Nepal 100 Day 3

July 31, 2016

I tried to stay up late and succeed at I saw midnight pass. I was worried that my nap might cause me sleeplessness. I had a good sound sleep until two things- my Bluetooth ear plugs battery died and I needed to pee. The toilet - was - disabled! I tried to return to sleep but I never returned After my 4:57am awakening! I finally took the eye mask off and earplugs out and watched a movie around 6am.which was almost drowned out by the rap music next door...ugh. was raining but not too bad I was showered and dressed for breakfast by 8am. I know...who is this person.

Sitting in the courtyard for breakfast the rain had stopped and it felt cool and comfortable. I was hungry.. I had a repeat of yesterday's breakfast as it was so good. I looked over options for what seemed like an hour and then Debendra came up and we had discussion about it. Maybe a trek with villages and views tomorrow and rafting on Tuesday. What about today. Well, it was raining again and I would just see.

Debendra asked if I would observe a class graduation he was giving some young guys in being a porter. When they finished, maybe a word of encouragement.

I relaxed as it continued the rain and later moved to the courtyard. Where Debendra sat with me and talked about trying to motivate young women, divorced or unwed mothers who just don't believe that they can have a better life. He explains how his plan works and the curriculum includes working out in the real world, budgeting, saving - how to build a life. It's really amazing, what he is doing here and that he cares so much for his people and them being productive citizens and have a sense of self worth.

It started to rain again so, I moved back to the covered area. Soon a tall blonde named Lucie was introduced. She is from Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa. I have actually been there.

We chatted about the islands, our lives, and our love of travel. Soon the tables were punched together and the students joined us along with a member do the chamber of commerce. Debendra's wife joined us also. We went around and told where we were from and a but about ourselves, I explained my profession and my love of travel. After everyone shared, the young teacher, who studied under a Michelin star chef in NYC, spoke about each of the students and how they'd progressed to get to this day. He had returned to Nepal to give back and he urged the students to support the school that has helped them.

One of the students was from the village that was at the epicenter of the quake. His whole village of 550 homes wiped away. He was lucky to be alive. The people who survived now live in temporary plastic housing in a nearby village. They will once again rebuild, somewhere, someday. This was a place of great beauty and very old...not easily recreates.

The man from the chamber of commerce was up. He handed out each of the certificates and she applauded for their achievement. After, we gathered in the courtyard for a group photo, me and Lucie included.

Lucie - there was a documentary made about Nepal after the devastating earthquake, last year. She is friends with the writer / producer. When she saw the film for the first time, she knew she must come, The school for the blind, next door, had played a role in the film and today she would meet the young man who's story was part of the film.

She decided that she might join me for the rafting on Tuesday. I hope the weather hold out. I showed her my wonderful photo of El Tiede - the tallest mountain in the Canaries, Spain for that matter.

Debendra's son showed up along with a friend, Birken. We talked about what they were studying and they asked about my time in Nepal. They wanted to know if it was my first time in Asia. I shared with them my love of travel. Birken was quite taken with this and we talked in great length about what great knowledge travel can being and how it makes you feel closer to the world and its inhabitants. I gave him my travel blog page and we agreed to connect on Facebook. He's a smart guy...id like to follow his life. Oh...he doesn't want to get married or have children. He wants to do his own thing and never feel responsible for anyone.

Lucie and I walked to an artm, together to,get money. It's safer that way. My card worked ...surprise, but hers didn't and she'd have to try another day.

She and Debendra were. Is off to buy herbs. He'd found a guy on the Internet with his own little garden of them and even though difficult to connect with, even by email, he did. The guy lives very close to him and it took the Internet to connect the, lol

I took a rest for a bit and wrote about the day. It was getting dark and after the 6pm opening time for the Hard Rock Cafe...you know I had to go.

I found the address to the HRCafe - paid a taxi to take me there. It's in a very dense section of retail. Supposedly the second most dense sopping area in the world. Getting there was miserable the 20 minute ride made my eyes water, my nose tingle, and my throat hurt. I tried not to breathe. I was let out looked and asked and looked and asked and looked - NO HRC! I found a taxi to return me to the B&B but that was the most miserable hour. My eyes are still burning.

Upon returning, I immediately asked for a cold bottle of water. I returned to the room and remembered the fan doesn't work so I went back to.the guy who gave me the water. He came to the room, tried just what I had done and then said there was no electricity. I had him touch the warm transformer that my iPad had been plugged into just moments ago. He assured me that the fan works and that the power must have been cut and that it would work when the power came back on. He asked me when I wanted to eat after that...no connection there.

The fan never worked and I decided that I didn’t want to leave the room and ate a breakfast bar and went to sleep.