NEPAL

Erin and I led a group of 5 LAS students to Nepal over spring break. Little did we know that we'd also adopt 5 KLAS students (from the Kumon Japanese School in Leysin) to our group. The goal of the trip was to install solar panels and "smokeless" stoves in a remote village in the Mugu region of the Nepalese Himalayas. Before our arrival, the villagers had no electricity and used open fires in their homes for both light and heat. This created a huge health problem as the homes were filled with smoke. The "smokeless" stoves, contrary to their name, created smoke, but with the included pipes, channeled the smoke outside the homes with the intent of improving the air quality inside and therefore decreasing the health hazards.

The journey began in Kathmandu. We spent the first night in Kathmandu and the following morning we drove to Serkhet. The intent was to fly to Mugu the following day, but plans changed when the winds rose and we had to spend an extra night in Serkhet. The trek through the Himalayas took the group two days. In addition to the students, Erin and myself, the team also included a doctor, a nurse and her husband and Lou (of Beyond Tears World Wide). We also had a Nepalese chef that came on the journey cooking all our meals over an open camp fire and of course our Nepalese leader, Sabin. All our food was carried throughout the trek by porters.

I'll start with the photos now....

Here's Erin and the LAS group at the airport in Kathmandu after we arrived and discovered that no one was there to meet us. This was after two flights totalling 11 hours that included a 7 hour layover in Doha. We waited in the airport and we waited somemore....eventually, after some hours, we were picked up and brought to the hotel.


Our packs get loaded on to the van


Inside the airport at Serkhet...check out the scales that they weighed our luggage with


The plane we took to Mugu


Waiting....something we did a lot of...at the Nepal Gunj airport for transportation


Downtown Serkhet....a woman sells veges on the street. Check out the scale she has.




Erin with the LAS girls (Swanee, Beth and Sara)


We made a friend in Serkhet...she lived across from our hotel and was always delighted to see us. She always ran up to us to hold our hands. Despite her dirty clothes and less than sanitary living quarters, she had one of the greatest smiles in all of Nepal.


Electricity is not something taken for granted in Nepal. None of the hotels we stayed at had electricity 24-7. This is circa 21:00, in mine and Erin's room at which time there was no electricity. The glow is from my headlamp which is illuminating the makeshift clothes line.


Erin eats her trail mix in the hotel room by headlamp also. In our other hotel, we showered by flashlight.


Some of the kids, riding to the airport Nepali style




Nepalese woman


School boys


Security at the Serkhet airport


Inside the Serkhet airport


Inside the 20 person airplane to Mugu






That's the airstrip in front just before we landed on the side of the mountain


After day 1 of the trek, we spent the night in a tea house. Here's Erin in the girls' quarters


A young girl who lived at the tea house


The tea house in the area where we ate our meals.


Day 2 of the trek...my birthday...the first photo of me at age 27


Me and Erin day 2 of the trek


The only means of transport in the remote areas is by horse or donkey


We finally made it to the village




This guy was good at making the wool. He did it when he sat, he did it when he walked, he did it while he talked....he could probably even do it in his sleep.


When we arrived, the Nepalis lined up along the stone wall and looked at us....we were the first Westerners they had ever seen and within our team was the first doctor they had ever seen. Many of these people will live and die in this village. Most will never leave the mountains and few will ever know any other country than Nepal.




We were welcomed with handmade wreaths. This is Erin, Tim, the doctor and me.


Me with the LAS kids


LAS team shot


LAS team shot plus Lou


Installing a stove, first day on the job. We had some basic tools, but it definitely took a group effort to get things done. Inside the clay walls and beneath the straw roofs, we worked in the smoke with our headlamps.


Did I mention how beautiful this place was....the vibrant greens cannot be encompassed in any single photo


My team....me, Simon (LAS), Tim and Serena (KLAS)...we worked together for two days in the village installing solar panels.


Walking from the village to the school (our sleeping/eating spot), I was offered a donkey ride. I hopped on and rode in to town with a stream of screaming Nepalese kids trailing. I think Tim has a video of it...


The LAS girls enjoying tea after a long, dirty day in the village homes


Me and Erin with our tea


Campfire time with the team....did I mention that I celebrated my birthday in this village. The kids sang to me then gave me a flaming stick with a chocolate power bar....the was the closest we could come to a candle and cake


Our sleeping quarters in the school house...cardboard on the dirt floor


Carrying supplies out to the village to start another house. The village is that little hill in the center of the picture. We're walking from the school house which is where all the supplies were stored.


This is one of my favorite pictures even though their faces are a little dark in the photo


This is also a favorite of mine


We gave this family light


Beth installing a light that's connected to the solar panel. Each house got three lights. The solar panel was connected to a car battery. I think I'm a certified electrician now.


This boy was exceptionally curious. He was amused with the electrical tape and loved it on his forehead


Lou going up to install a solar panel


Lunch break at the school house


A little hike up to a neighboring peak after the two days of work was completed and all 50 homes had their solar panels.


Heading out of the village for the last time.




The doctor. I'm not quite sure that there are any words to describe this Jersey born man. I won't even try except I must mention that he not only owns, but RACES a PINK Miata. He always brought the laughter out of us. Look closely at this picture....his water bottle was a rubbing alcohol bottle....yes, it was water he was drinking...he used it every day. Just wait until you see his sunglasses.




Day 2 of the trek out of the village. It was an early one that began at 6:00 with the intent of catching a morning plane. There are no pictures from Day 1 of the trek because I was incredibly ill during that 8 hour trek. I was the first to go down waking up in the middle of the night unable to keep anything inside me. It continued for the duration of Day 1, but there was only one thing to do....walk. The doc was also hit by the illness a few hours after me.


Rara Lake




The doc got lost on day 2 of the trek...he veered off the trail into the woods and we had the send out the search party for him. Here he is with the Nepalese man who found him. We were glad to have him back.


We arrived at the airstrip before 10:00, but they had no flight for us that day so we spent the day at a home just above the airstrip to fly out the next day.





Just like I said, the doc's shades were great


Simon plays the guitar while he sleeps?


On the airstrip, some kids played with a homemade kite...yes, it's a broken garbage bag.


We flew out the following morning. 15 of us left on the first flight and the rest came on the second flight. We were supposed to fly directly to Nepal Gunj, but instead they flew us to Serkhet. That meant that we needed a 3 hour van ride to catch our flight from Nepal Gunj back to Kathmandu.

Lunch stop. How many Nepalis can you fit on a bus?


We arrived in Kathmandu around 20:00 on Monday evening. Tuesday, before our night flight, we were able to explore the city. This is at the monkey temple.




Downtown Kathmandu






And now time for some video clips...they're short so have a look

This one is from inside the plane.


This happened on the way to Nepal Gunj after our stay in the village. Let me just say that there didn't appear to be any rules of the road...it was merely a suggestion to drive on the left side. There were no lanes and no lights. There were lots of horns and a bundle of chaos. After 5 nerve racking minutes in the city though, one learns to put trust into the driver. At that point, one has already probably nearly collided with an oncoming vehicle, run a bike or three pedestrians over and run a few mopeds off the road. This particular clip is not from the city, but rather the back roads. We were trying the pass this blue bus for about 15 minutes and he wouldn't let us pass. See the buddha on the dahsboard, listen the doc in the back seat and watch van finally get along side the bus....


The Nepalese bus


And here is a clip from our drive from Serkhet to Nepal Gunj post village. Listen the music our driver was rocking.