles and crepes for breakfast! After a look round the souvenir stands there we left Rebecca with her friends so they could catch up whilst the rest of us boarded a bus for the medieval city of Bhaktapur, forty minutes outside of Kathmandu. 

The city is beautifully preserved and is such a nice place to get lost in the backstreets, and with hardly any traffic much easier than Kathmandu! About a hundred meters into the city we got pulled into a side courtyard to help some local women spin some thread! Sophie and Laura got stuck in as there was only room for two to help. It was a great little window into the life of the people who live here, and the weaving machines were pretty cool aswell! 

Sophie lends a hand with some weaving

A few stops down we got the chance to try the city's iconic dessert; "King Curd"! Hands down the best yoghurt in the country and one of the best yoghurt a I've ever tasted, especially at 25 rupees (15 pence!) a tub. Later on at lunch we'd have it again but this time in clay dishes made in city itself. Local production all the way! 

Me and Zoe enjoy some "King Curd", delicious! 

Alongside the desserts the architecture of the city was amazing, all manner of wood carvings covered houses and temples alike and the details were impressive. At the centre of the city stood its Durbar Square, an area with plenty of amazing temples and shrines all interact lay decorated in stone and wood carvings. Alongside seeing the sights our visit to the city was also a hunt for some souvenirs. For me, I wanted to find some special photo albums to put all my gap her photos in. I was in luck, Bhaktapur is one of the main centres for the production of "Lokta" paper. This paper is made from the bark of trees above 2000 meters and the end product is used in all Nepali official documents because of its durability and it's unique property of never being able to be creased! I picked up two great locally produced albums and came away a very happy man, I can't wait to fill them with all my photos when I get back home! 

The east end of Durbar Square 

After lunch in Durbar Square we headed to another city highlight; Potter's Square. Here local potters churn out all many of clay products from water jugs, yoghurt bowls and even money pots! The process is open to view and you can even have a go yourself. After forming the products are set out around the square to dry in the sun. It was really interesting watching the skill of these potters, no way could I do it!

Potter's Square

An artist at work

 After a final walk to the bus stop we caught a bus back to Kathmandu at around 4:30 after a great day out. After a freshen up at the hotel we headed out to dinner with a new member to the group; Zoe's friend Ben, just arrived from India. We went to Northfield Cafe for another great dinner and traded advice and stories from our travels so far. We've all crammed a lot in let me tell you! 

Whilst it's been a great weekend there has been a bit of sadness building up. Zoe and Ben leave for Pokhara on Monday to start volunteering projects whilst the "Oyster Group" (me, Rebecca, Sophie, Laura and Ollie) now only have one more week as a complete group! Sophie and Laura now only have one full week left on their project before they fly home a week on Monday! It will be so sad to see them go after an amazing months together but we have one more weekend to enjoy with them before they depart for sunny old England. 

The end is approaching fast for me and Rebecca aswell, two weeks on Tuesday our time will be up aswell and before we know it we'll all have scattered around the world! I've been lucky to become part of such an amazing group of people and share this amazing experience with them and I'll be sad to leave Nepal behind in just over two weeks :(. But two weeks still remain and I'm intending to make the most of it! 

That's it for this entry guys, thanks for reading! 

First week back and a day out in Patan!

Hello again everybody!

I'm back in Kathmandu once again after a very quick first week back in the village. Me and Rebecca arrived on Monday afternoon following a very cramped taxi ride with Sophie and Laura along with all our bags. After settling in back at home we headed to school the next day, which consisted of one VERY long meeting about new school timetables for all the teachers alongside other school things. We still have the same timetables as before but now we both have new class members as everyone has moved up a year following annual exams. Attendance was sporadic this week (I only taught 5 kids on Wednesday!) but we're optimistic that numbers will pick up next week. Still, had some great fun with the new classes and we're looking forward to carrying on. Zoe also spent Thursday and Friday in the village with us to get out of Kathmandu and take a look at the "real" Nepal. 

Bit cramped? The girls "enjoying" the taxi ride back to our villages

Rebecca and Zoe join class 5 for my creative writing class :) 

Me taking that lesson 

The first week back flew by and we were all soon reunited in Kathmandu (minus Ollie, who is spending is first weekend in his village). Today we had a huge day out to the nearby town of Patan, a former seperate city state to Kathmandu during the reign of the Malla Kings, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Our first stop was Nepal's only Zoo! We spent a few hours wondering around and soaking it all in. The leopards and Bengal tigers were a particular highlight but the huge variety of birds were also pretty amazing. Strangely for Nepal though there was a Hippo in one exhibit.... 

Our next stop was Patan's infamous Durbar Square, an amazing place to see original Newari architecture. After lunch we headed to the incredible Patan Museum. Housed in a former Malla Palace the museum came about as a result of a joint restoration project between the Nepali and Austrian Governements. It opened in 1997 following the restoration housing an amazing array of sculptures and other artworks depicting Bhudist and Hindu deities. The displays also help visitors understand the meaning behind the sculptures and their relevance in each religion. I'm not an "arty" person put the displays were very interesting. One particular display explained the incredible "lost wax" sculpture casting technique (unique to Patan!). The process allows for incredibly detailed sculptures to be designed from the inside out without the risk of using molten metal. The clock tower at the end of the museum offered a nice breeze (it's getting hot here now!) and view of Durbar square. 

View of Patan's Durbar square, the museum is on the right 

A stone sculpture of Vishnu (a Hindu god), in the museum. This one was retrieved from an art gallery in Austria after being sold by a Nepali art dealer in the mid-late 1900's. 

Tonight we've had great fun together. We ordered takeaway pizza from Roadhouse Cafe and relaxed on the roof of the guesthouse. We're all going our seperate way for the morning tomorrow; Sophie, Laura and Zoe are going to a yoga class, Rebecca is going to an Easter Sunday church service and I'm going on the hunt for some souvenir inspiration. But we're all meeting up for an Easter lunch before we head our seperate ways for the week. 

That's it for this entry guys, next weekend we're planning a visit to beutiful Bhaktapur so stand by for some amazing photos! Happy Easter everyone (eat lots of chocolate!). 

8 days in Tibet: Day 7-8 - Back to Nepal

I have to be honest, the last two days got very boring. Over two days we spent about 24hours driving! But Tibet had one last treat for us before we returned to Nepal. On the way back we stopped at the first mountain pass to be treated with fresh snowfall across the whole panorama! This was a great goodbye from Tibet, honestly one of the most beautiful countries I've ever seen! 

Road Trip! Gotta love these guys :) 

Amazing what 6 days and some snow can do to a landscape :) 

Wild donkeys on the plateau 

We're now all back safe and sound in Kathmandu and we're going to be very busy. Today me and the girls are preparing to head back to our villages tomorrow whilst Ollie has his Nepali lesson and orientation in preparation for starting his 2 months of teaching. Whilst we're all excited to get back to teaching we're all realising how close the trip is to ending :(. Sophie and Laura only have 3 weeks left before they head home whilst Rebecca and I finish a week after them! Still, I have a month left of this trip to go and I hope to make the most of it :). 

That's it for this entry guys, thanks for reading!