Kathmandu Day 1-4

It's hard to believe that I've been here four days.  Let me tell you and show you what it's like so far.

I hope you have been looking after Mr R.  Show him your best!

Christchurch Airport

Here's Guangzhou airport in China, which took 13 hours to get to.  Martina was safely attached to my bag but decided to stretch her legs!  It was very hot in China.

The first day in Kathmandu was very busy.  I arrived at 11.05 am and was able to see lots of the city as we flew over.

The buildings look very different to NZ buildings and are several floors high.

We trip into the city was amazing.  The traffic was not as orderly as in NZ but it all seemed to work.  The van just nosed its way out into the traffic and people gave way.  A little hair-raising at first but entertaining after!

The weather is VERY hot and humid.  Very sweaty stuff after being in frosty NZ weather!  

No rest for me, my friend took me via tempo into town.  This is a 3-wheeled vehicle that is very small and fits...wait for it....14 people, plus the driver in it.  It's the wee green and white vehicle in the second photo below.  We were like sardines.  But it only cost around 20c for a trip!  A bargin.  I think I have bruises from the ride.  The roads are not all sealed and flat like NZ...even with the earthquake damage!

Here are some momos, a type of dumpling that they have here in Nepal.  My friend ate these ones, but I hope to try some soon.

Tuesday, today, we ventured out as a group to some of the cultural sites around the city.  The traffic was jammed packed on the roads as you can see below.  I met my teaching assistant, Pooja, who is Nepali and she was teaching me some Nepali language along the way.  She's new to my school too.  Miro nahm Iona ho....(that's how you say it, not how it is written.  It has it's own script that doesn't look like our letters) My name is Iona.

The first site was Pashupatinath which is a big Hindu temple complex.  It was so hot, that we all had our umbrellas up.  There were lots of interesting things going on there.

Then we drove further away to the Buddhist stupor called Boudhanath.  We had lunch in a lovely cafe before wandering around it.  Then...it poured down with the monsoon rain!   We all got drenched as we waited for our driver from the school to pick us up - yes, we had umbrellas.

So, we have a few more days of orientation and language learning, before I meet my class.  I am looking forward to getting into my room and setting it up.