Bhotechaur Adventures
When they said that the trip to one of the two field sites is going to be challenging mainly because of the road–dusty on sunny days and muddy on rainy days and that at some point, we might even need to get off the car and help push it forward–my brain only translated those words to ADVENTURE.
After a session in the forum, they asked the participants to pick which group they'd want to join. Naturally, majority of the participants wrote their name in the site that is easier to reach. They asked for volunteers to join the site that is farther. They only asked for 13 brave people, but it still took time to fill in all the slots. I wanted to volunteer right away, but the participants must pick first. Organizers will be assigned to their group once all participants have settled.
But when I saw that there were only few slots available, and nobody seemed to be volunteering anymore, I raised my hand to show my intent to join the smaller group. And then our secretary general volunteered my two other colleagues to fill in the remaining slots. For a moment there I was thinking maybe she thought she cannot just send me alone in there. But maybe she just wanted that more experienced staff need to be there with the participants. Or maybe she just wants all the slots to be filled. Whatever the reason was, I was more than happy to be with colleagues.
But when I saw that there were only few slots available, and nobody seemed to be volunteering anymore, I raised my hand to show my intent to join the smaller group. And then our secretary general volunteered my two other colleagues to fill in the remaining slots. For a moment there I was thinking maybe she thought she cannot just send me alone in there. But maybe she just wanted that more experienced staff need to be there with the participants. Or maybe she just wants all the slots to be filled. Whatever the reason was, I was more than happy to be with colleagues.
On the day of the field visit, we were joined by the program big boss so there were 14 distributed in three 4x4 vehicles. The weather was fair in the morning as we make our way to the site. Although it had been raining every now and then since we got to Kathmandu so I was expecting a muddy situation on the way. What a great time to be wearing my all-white sneakers.
We had been warned but I was still in awe during the six hour ride going to and from Bhotechaur. The road situation in Nepal is really bad. I even read somewhere that it is the worst in the world. Our Nepali colleagues said that it will even be worst had we not rode in 4x4s which are most suitable in such terrains. I was even seated at the back so I got the full experience. 😂
After more than two hours travel in the bumpy road, we finally reached our destination. And we were warmly welcomed by the people.
Feeling like a rockstar/VIP with the welcome ceremony Nepal style. It is their custom to give their guests flowers upon entering the house or any establishment and/or a silk scarf (khada) which symbolizes compassion.
This is our way back.
Feeling like a rockstar/VIP with the welcome ceremony Nepal style. It is their custom to give their guests flowers upon entering the house or any establishment and/or a silk scarf (khada) which symbolizes compassion.
This is our way back.
We had hours to talk about different topics, one of which was the fact that divorce is not allowed in the Philippines. We really stayed in this topic for a while. Every time a participant of different nationality hears about this, then they'd ask questions. It amazed them.
