Milk tea and washing up

My last few days in Kathmandu have been spent sitting in the local coffee shops writing up my elective report, drinking way too many espressos and sampling the range of "german bakery" items that are so common here. I've also enjoyed my last few days of having breakfast made for me (toast, omelette and milk tea by the guesthouse), having my washing available from the laundry man a day after I leave it with him and only having to ask for the bill after dinner - and not worry about the washing up. And by the way my most expensive dinner to date has been 900 rupees = $9 = £5.30 for a starter, main and beer!

The team (above) taught me about surgical techniques, patient centred care, wound dressing, nepali customs and brought me tea on many occasions - the only problem is I've now got used to several spoons of sugar in it. The mobile phone application project I was working on is finished now and there are a few things that we're going to try and change. It's still in a pretty simple form, but if you want to try playing around with it have a look here (only on android at the moment):

Things I will miss about Kathmandu:

• The friendly traveller vibe around Thamel that means you can chat to pretty much anyone. Among others I met a claymation animator, a sanskrit student, a GP from hampstead and the owner of a long running bakery in Kathmandu. That doesn't happen in London.
• Being able to barter the price of mostly anything.
• Milk tea - pretty much what is says on the tin. Milk boiled with tea and lots of sugar.
• And finally my walk to work down this street:

The pass pass

Day two of our mini Himalayan trek: we'd already climbed the height of Ben Nevis and Snowdon, ascended the famous 3000+ stone steps, and checked into a small mountain lodge with plywood partitions for walls. Armed with a trusty guide book, map and advice from a few friendly local porters, we set our alarms for 4:45am the next morning. Safe in the knowledge that should the alarms not wake us, all the other guests in the mountain lodge shuffling their shoes on and securing their head torches would remind us to get up and climb the extra 300m up to Poon Hill for the spectacular  sunrise panorama of the Himalayas.

Early dawn arrived, along with a cloudy haze that advised us to stay in bed. But we still got up and began climbing. The haze thickened, the nearby hills began to disappear and by the time we reached the viewing point, only the viewing point was visible. We took our photo next to the official "Welcome to Poonhill, 3210m sign" and trudged back down for a still early breakfast.

Later, fueled by Tibetan bread and milk tea, we set out on day three of our trek and reached the Deurali Pass (Deurali means "pass" in Nepali, and so the English map name of Deurali pass  translates as the "Pass pass"). By 10am  we could see the Poonhill viewing point glinting in the sunlight across the valley, now with a backdrop of wrap-around Himalayan peaks. Why did we get up at 4:45?!

Reunited

View from the top of our guest-house with monkey temple glowing in the background (strange expressions due to standing still for the 30 second exposure).

 
Tim's story:

Arranged with the guesthouse owner that we'd set off around 15 minutes before Fiona's flight arrived. I came down to the guest lounge and we sat waiting for the driver to appear. 15 minutes passed, then 20, then 30 - no sign of the driver arriving to go and pick up Fiona. Finally a horn sounded outside the building and we were on our way. Then came the mad dash through the afternoon traffic to get to the airport on time - mobile buzzing in my pocket with messages from Fiona saying "I've arrived".

Fiona's Story:

I've finally arrived in Kathmandu! I finished night duty around 10am Monday morning then caught the flight from Heathrow Monday evening. Foruntately it wasn't too busy so I was able to stretch out across three seats and get some broken sleep during which I dreamt I was in a plane crash :s . Changed at Dehli and arrived at Kathmandu 20 minutes early, Breezed throught the visa desk and collected my bag only to discover there was no Tim waiting for me- had he forgotten? I didn't even know the full address of our guesthouse so was getting a little worried but fortunatley my mobile worked we estbalished he was on his way.

First impressions of Kathmandu: Everything I'd heard and read about the busyness, noise and crazy driving is true but it's an amazing place, really fascinating with so much to see. The people are friendly but not pushy as I've experienced elsewhere and the Asmita guesthouse is fantastic. Our room is lovely and the balcony gives great views of the busy streets below and the surrounding hills. It was incredibly hot when I arrived but this evening is very pleasant and we've already been out for some tasty momos. I'm still a little confused about what day/time it is- finishing nights and changing time zones is a littel challenging but I can't wait to start exploring the city properly tomorrow!

A taste of Butwal

Back in Kathmandu now with a few days left before Fiona joins me for some much needed holiday. I tested out my "sound-and-shot" function on my Samsung S4 mini on the bus back from Butwal, so here's a short clip to give you an idea of how the 8 hour bus journey went. It's a picture from my seat in the bus with the background sound attached:

 

If any of you blog readers ever end up going to Butwal, Hill Park is a must see (although all the guide books say "Butwal is a place to pass through"). If you do go, here's what you'll see:

 

Geko's, graft's, ghaa-yee and good hospitality

It's only been two days here in Butwal so the team have got through about 10 operations including Cleft lips, palates and post burn contractures.

Accompanied by the occasional gecko chilling out under the theatre a/c, I was handed the knife several times to take the skin graft for a variety of post burn contractures. Without going into detail, I have to say it's a strangely satisfying experience releasing scarred skin (a little like those of you who ever let pvc glue dry on your skin at primary school and then took pleasure in peeling it off)!

In the afternoon the scrub nurse came up to me and said "curd, curd!". Without explaining that I was in fact from the UK and not the middle east, I followed her to the lunch room and discovered small pots of fresh yoghurt for us all to snack on. Having tried to avoid dairy products for most of my stay so far, I thought I'd give this a go. It was called ghaa-yee (probably not how you spell it) and was both tasty and refreshing in the 40°c heat. A day later and I've neither turned yellow nor developed any d&v: good ghaa-yee.

Today we finished early in the afternoon so I took a walk to the top of Hilltop Park. The heat is bearable if there is wind, and at the top of Hilltop Park there is plenty. There were also plenty of locals going for their afternoon walk surprised to see a white foreigner trailing all the way to the top. Pretty much everyone I walked past called out "where are you from?". In Kathmandu this is the beginning of a conversation that leads to either buying a small violin like instrument or taking a taxi ride, but out here they genuinely wanted to know.

Two traditionally dressed elderly nepali women walked past me at one point just as I had decided that my feet were in need of some exfoliating - I had decided to walk most of the sandy path without sandals. I'm pretty sure our nepali conversation went along the lines of:

Women: "did you walk all the way to the top without shoes?!"
Me: "yes?"
Women: "is it not sore?"
Me: "good, good" (while gesturing towards my feet in a kind of 'its-good-for-my-feet-to-see-the-light-of-day type way)

Anyway, I really hope that's what they were saying...

36 degrees and rising

Just arrived in Butwal 240km west of kathmandu for the next outreach surgical camp to Lumbini hospital. It's 36°C now (at 6PM in the evening) and is due to go up to 40°C tomorrow! Got myself an air conditioned room and a hotel owner that speaks no English. No tourists round here....

Seeking shelter

Now the flowers fall, the wind arrives, the sky ignites and the rain drops. What was moments before a street filled with the cries of stall traders and herding human traffic, becomes a tropical forest of rain spouts and filling pools watched over by the sheltering hoards in neighboring shops. Here, all aspects of the weather arrive at once. The wind picks up, the sky blackens, the rainwater shower head is switched on and there is a crack of thunder seconds away from the sheet lightning. The locals seek shelter immediately in any close by shop front or tarpaulin. Walking quickly having inserted only one arm into my Marks & Spencer cag-in-a-bag, I survived on the streets all of one minute before I was forced to shuffle in behind the counter of a local pharmacy and seek refuge. The rest of my journey home was interrupted by short stays in the local electronics, refrigeration and spice shops. Let's hope this isn't an early start to the end-of-may monsoon season.

Sandal-craft on labour day

On the backstreets through Thamel - some cobbled, some dirt track and some bathed in a layer of water thrown down by locals in an attempt to scold the street for being so parched and dry - my budget no-name brand TK maxx sandals gave way. The insole, to which the sandal straps are attached, detached from the main tread of the sandal leaving me with no defence against the rugged roads. I stopped at a local shop, asked where I could have them repaired and was directed to one of the beggars on the street who I had previously walked past and paid no attention, as is the custom in the streets of London.

The shoe repair craftsman then set about work making holes in the sole of my sandal with an old screwdriver and winding thread between the sole and the straps. His discussed with me how he would go about fixing the sandal, although my side of the discussion involved smiling, nodding and occasionally saying "good, good" in Nepali. After a few minutes work, the sandals which I would normally have abandoned were as good as new.

In a sure footed stride, I walked on to the hospital only to discover that today is the national holiday, Labour day (Majdur Diwas). So I headed back to the hotel and walked alongside the sporadic marches that happen across the city.