Bandipur

4-day Christmas trip to Bandipur, a 4 hours bus ride towards Pokhara. Hill-village with great mountain views - if only you could see through the fog!

Pashupatinath

One day trip to the temple area of Pashupatinath, featuring Helena, Jakob and Susanne.

Piaro Sukrabar II

The success of the first Piaro Sukrabar was repeated the next friday.

Piaro Sukrabar

"Piaro Sukrabar" means "Good Friday" or "Funny Friday" and it's the day where the school puts on a show by and for the children.

3 weeks with Susanne

Susanne came all the way from Stockholm to visit us! And she is 5 months pregnant! She says she feels totally recharged now.

Interview filming

Filming an interview for Spanish television.

First we had to wait for 3 hours, then we went somewhere else and waiting for one hour. Then a guy turns up with a tiny handheld camcorder, no lights and no microphone.

Ok, so we go home to Vicky's place and wait another couple of hours before this team of professional film photographers turn up with the whole stash and continues to record the whole thing with the highest amount of professionalism I've seen in this country to date.

Impressive.

Nepalese wedding

Anil is the son of the 'didi' (translates to 'older sister', all adult women are 'didis') who owns the house where we are renting our flat. His family decided that it was time for him to marry, so they found a suitable young woman among the family of some friends. After seeing her a couple of times Anil decided to accept and last Saturday they were unified.

Arranged marriages are still the most common practice, though maybe 20% of people in the city are now doing the "love marriage" thing :-)

That is to say, the terms "arranged" and "love" can be misleading as the festivities of a "love" marriage will still be arranged by the families and and the "arranged" marriage usually ends up with the involved parts loving each other, for some reason...

The festivities start with all the friends and relatives of the groom gathering at his house Saturday morning, receiving brunch and blessings, then embarking en-route to the bride's family's home lead by a brass band or similar.

Click on the photo to see the rest of the story.

Sunny winter school

It is getting colder day by day as winter is nearing. As the days get shorter, well, days REALLY get shorter!

Let me explain:
In summer, Nepali people get up at 4am and go to bed at 10pm, cause that is when there is light. In winter, they sleep until 6 or 7 and go to bed at 8 or 9. In other words, the day is only as long as the daylight. In a way it is true, as electric light is not always available due to frequent power cuts. For children and teachers that also means that there is less time for homework and preparation, so students and employees at the school requested that we cut the school day shorter. It took some time for us to realize that the day was not always 24 hours long...

But in the end we cut one lesson off the schedule and skipped the teachers' training in the mornings. You would think that 2 hours extra of free time per day would be a thrill but the next request is that we close the school completely over the winter. It is true that most schools have a winter holiday of a couple of weeks, maybe longer if there is no heating facilities in the school, like in ours, because the days can get down to zero degrees. On the other hand, with all the interruptions and delays the school has experienced this year, we think we should try to push everybody to study as much as possible. After all, 10 grade students have the (for them extremely important) SLC (School Leaving Certificate) exams in early spring.

Let's see what we'll do. For now the temperatures are reaching down to 10 degrees, so with proper clothing it is still possible to live through the day.
At lunchtime in the sun it is like a nice Danish summer :-)

Free, modern education

Nepal Catalunya School, where we are busy making schedules and routines, is the place where around 150 children from poor and marginalized families. They cannot afford to send their kids even to public school, and what's worse, public schools are infamous for their ridgid, unimaginative teaching methods, where fear and punishment drive the children to copy and memorize books.

November misc.

Wandering the streets and alleys of this city never fails to offer interesting sights. Like orange pigs on display, sheep munching on festival decorations, temples with peculiar decoration, cows with surprising body limps, colourful shops etc.
Click on the photo and enjoy. You can write comments too.

Sinamangal slum

In the middle of Sinamangal, a neighbourhood close to the airport, a slum city has popped up on the unsupporting shores of the river. The families living here must be amongst the poorest in Kathmandu, having no access to running water or sewer facilities (except the river).
Vicky Subirana (aka. Sherpa) has had her eyes on this area for a long time, picking up kids and letting them attend her free school.
Now she is setting up a center for pre-primary kids right in this neighbourhood.

"Purple hands for children with no rights"

Want to know more (everything) about 'our' project and the problems the organisation has been facing since February, then read this blog:

http://vickionhungerstrike.wordpress.com/

October shots

Tihar is here

The blue room

The Yellow House BBQ

Robert's last day

Robert @ Reggae Bar

Dasain party at Daleki

Nepal Catalunya School

Patan

This time on foot we went to visit Patan, which is sort of part of Kathmandu, just south of the Bagmati river. Patan was very tranquil, but full of life, colours and temples - mostly buddhist. We just loved the back alleys and court yards where the town people spent their lazy Saturday.
Aun disponiamos de un dia libre, asi que esta vez, a pie, nos fuimos a visitar la segunda ciudad mas grande del valle de Katmamdu, Patan. A diferencia de Katmandu, Patan es una ciudad tranquila, con muchisimo menos ruido pero llena de vida, color y un monton de templos e historia.

Nagarkot and mountains in the sky

Nagarkot, another step closer to the Himalayas. Great to leave the city again - this time with a more appropriate itinerary into the wild - or at least into a more relaxed state of mind. Three days of joy and beauty...

Nagarkot, nuestro viaje hacia el Everest, o lo mas cerca de el que hemos estado. Nos sento de maravilla salir de la ciudad y volver a estar cerca de la naturaleza y la tranquilidad de sus gente y pueblos. Tres dias de relax y belleza. Ahora entiendo porque se ha escrito tanto sobre el Himalaya. Cuando lo ves, aun de lejos, se atrapa.

Bouddha Stupa and Gokarna

A one day trip east across Kathmandu revealed many charming sights. First a buddhist quarter and then the Gokarna village. We unwarily attended a buddhist funeral ceremony and were forced to accept gifts of food, drinks, fruit and snacks, as if we were pilgrims coming from far away. Later we stumbled upon a young band, "D-friends Band", rehearsing at the edge of town. Our return was delayed by the heavy rain that seems to be the norm now after 3 pm.

A weekend on the mountain bikes

Helena rented a bike for 200 rs. / day. It was about time we got out of Kathmandu and saw something else, but perhaps we could have been without some of the experiences... We followed what was called "The Scar Rd." in Lonely Planet... First it goes up to Kakani, then across the Shivapura National Park and down to Bouddhanil Kantha.

Unforeseen events involved a crash, leeches and unadjusted brakes. The result was sore muscles and back pain, but also something unforgettable...

Rani Bari Park (The local jungle)

There is a green spot on the way between our home and Daleki School, which the locals refer to as "The Jungle". It's a nice park containing a hill with some buddhist monuments on top, and it's a nice retreat from the busy streets of Kathmandu.

Indra Jatra - Kumari chariot

It was half past 9, half our past the typical Nepali bedtime, when we stumbled into a crowd near Indra Chowk. Everybody watched with tension the huge chariot as it prepared to make its way towards Durbar Square. This was the final leg of the kumari chariot race. The air was full of excitement, but what else can you expect when beer suddenly starts flowing out of giant images of gods.

Durbar Square

A photo album from Durbar Square, Kathmandu, the day before the Indra Jatra festival. It's an interesting and beautiful place.

Another round of Kathmandu

Photos taken one Saturday - the only day we are off work (except for holidays, but those are seldom know in advance) - on a walk around Kathmandu with my new camera Panasonic Lumix TZ15 (equal to TZ5 in Europe). It's an extremely compact 10x zoom camera.

Daleki School

This is Daleki School, one of the two schools of VEDFON. We work in the other one, which is called Catalunya School. This one is for pre-primary school children. On the top floor there is a kind of hostel for some of the kids. Daleki School is in Samakushi, 15 min. walk up from our place.

Jakob's new bike

I am buying this bike from Rashu. It was not cheap but solid enough, and it comes with free service (I assume). After a week of biking to and from school I am learning to ignore the pain in my body caused by the bumps and holes in the roads.

Change of plans?

Starting work in the VEDFON project was not as straighforward as one could hope for. Various problems gathering speed in the last 7 months had forced the founder into conflict. School was closed for several weeks and children were gathered to demonstrate for their rights. It was chaotic, but hopefully worth it.

Getting intimate with Kathmandu

Lot's of things to do in the beginning; where is everything located, how to get from one place to another, what is the price, who can you trust, what can you eat and where is the best live music. Some will be revealed here in this photo album.

Exploring Kathmandu

Here is an album of photos from our first days on the streets of the capital. We already feel very much at home.

Kathmandu flat

We are sharing a nice flat in Lazimpat, in the north of Kathmandu, with Robert and Elisa, both from Spain. As you see our room is still very empty, but we will soon get some furniture and decorations to cheer up the place.

On the way

Helena working in the airport.

Bahrain

When we checked in at Heathrow we asked the man behind the counter if there was anything we should be aware of when changing planes in Bahrain. He answered that luggage would be transferred automatically so there was nothing to worry about, but he noted that the waiting time would be close to 5 hours. "But the airport in Bahrain is very beautiful, so you will be happy waiting there", he then added, to encourage us.

When we entered the transit area, the first thing we saw was this; a setting showing a typical Spanish fishing village scene. Not exactly what we had expected, but nevertheless the most interesting thing around here. The rest is typically depressing airport style. Halleluja, 4 hours to go.

Hey, cheer up! The wifi is free!

London

This photo is a little reminder of the nice time we had in my mom's house this August in Denmark. For a while it's probably the last bit of quiet, space and cleanness we'll see. At least I remember Kathmandu to be noisy, crowded and dirty. Now we're waiting in Heathrow airport for our flight to Bahrain, in transit to Kathmandu. We arrived at Stansted 23.30 local time and had to wait until 2.25 to catch the first National Express coach to Heathrow (1h 20min ride). Here we squatted on the floor until the check-in opened at 6am. Internet in the airport isn't cheap - I'm writing from a T-Mobile hotspot for 5GBP / 1 hour. It's just that I can't read, sleep or listen to mp3 anymore, so this is a nice alternative. Our plane leaves at 10am.

Århus

Here we have an album of photos from our lovely stay with Rasmus, Vivi and Freya. It was in the beginning of Århus Festuge, so of course we went into town to take part. Only Rasmus is not quite the party animal he used to be. Anyway, thanks for making us feel at home :-)

Fishing at Lindø Terminal

Passing time on a Sunday afternoon with René. He wasn't quite happy with his new rod and wheel and I wasn't quite happy that my first catch since Helena was lost due to a bad knot. 4 mackerels sank down to the bottom and we came home with nothing.

The Ærø Wedding

The Ærø wedding.
Si hay algo que me gusta de Mette es su naturalidad y su capacidad para sorpendernos. En uno de los dia mas felices para ellos, no podia ser distinto.

Switzerland

Switzerland is the land of mountains, happy cows and peace...
El tercer día de nuestra estancia en el país, subimos hasta 2500m de altitud. No parece mucho, pero la falta de aire y de costumbre, se notan en personas de ciudad como nosotros. Pero las vistas son increibles y merece la pena sudar y sufrir un poquito. Tan sólo te molestan los insectos y no ves más que algun que otro caminante haciendo su camino.....