Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Surely a mistake


For crying out loud..it is a Saturday morning and I’m awake at 6am. Repeat slowly after me…Saturday is for sleeping in…nah..didn’t work for me either.
I’m going to have to change my expectations…there are touristy things I just won’t get to do/see when I have only weekends to chase them down. Certainly not an issue as I’m here for the experience more than the sights. Concentrating on the amazing people and their achievements is going to be the reward.
Planning to walk to work next week so had an exploratory amble to Bakhundole, possibly should have brought the map with me (just assuming for the moment that I can read Nepali street signs) and arrived at the Norwegian Embassy. They were quite surprised to see me, especially as I was aiming for the North Korean Embassy (relax..it’s two doors down from Childreach). “ Dear Leader” didn’t want to see me anyway…apparently he wasn’t well.
Admitting that I may be in danger of veering a little off track I retraced my steps (all 4,906 of them) and checked the map back in my room…hmm..only a couple of hundred metres from where I wanted to be..that’s not too shabby at all. About a 30 minute walk there. Not something I would even contemplate at home but it seems so much shorter when on ‘holiwork’. I think it is the same strange effect that makes money spent on holidays seemingly so much less expensive.
Of course the lone westerner in Durbar Square would never get across without being accosted but this time with a twist..Nepali teenagers with Rotoract who had banded together to give the fountain a good clean..just wanted to practice their english skills (damn bad luck for them that I’m not English) and talk about their project, just so I would know that they cared about their famous square. They were even planting flowers around the fountain. As it was about 3 degrees and misty I resisted the urge to jump in and help.  Yet another humbling moment.

No comments:

Post a Comment