Wai Tuck: Hope and Home

Kathmandu - Nepal

Date: 14-July-2009 to 29-July-2009

Flight: Thai Airways (Singapore -> Bangkok-> Kathmandu)
SIN (0740) -> BKK (0900) (2 hrs 20 mins)
BKK (1035) -> KTM (1245) (3 hrs 25 mins)
Total flight time: 5 hrs 45 mins (Transit 1 hr 35 mins)

This is my first overseas Volunteer Trip. I was teaching English in a government primary school in Kathmandu! Having a chance to "give" and "share" is a fortune given by God. Nothing is much happier than be able to do that!

I have signed up this volunteer program with International Volunteer HQ, and the working partner in Nepal is "Hope and Home".

If you are interested to be a volunteer, please visit http://www.volunteerhq.org
If you are interested to volunteer in Nepal, please visit http://www.hopenhome.org

Alternatively, you can contact me and I will try my best to give you the information you required. If you have no time to go for a volunteer trip, you may also choose to donate something.

How much do it cost for this volunteer trip?
To be paid to IVHQ: Registration: US$ 220, Program Fees: US$ 320 (for 2 weeks). Click here to see details.
Airfare: On your own (I paid S$ 925 for a return flight with Thai Airways. You may look for promotion/offers every now and then, sometimes, you can get the same flight for about S$500+. I dont have the privilege to wait for offer, as this is the only time slot I can make it)
Other expenses: Your own shopping needs, food/transportation during the return trip (from the placement back to Kathmandu, and to airport), Visa (US$25 for 15 days, US$40 for 30 days, US$100 for 100 days). You may also like to spend some money buying something for the kids at the village (I spent some money on Stationery and board games like Scrabble for the kids).

Visa to Nepal (for 15 days)

NOTE:
(1) It is very important NOT to give too expensive gifts or money to the villagers/people. We shall NOT set a precedence for future volunteers, it would make future volunteers difficult NOT to oblige. The expectation from the Villagers need to be managed.
(2) It is easy to donate money from home, we dont need to be there. Since we are there, the main reason is we want to contribute our time/effort to help the needed ones.
(3) However, if you are buying something really beneficial/useful to them (more like a necessity item), I would encourage you to do that.
(4) If you have an old computer/handphone/books/clothes/stationery/etc, and you wish to donate to them, the villagers will be overjoyed!

Here are some more pages on my trip, enjoy reading:
Orientation and Sightseeing in Kathmandu
Journey from Kathmandu to Chitwan (Narayangadh), and back
Where do I stay? Whom do I stay with?
Map of Padam Pokhari (modified from Google Maps)
What kind of volunteer work?
Some thoughts after the trip (where do I go from here?)
FAQ (from Hope and Home)

Finally, after staying up late some nights, I have completed my blogs on my Nepal Volunteer Trip. I appreciate very much if you can read, especially the page on my thoughts. You may have good ideas. I need more ideas, more support, more help. I cannot do it alone, you can definitely help, JUST DO IT!

Thank you in advance, on behalf of the people in Nepal.

About to touch down at Kathmandu airport, feeling excited about the trip...

At the Kathmandu airport

Upon arrival at the Kathmandu airport, I was received by Raj (from Kathmandu Peace Guesthouse).

When I see him, the first sentence I said was "Namaste, mero naam Wai Tuck Ho" (Hello, my name is Wai Tuck).

Raj (from Kathmandu Peace Guesthouse) picked me up at the airport. Very friendly and helpful!

The Kathmandu Peace Guesthouse is quite clean and safe, good value for money. I have heard some negative feedback from other volunteers, but my stay there was splendid, nothing to complain about.

I arrived at the guesthouse around 1:15pm, and Raj told me that the people from Hope and Home will come to see me at 3pm. I freshened up myself and rest in the room, waiting to meet the representative from Hope and Home. At 3pm, Naresh (the representative from Hope and Home) gave me some brochures and notes (for our orientation program and Nepali Language introductory course).

Schedule of my Volunteer Trip:
Day 1: Arrived at Kathmandu
Day 2: Orientation, Sightseeing (Monkey Temple)
Day 3: Nepali Language Introductory Course, Sightseeing (Boudha, Hindu Temple), followed by dinner.
Day 4-14: Travel to Chitwan (Narayangadh). Placement at Padam Pokhari
Day 15: Travel back to Kathmandu
Day 16: Depart from Kathmandu

The orientation program, Nepali Language course, sightseeing, dinner and accommodation for Day 1 to 3 are included in the fees that I have paid to IVHQ. I appreciated very much for Hope and Hope to organise such a program for all volunteers before we go for the placement. However, I would suggest IVHQ and Hope&Home to look into offering the sightseeing as an OPTIONAL component. I am there for voluntary work, and 2 weeks is really short, so I hope to start the placement as soon as possible. In my opinion, the notes from Hope & Home are excellent for us to do self-learning, we may be able to learn more during our placement, when we are staying with the home family.

Rooftop Garden at the Guesthouse.

Electricity supply is a problem in Nepal, even in the capital city of Kathmandu. Solar energy is a good alternative.

View from the Rooftop Garden. From here, you can see the nearby hills (only considered as hills to the locals, Mountains means those snow-capped ones beyond a few thousands metres above sea level).

More pics from the rooftop garden

Restaurant of the guesthouse (where we have our Orientation programme and the Nepali Language Introductory course)

Nepali Calendar. It is different from the International Calendar, I have yet to understand it. I will find out during my next trip to Nepal.

Water is pumped from underground using this device.

Bigen (from Hope and Home). He conducted the Orientation class for us, telling us A-Z in Nepal, and the culture, and the Caste system.

Pepsi is a popular drink here.

Kathmandu Peace Guesthouse is just about 5-10 minutes walk to Thamel (where all the shops and restaurants are located). Thamel is the main tourist area in Kathmandu, offering many shops selling almost everything, for example, trekking equipments/gears, handicrafts, clothes, mats, etc.

Kathmandu Guesthouse is the meeting place. If you were lost, just ask around where is Kathmandu Guesthouse, and make your way there.

There are lots of shops in Thamel for you to buy your stuff, but the prices varied from shop to shop greatly. Advice is NOT to buy at the first shop you asked, go into various shops and compare the prices, before you started to bargain. Please do NOT bargain unless you are interested in buying. If you don't want the people to harrass you, don't make eye contact with them, and don't look at their goods. Once you show interest, they will follow you till you buy from them. They are aggressive, but not as much as those in Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

You can also go to Thamel for restaurants and bars. If your body is tired after the trek, you may also visit one of the many massage parlours to relieve your muscle aches. I visited one at Rs900 (S$18) for one hour of massage. The skill is good.

You can travel from here to Tibet (overland), very unique experience. I have done this in 1998. It is cheaper to book a tour there, than to book a tour from Singapore.

If you are going to Nepal for trekking, you would have 1-2 days in Kathmandu, while the trekking permit is done. During these 2 days, you may like to shop for your trekking gears here, generally much cheaper to get them here, but I am unsure about their quality. Please exercise your own discretion in buying things here.

In 1998, I was here in Nepal for trekking (Annapurna Base Camp Trek), and we were staying in Hotel Moon Light.

Streets in Kathmandu. In Kathmandu, motor bikes and cars are common. Trishaw are mainly for tourist, and expensive. Lots of Honking! Very noisy!

Rickshaw is common among tourists in Kathmandu.

Dinner with other volunteers (Naresh in the foreground)

Nepalese Wine. I cannot remember the alcohol content, but it is quite high, in the range of 50%-60%. It is very similar to the "Schnapps" in Germany and the "Bai Jiu" (白酒) in China. You need to finish it fast, in one gulp. I liked it, I drank about 3-4 cups.

Dance performance during dinner

Join in the fun of dancing

Hindu temple: Only Hindus can enter. We can only look from outside.

They burnt the dead bodies here

Boudha (the largets stupa in Nepal)

Prayer Flags (see here for more details on prayer flags)

Prayer Wheels (see here for more details)

Spinning Prayer Wheel (remember to spin in clockwise direction)

Prayer wheels come in different sizes

Even monkey cannot resist the temptation of drinking Sprite!
I think this is a Good Advert for Sprite!

Other volunteers. After the orientation, we will be heading to various areas for our placement. Can you choose the odd one out from the group?
haha, pretty obvious right?
I am the odd one for the following reasons:
(1) I am the only MAN
(2) I am the only one coming from an Asian country (the rest come from America, Canadia, and Scotland)
(3) I am the only one going for a Teaching Placement, all the rest are going for Orphanage placement.

The following are the sightseeing pics at the Monkey Temple.