Pokhara

We did get a little sick from either the food, the water or the air pollution......and so had a very restless night and then an early start. We boarded a bus to Pokhara where the orphanage is. We went by tourist bus because it is more comfortable and drives slower and is safer.....and usually don't have people on the roof. Most Australian school buses are better. The road was steep and very narrow. Although two lanes wide in many places one side was unusable. The road was also full of heavy trucks,Tata brand trucks. Each was highly decorated in bright colours, streamers and fancy iron work. They often had pictures of gods or loved ones painted on them and supported names like: “Open heart” “Too busy for love” “Nepal Pride” “Mongolian dream”. The road wound around and down some amazing mountains. Beside the road were little huts made from all different materials, from mud bricks, to corregated iron to plain sticks. Often they hung out over the cliff. Most were small stalls or workshops, or some had animals in them. Villages were a row of store fronts,each selling groceries, local produce or crafts. They were all squalid and covered with dust. Often on the road trucks would pull up, blocking one lane, and the drivers would use a spring beside the road to take a bath or to wash their clothes, which would be drying on a piece of ropestrung between two trucks. Trucks, buses and cars would simply overtake one another when they come to another vehicle in front. Many, many times we would see buses two abreast going around a blind corner as they overtook. Twice we stopped for meals,which were very good local food.

We arrived in Pokhara, the bus being greeted by a swarm of taxi drivers all trying to give you their card and get your business. Nobody was there to meet us and we waited for an hour. The taxi drivers were very friendly and offered all sorts of help. They showed off their knowledge of Australia and Australian music (they could name three bands) only breaking when another tourist bus came in.

Our guide arrived and took us to the motel then the orphanage. The Everest Children's Home. It was run by Chindra and his wife. They had two children of their own and looked after ten orphan children aged from four to thirteen. The children were all happy and excited to see us. They called us uncle and aunty, though this soon changed to grandfather and aunty. They loved my hat and soon had it out of shape as each tried it on. There were two American tourists who were now staying at the home and helping out, Jean-Luke (born in Canada) and Ashleigh, and Claudia, a German girl who was staying at the motel and came up every afternoon to look after the kids. Ashleigh was travelling for a year with the intention of not using airflight. Already she had travelled by train through Russia and Mongolia; next she was headed for India and then into South-East Asia.

That night they cooked us a meal, well we helped. Everything seemed to be cooked and Jean-Luke was worried something was wrong because they had never cooked so much before. He kept asking what was going on but they gave vague answers and avoided commenting. We found out the next day that they cooked everything when they saw the size of me and were worried how much I would eat and that they wouldn't have enough food for me. In truth my meals were smaller than the children's so they ended up with lots of food for the next morning.

The next day we helped dress the children and walked them to school. It was a half day so we picked them up again at 1 o'clock and took them home. We spent till 7 at night playing with them. I wanted to tell them the story of The Three Little Pigs but thought they might not follow it with their limited english, so I drew the story in cartoon form on the blackboard. Then I told the story with lots of actions. Half way through I thought these kids have no idea what this story is about, but at least they are amused by the actions. However at the end the older girl, Alisa retold the whole story in Nepalese, and the kids have asked for another one. We took the kids to the park and taught them games we used to play, such as Red Rover Come Over and Giant's Treasure, and the Claudia taught them a game Storks and Penguins. It was fun watching Amanda walking around imitating a stork. The adults were the first to wear out. Some of the kids have psychological problems and Jean-Luke told us this was the first time one of the girls had joined in at playing. She had been a house servant who had been abused before being rescued and so had few social skills and usually just watched the others playing.

More and more we discovered some of the problems at the home. The stove hadn't been working for weeks and they had been cooking outside on an open fire. Jean-Luke quickly fixed this by cleaning some of the pipes. He also fixed the refrgerator which hadn't worked for a while. We later learnt two of the kids didn't have matresses so the plan is find two today...they cost about $4 Australian dollars. We know this because Jean-Luke had to have one made for himself as there was none there when he arrived