Well it was typical that I couldn’t sleep on my first night in Pokhara. From the hotel room I could hear the many bars playing music, not Nepali music but Justin Bieber of course. It wasn’t much better when you turn on the tv at 2am and its a choice between Bollywood movies which you don’t understand or some American forensic programme. I eventually got to sleep and woke for breakfast the next morning where I bumped into a couple of the GVI team. Breakfast was huge and the coffee was well needed. Myself and Pooja has a wander down to the lake as it was finally sunny but incredibly hot.

We met up with the rest of the new volunteers at 10am and had an introductory session at a home stay not far away from Hotel Crown. It was great to meet everyone and hear their reasons for coming to Nepal. After that we had lunch and were taken on a tour of Lakeside and we headed out on a boat to a Hindu temple in the middle of Phewa Lake. We were blessed there and then continued our walk along Lakeside, back through the shopping area and then had a small presentation at our home stay about what to expect next.

The home stay is a really nice four storey house, where there are shared rooms, a communal area and a little white dog who lives here. Her cuteness shouldn’t fool you, she’s miserable!

Breakfast and dinner is made by the host family and that evening’s dinner was Daal Bhat, which I am led to believe is the dinner we will be having most evenings. After this we headed to the Lemon Tree bar and restaurants for cocktails where it was evident that the Nepalese do not measure spirits but instead just chuck them into the glass. We made our way to the Irish bar afterwards where we got to see first hand the Nepalese locals raving out to Bruno Mars.

Sunday morning rolled round and breakfast was at the decent time of 9am and consisted of French toast, honey, bananas and porridge if you fancied it. Once it came to 10am, we made our way back to the home stay we first visited and had our first Nepalese language lesson, something I don’t think I will ever grasp! We had some extra information on Child Protection during the programme and then had lunch at the same place we went to the day before. We had another Daal Bhat here and then went shopping on the main street followed by a coffee in a place that blows Starbucks out of the water. As the rain was hammering down, we were sat on a balcony enjoying a coffee overlooking part of the lake. Heaven!

That evening we headed out in the monsoon rain to an Outdoor Cinema called Pokhara Movie Garden. They were showing the Life of Pi, and for 350 rupees (£2.40) we could watch the film in a beautiful little garden amphitheatre with popcorn, pizza or drinks available to purchase.

Since then the rain has been non stop. Overnight it rained but luckily by time we woke up this morning it had dried up. We had another language lesson this morning and was surprised that we’d all remembered most of it!

After this we traveled up to the Ashanti Stupa (World Peace Pagoda) which is 200m above Pokhara, 1600m above sea level. From there we also had an amazing view of the Annapurna range, the Phewa Lake and Pokhara City.

It was one of the most beautiful and serene places I’ve seen so far, and was incredibly silent and spiritual. Although the midday sun got the better of me and I didn’t spend as much time at the top as I would have liked to.

Following this, we had a little break and then headed to SASANE which is an organisation which supports survivors of trafficking in Nepal. We learned how to make momos which are a traditional snack in Nepal and then had daal bhal followed by a presentation by one of the survivors. It was a fantastic afternoon and truly inspiring. We purchased bracelets made by the survivors and all the proceeds go towards funding the organisation.

After dinner that evening we all made our way to OR2K which is a modern restaurant at Lakeside where dinner can be had by candlelight, sitting on pillows on the floor. This seemed popular for tourists as for once there were more Europeans in here than Nepalese. They were hosting a showing of Moana which was free as long as you bought something like a drink or snack. Popcorn was also complimentary!

However, I think the travelling and constant go go go has caught up with me so I am ready to pass out for a bit and take it easy.

All ready for my first day of the programme tomorrow working with children at a Child Development Centre. I’m really excited to see what this brings!

Jovi

* Trip sponsored by RTC Medical Solutions and Bangor University *