Author Archives: angusmccoll

Another day at the school. I took class 9 for an English session. Then helped one of the teachers with English. The teachers are keen for tuition to improve their English, both for them and their teaching. Lunch was followed by an easy afternoon. I went down to the spring for a bath and justContinue reading “Friday 5 February 2016”

 Breakfast is at 8. Porridge, an egg and pancakes. We wander down to the school about 9.30 and the day starts with assembly. Classes line up in their rows and there are some exercises to do. Then there are speeches and welcomes to Chloe and me as well as farewell to Claudia and Lilly. Arneil’sContinue reading “Wednesday 3 February”

I meet the others at Pilgrams hotel. Padmyer (Som’s sister) is our guide and Arneil is Chloe’s porter. We get a taxi to the entrance to the national park and start walking to chisubani. It’s all up hill for the first half and I tire of carrying my pack. We break at a monastery onContinue reading “Monday 1 February 2016”

Tuesday 2 February We leave chisubani around 8. The trail is much easier than yesterday because we are going down into Batase. We pass through villages on the way, busy with rebuilding, tending the farms, and schooling. Not all of the villages have schools so students have to walk to another village for school.We getContinue reading “Tuesday 2 February 2016”

Hiking into Batase village tomorrow to volunteer teach. Batase is a two-day hike from Kathmandu and was badly effected by the earthquake. Many lives were lost and the community left traumatised by the disaster. I’m not sure what wifi will be available there so my posts may be rare over the next two weeks. Don’tContinue reading “Sunday 30 January 2016”

Visited the World Heritage listed Pashupatinath Temple today and my guide, Bikram Tamang, gave me a great insight into this amazing Hindu place of worship. Bikram gave me access to places I wouldn’t have had the courage to go and saved embarrassment from places I wasn’t allowed. He explained that this place is as significant toContinue reading “Saturday 30 January 2016”

Testimony to the demise of the royal family in Nepal is the Royal Palace Museum. This version of the palace was built in the 1960s after an earthquake humbled the previous version in 1934, taking the king’s two daughters with it. Typical of palaces the building is grand and filled with Royal intrigue. Tragedy struckContinue reading “Thursday 28 January 2016”

Durbar square featured on our tv screens in Australia last April 25 when this ancient heritage-listed Royal Centre crumbled to the ground. The earth shook and down came a lot of beautiful ornate structures that had been standing for hundreds of years. Lives were lost. It’s a popular area for both locals and visitors. IContinue reading “Friday 29 January 2016”