At least the one I know ..... If you read the banner you’ll see that I’ve leapt a few years forward local time, that’s Gladys and Nilusha with me, not far from where we stayed in Kathmandu. Actually, the year here is 2067. The year’s divided into 12 months, but not coinciding with the calendar I’m familiar with. Pus goes to mid January in my diary, the 1st day of each Nepali month is somewhere midmonth. Both versions are printed on the calendars for sale though so it’s no problem, and it seems that holidays of both calendars are observed.
Nepalgunj was a great introduction to the Terai region for me and gave me a sense of how life may be for a volunteer there. Loula’s hulahooping skills are getting known and our landlady really enjoyed her lessons. We made it to Bardia National Park (about 2.5 hours bus ride away) for the Christmas weekend and had a memorable 25th December on a guided walk in the park followed by an elephant ride. No big animals (tiger, rhino, elephant) walked our way during the day but we had a great time; plenty of birds, deer, monkeys, one python, different landscapes, and peaceful.
The year that’s ending has certainly been full of new experiences for me: retirement, acceptance by AVI to head to ?, motorbike learner’s permit, jumping in the deep end, swimming lessons, Nepali language and arriving in Bhairawa. I’ve had a great year! .... and in 2011? More adventures for sure.
Happy New Year Gwyneth!
ReplyDeleteSounds like 2068 will be very exciting. How are you managing with the language? And what is your diet like?
It is a surprisingly different summer here from the recent past. Generally cool, and wet, though not as wet as in QLD. What a disaster.
Keep on blogging. It's very interesting.