Patan; Beautiful scenery, cold showers & Momos!

 

My home for the next few weeks is the family-run Mahabuddha Guest House. Having been warned that this was considered ‘basic’ by even Nepali standards, I was prepared for most things (slats for windows, rock hard beds, mosquitoes galore) but even still, the freezing cold showers have taken some getting used to! After brightening up the place (cheap sari material is my new favourite friend for giving the place a splash of colour), I went in search of food – perhaps the request of a kitchen was one step too far. There was no way that (a) I would be able to obtain and cook a nutritious meal and (b) even less chance of me surviving operating the metre high gas canister!

 

Dinner at the Bakery Cafe was the perfect place. I would love to say I ‘stumbled’ across this, however being the true London girl I am, I am basically trying to tick off the restaurants as recommended by Lonely Planet. This place served great momos, a traditional dish in Nepal/Tibet consisting of a steamed dumpling that historically would contain Yak’s meat, though fortunately for me, there were vegetable ones on the menu! All of the staff here have hearing or sight problems, and the signs in the corners ask you to use sign-language. Without a crash course, I did my best to point and smile!

 

The journey home, was perhaps more eventful. After getting totally drenched on the way to the Bakery Cafe, I decided that a taxi home was the best way forward….how wrong was I. Apparently it is rude to not know how to get somewhere. So instead, everyone knows everything and they just attempt to go in some direction. Although I quickly wised up (due to my excellent navigational skills!) that we were headed in the total wrong direction, the taxi driver was having none of it! By the time we had crossed the river and were practically back in Kathmandu, I actually started to worry – perhaps he knew exactly where he was going! But, alas, managed to convince him that I would pay the agreed fare if he just let me GET OUT THAT TAXI! A long walk home in the dark, rain, (and on the verge of just wanting to be picked up, get on a plane and fly home) I eventually made it back to the Guest House. Totally drenched, exhausted and really looking forward to that rock solid bed!

 

Day one at the office of My Small Help (MSH), and the first thing that I learn is that days two & three are public holidays – perfect! The office is next to a very busy main ring road, up four flights of stairs and overlooks the Southern part of Patan. After a bumpy, but appreciated, ride down on the back of Raju’s (MSH’s president) bike, everyone was there to welcome me and ask me why I was there, and how I came to hear about MSH.

 

Before I came to MSH I was worried that as a (relatively newly) qualified accountant, what could I possibly have to offer to an NGO, especially having no experience with charities? Turns out, that there is a lot I can do, and more importantly, they want me to help :)

 

So, my tasks for the next few weeks consist of:

I need to get cracking, there’s lots to do and very little time but a 6-day working week (it is standard to only have Saturday’s off) means that there is more time than I thought! More to come on the work front….I’ll introduce you to the team in my next few blogs :)