After a good night sleep we were served breakfast on the rooftop of BJ’s house. The plan for the day was to take a tour of Kathmandu and discuss the volunteering options which as were soon to find out we’re actually quite limited!
The tour was of 3 different and rather large temples in and around Kathmandu. BJ bundled us and some other guests into the car and we bounce around the roads of the city for around 6 hours stopping at the temples, soaking in the car fumes, excessive dust and deep history.
During the trip we discussed our volunteer options for the month. Due to the Hindu festival, Dashain, happening in the middle of our trip many government offices and schools would be closed for around 15 days. Oh, wait, it gets better. On top of that many schools had their yearly exams before the festival ( lasting for oh, about a week!) so, do the maths. 5 days exams and 15 days of shut down.
Our plans to expand the minds of Nepali children with our pearls of western wisdom were slipping through our fingers.
But we did have some options:
Stay in Kathmandu and teach at a monestary or go to the mountains as planned living at the homestay, helping where we can at the school and having more if a cultural experience instead.
After 2 migraines in 24 hrs triggered by the poor air pollution of Kathmandu we decided to try the mountain option instead. It’s bound to work out. Right?