Settling in

My hands are green. My stomach is constantly full. My toilet visits have become more frequent. And I am a good 6 inches taller than everyone. Yes - I am back in Nepal finally.

Well, the snow as predicted came to the UK, and for a few moments driving past Swindon and Reading I thought I might not make it to Heathrow on time. All fears in vain, as the bus arrived 5 minutes early and I checked-in in super fast time, negotiating my over 10 kg of excess baggage down to 2 kg. The flight to Qatar was uneventful, and when we landed in Doha at midnight it was still 35 C. A bit different from the freezing UK, especially with my 2 jumpers and 2 t-shirts on.

Flying into Kathmandu is one of the most amazing sites in air travel in my most humble of opinions. You look out of the window and see the sky and the clouds. After a while, you realise what you thought were clouds actually are mountains creating a wall between China and India. As you turn onto the approach into Kathmandu, it looks as if you are descending. However, in reality the ground is coming up to you as well. The middle hills of Nepal appear out of the mist like green and blue icebergs in the sky. And then through the smog of the Kathmandu Valley, buildings start to appear and within a minute you are on the ground.

Coming back to the house, it's like I've never left. My bed and quilt are still here - these were made especially made for me as everything else was too short, not that I actually cared - and overall not much has changed since christmas. The main change is now that Saru, my friend's sister, is married and so lives in her husband's family house. This makes everything a bit quieter, and means Rachhu, another sister, is left to do most of the work around the house. I've been trying to get use to everything again, but it's taking a bit longer than usual. I'm still working on UK time, so falling asleep at 5 am Nepali time, and my stomach hasn't quite adjusted to Nepali food. Hopefully after another couple of days I'll get better.

As for my do-gooding, Buwa, my friend's dad, is still in their village after doing some work during the elections, so not much can happen until he returns. I am going to start to make some contacts around and about in the funding bodies just so we can get going when he returns.

The Nepali elections have passed off with little incident. It appears the Maoists will win, a transformation from ruthless terrorists to leaders of the country in 2 years. Not bad really when you think about it. What this will mean for Nepal is not quite known yet. Will everyone accept being ruled by people who killed, tortured, extorted money and caused over 13,000 deaths during their self-titled "People's War"? However, do they want to be ruled by the same corrupt politicians that have kept their country in the most hideous poverty for the last 15 years? It appears change is certainly in the air, and let's hope for the people of this wonderfully resilient country that it will be change for the better.

Interesting times lie ahead.

SAM

T minus 1 day. Argh!

Passport. Check.

Insurance. Check.

Money. Check.

Clean boxers. Check.

As John Denver's lyrics put it:

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go ... I'm leaving on a jet 'plane, don't know when I'll be back again"

Although I sort of know I'll be back next year, it's an awfully long time away.

Anyway, last minute things have been done, bought a years supply of Immodium and Marmite and had my photo taken for all visas I need. Isn't it strange that passport photographs make you look like a drug addict that has just been arrested for mugging an old lady. If I saw that photo, and didn't know who I was, I would throw myself into rehab alongside Ms Winehouse and Spears.

So my bus leaves early morning tomorrow, in the predicted snow and ice. An auspicious start no doubt to a calm and uneventful trip. If all goes to plan, I'll be in Nepal mid morning Nepal-time on Monday. And the elections are still going to be going on in Nepal on the 10th April, with the Maoists saying that they expect to win and if they don't then they will rise up again. Not many others expect them to win though. So, interesting times ahead.

This may be the last post for a while depending on how things go, but I've uploaded some of my photos from previous trips here http://picasaweb.google.com/saminnepal

For those I have forgotten to speak to before I go, my most sincere apologies, for those I remembered, once again my most sincere apologies.

SAM

and yes, Jilly is still for sale...

T minus 1 week (a little late)

I leave on Sunday.

Today is Tuesday.

Why don't I feel as if I'm about to go?

I mean, this isn't just going to be a normal trip. This isn't going to be for a week or even a month, but a whole year. Why do I feel nothing? It's like a child who doesn't get excited about Christmas. I'm sure that once I've got on the bus to the airport, or the aeroplane, or once I've been in Nepal for a few days I'll realise what is happening. I think I must just be a bit slow.

I'm almost packed. I shoved all my clothes I wanted to take with me in my bag, and am now wearing everything I didn't want to take. Which means that I am wearing things that are either too big, too small or that look just downright stupid. Excellent.

So, off on Sunday early morning, don't get home until Thursday evening. That gives me 2 days to panic. T minus 6 days. ARGH!

SAM

p.s. Little green Golf still for sale - and she now has a shiny new radio as well...

T minus 2 weeks

Last week was my final week in Bristol before I go. That meant finishing everything off at work, packing everything at my house, and saying "see you drekly" to all my friends.

And I did it. Well almost. I only got 2 of the 5 reports signed off at work. I moved down from Bristol to Cornwall on Thursday night - keeping awake on the motorway was interesting after waking up at 5 am. Somehow all my stuff fitted into Dad's van. It is amazing how much junk you collect after only 3 years. I pity the people who will have to tidy my house when I get prematurely put into a nursing home. And then I said "au revoir" to all my friends. Well, I hope all of them, if I missed you out then I'm sorry. Nothing personal, just being forgetful as normal.

So now I'm back at home. I've resolved to do 2 things over the next 2 weeks.

1. Get running again. I cycled into work a couple of times last week and felt so exhausted when I got there. The fitness is just ebbing away.
2. Make sure I eat lots of food to counteract any illness I will most certainly have within the first few weeks of arriving in Nepal.

Tomorrow morning I will go for my run. No idea how far it will be, but as long as I'm out that'll be the main thing. And being at home is great for eating more food. There's always food in the cupboard, no need to go shopping for it, and as it's easter there's quite a bit of chocolate about. Winning all around.

As for the other preparations for Nepal, am I ready? Well, not really. I don't think the realisation has hit me yet that I'm going in a fortnight's time. Once the weekend is over and I'm not at work, maybe it will sink in that something's actually happening. Or maybe that's just a vain hope, and I'll be panicking greatly in 13 days from now. I'm slowly laying out the clothes and bits and bobs I'll need. Working out how much room I've got, and more importantly what my weight allowance is. I do have a big pile of junk from my room in Bristol which I need to sort through and decide what's coming with me and what's not. I know I can buy things in Nepal, but if I already have them here, then I'd prefer not to really. It would just be a bit greedy having twice as much stuff as I need, even if it is a continent apart.

Scared. Excited. And not quite believing what's just around the corner. T minus 2 weeks and counting.

SAM

p.s. And yes, little green golf still is for sale if anyone wants it...

T minus 3 weeks

I'm slowly coming to the realisation that I'm actually going in three weeks. It may sound slightly stupid and naive, but I don't think it has actually hit me before. And what does going actually mean for me?

Well, I won't be working for a whole year. One whole year not having to wake up and go to my office. One whole year without having to count how many hours I do to each project and then by the time Friday comes have forgotten and make it up in my timesheet. One whole year with no income at all.

It will be a whole year seeing my family and friends. A whole year without being able to make a phone call when I'm happy, sad, bored, need something and having someone who pretends they care on the end of the phone.

A whole year of eating lentil soup, rice and curried vegetables (daal, bhaat, tarkaari) twice a day with my hands, which will gradually turn green. No stopping at the pizza shop or chippy on the way home if I can't be bothered to cook. Still having to eat curry when my stomach is playing up and things are pouring out both ends. And no beef for a whole year - you get life imprisonment for killing a cow in Nepal, but only 12 years for killing a human being.

It'll be a year of not quite understanding everything that's said to me, and knowing that most of what I say won't be understood. A year of being stared at because I'm different. A year of power cuts or no electricity at all. A year of long and dangerous bus rides. A year of Hindi songs and Bollywood movies. A year of BBC World Service. A year of being moly-coddled. A year of frustration.

However, I'm going to be living with an amazing people for a year, who invite you into their home on a whim just because you're passing and force a cup of sweet tea into you. I'll be there during a period of change for country, post-election Nepal is going to be a interesting time. I'll be working with people that have very little, but are still satisfied with everything they have, and in a way have far more than I could ever have. I'll be living in a country that has some of the most stunning and varied scenery in the world, from jagged mountains to malarial jungles to fertile plains. I'll have the opportunity to learn about the world, about what is actually important in life and how I can cope with it all.

I'm still scared. But I'm becoming excited as well.

SAM

p.s. Does anyone want a most amazing little green golf? Jilly is feeling unloved now...

T minus 4 weeks

I much prefer the french "au revoir" to goodbye. There's so much finality to goodbye, it makes you feel like you're never going to see people again, while au revoir is like until I see you again. A much happier connotation. For me anyway.

I spent the weekend in Edinburgh seeing some friends from uni. We've not all met up since leaving uni in summer 2004, a long long time ago, or so it seems. One is some high flier in the city, one works for a world rally team and gets to travel the world with them and the other is a helicopter engineer fixing aircraft. It's strange how we all have gone different ways, from exactly the same course. But then, it's what we all wanted to do I suppose. Anyway, after spending a weekend getting to know what everyone is doing again and remembering everyone's little foibles - talking in their sleep, producing the worst wind in the world for such a wee man - you have to say goodbye again.

And I hate it. I think I've always hated saying goodbye. It means letting go, and partially knowing that you might not see each other again ever, or for a long time. But then, in this world, there is never enough time to spend it with everyone you want to, you have to be selective I suppose. And I've decided to spend it with my friends in Nepal. That's my choice, but sometimes I wonder whether it has been the right decision. What happens when I come back? Am I going to be able just to slot back into work again? Will I really want to spend 8 hours a day in an office staring at a computer after a year of being outside meeting people? I suppose it's just a bit of pre-trip nerves. This isn't the usual month long holiday that I take, it will actually change my life, but am I ready for it? Do I want my life to change?

And please, does anyone want to buy a most excellent little green VW golf?

SAM 

T minus 5 weeks

I'm now in hypochondriac mode. I'm really worried that something's going to happen and it will mean I can't go. This week I suffered my first bought of man 'flu of the year, combined with a upset stomach. Obviously this meant I was going to die and therefore not able to go to Nepal.

And really, it's not a completely unfounded psychosis. You hear of all of these people who plan the most wonderful retirements, and then drop dead the day after finishing work. So, you see, I do base my neuroses on something, even if it's not entirely logical.

I'm also being very careful on my bike. I don't want to get knocked off that again...

So this week has been quite a quiet week in terms of planning and getting ready. I managed to finally get my English homework done, only to find that there was more in the pipeline. Man, I'm so glad I'm not at school or uni again, I would be completely slack and fail.

Anyway, still looking to sell the Golf, and really don't want to have next year's insurance on it, so I have just over a week. And I'm off to Edinburgh next weekend with some old friends from uni, which should be quite cool. So a bit of a busy week ahead. Oh yes, and then there's work...

SAM