Families, Food and Festivals.

As 5pm approached we sat nervously sipping "Anu Tea" on the 5th floor of a fragile building on the outskirts of Thamel. This is home to Amrit, his wife and 2 children. Anu, his daughter, was our teacher for the week. At 18 she carried the role beautifully, teaching adult tourists with charm, patience and humour. We started with Nepali tea Anu-style - containing cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, progressed to momos, pickles, curries and, of course, dal baht. Our 6 day cooking course was a great insight into Nepali family life.

This week they were excited at gaining an extra room so that the cooking area would no longer need to double up as a bedroom. We were surprised at the nonchalant way they slid aside one of the corrugated roof panels to release cooking fumes and step out onto this fragile cover to a roof garden. The sight of them placing pots and pans under dripping streams when the rains came started to make us feel we could contribute something here. Unable to do anything to improve their roofing, we realised that one small filament lamp and some dodgy plugs and sockets could be upgraded. Amrit and I returned from a small electrical shop (don't have B&Q in your head) with 3 low energy lamps, several plugs, sockets, tools and 20 metres of wire for just over a tenner.

So we were sat very nervously that day because having removed the smashed socket, pulled 2 sticky wires from the crumbling wall and then used fingers crossed methodology to rewire a new socket and wire up the 3 new light bulbs, we needed the scheduled outage of Kathmandu power to finish to see if it all worked.

We were also all apprehensive about Anu's pending exam results. It seemed crass to utter parent-style phrases such as "you'll be a success in whatever you do". In this education system there are no second chances, you gain the 75% to move to a hotel management course or nothing. Fingers crossed for Anu and her future, she is truly amazing. By way of thank you we plied Anu with chocolate and took her out to Bhaktapur for the day.

It was nice to be in Nepal at festival time, nice for us but probably not so good for the 35,000 goats that are due to be shipped in to the Kathmandu valley in readiness for the Dashain festival later in September! On our second day back from Tibet we witnessed the astonishing Kumari who, as a living goddess, finally appeared from the ornate wood clad building in Durbar square. We sat in what seemed to be the best vantage point and later discovered that all the foreigners were being placed away from the action on the other side of the square. We dutifully passed a 2 year old from mother, to father, to grandmother and back to mother, opened and closed umbrellas as monsoon showers threatened to dampen things, and got pins and needles as our limbs were crushed during the 4 hour wait for the Kumari. The stone steps which were once empty were now standing space for not two but four layers of spectators, the cart carrying the goddess crashed into and demolished a stone lion, and the band played on as the festival progressed in its haphazard way. You couldn't say proceedings ran smoothly, but they had an exciting energy and we definitely felt part of it.

After a week in Kathmandu it was necessary to get out. An hour south got us to Godawari and the Botanical Garden. Not particularly blooming at this time of the year but the clean air was good.

Under an hour north of Kathmandu and we were in the Shivapuri National Park. We spent the day toiling up 1200 metres of stepped path, nearly lost to the forest, to the peak at just over 2,700m. We saw wild monkeys on the way up, and were treated to a black tea from the Hatha Yoga teacher and his student in their ashram retreat converted from an army barrack perched on the top of the hill.

A visit to The British School of Kathmandu provided really useful material for our research on international mindedness. The school, founded in the late 60's, provides education to about 35 different nationalities of all ages and has much new building work in progress. Staff's concern about Nepal's next earthquake and it's impact on Nepali buildings is a reminder of the fragility of life in this part of the world.

Kathmandu, continues to evolve. Fusion of food as well as music is everywhere and as September draws to a close there is a rapid increase in the number of tourists- including the Chinese as a relative new-comer. The three-piece groups comprising of a flute, guitar and the evocative tabla (drum) fill the air with a subtle blend of jazz and folk (occasionally straying dangerously in to 70's rock!) It was quite surreal sipping a glass of Spanish red, eating grilled lemon chicken and chips in the warm evening at the New Orleans cafe! Is this Nepal. Maybe not but it is nice once in a while!

Mountains, Monasteries and Merit

The Tibetian flag and images of the 14th Dalai Lama may have been removed without trace from the country but the ceaseless drive and devotion of the people remain. Nowhere is this more evident than the continuous kora of Barkhor Square around the Jokhang monastery in Lhasa. For some it is a regular routine before work, for others a ritual they have repeated for many decades but the continual hum, spin of prayer wheel, uniform flow and smell of burning juniper leaves you with no doubt that Buddhism lives on in Tibet.

Perhaps the Buddhist philosophy of impermenance results in an acceptance of the huge transformations that are occurring in Tibet because the Chinese have certainly landed in Lhasa! Huge video advertising walls, exclusive shopping, not to mention "Dico's" fast food stores appear all too frequently. The Potala Palace and old town remain unscathed and beautiful albeit complete with CCTV cameras and police on every corner.

The billions poured into infrastructure across the country is remarkable, rail and road have a solidity that we have not seen in India and Nepal but maybe building on the plateau is easier than on the edge of the Himalayas! However small the village there seems to be a government issue playground with the school, new electricity supplies and, of course, a police check point.

The traffic policeman who accompanies you on all long distance tourist buses across the country is amusing but somehow reassuring. The strict speed restrictions and police checks reduce the chaos and danger that prevails on roads in this part of the world.

Many Chinese buck the trend  by not walking in the clockwise kora circumambulation around Buddhist structures, but some young Chinese seem to display devotion and embrace the Tibetan culture in their own way - so maybe there will be a harmonious future for Tibet and China, although there is a growing economic divide between Tibetan and Chinese people.

After five days in Lhasa it was a four day bus hop to Rongbuk Monastery and our first sight of Chomalongma (Everest) from the North. The journey stoped at Shigatse, Gyantse and Sakya towns which gradually became smaller and more Tibetan, and all had major monasteries. We have walked away from mountains in the past with either satisfaction or regret but turning our back on the magnificent view of Everest after a clear morning was like facing away from the Buddha when leaving a monastery.