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 :-)