Goodbye to Kathmandu, now in Pokhora

I believe that Bronwen did a great job on the descriptions about the trip to Thakre for the nutrition clinic, so I will remind you of the Global nursing blog that is on the link below. It was quite an eye opener, and I can only imagine how much work it would have been for some of the women, or siblings, to bring the children all the way there. At one of the elder care facilities, they are trying to raise enough money for a larger underground water tank which would greatly improve the quality of life for the 27 women, 3 children, and 1 caregiver. Do to the generous support of family and friends back home, I was able to leave a couple of donations with them. Although it was only about 1/6th of what they needed to build the tank, they were very thankful. I was also able to leave money to replace the old or missing bed sheets for all the residents (as many of you may know, eldercare facilities tend to go through sheets fairly quickly). We also took with us some towels, and other hygiene supplies with the money.

We said all of our farewells in Kathmandu, spent a long night of packing, and then hopped on a 6 hour bus ride. Now in Pokhora, and enjoying the quiet calm of the city on the Lake, I cannot imagine how quick the time has gone by.

I went on a trek with Jayne and Tom to Panchasse. Just after we arrived at the peak above the 'three sister's sacred heart tea house' , we sat at a viewing point and watched as the Annapurna peaks appeared one by one from behind the clouds until they stood in all their magnificent glory in front of us. What a show! We were very lucky, as it was the first time in a while that the mountain range was clear. Back at the tea house, we had the best Dhal bat since our arrival in Nepal; they had a beautiful organic garden at 2030 m... We awoke the next morning to the spectacular view at sunrise, just before the clouds hid the mountains away again, as if they were not there at all. On the way down, we swam in the cleanest water I have seen since here, and enjoyed every second of it, even if we caused a stir with some of the locals...

The bus rides here are and adventure in themselves. On the way back from the trek, a woman asked me to hold a plastic bag. I thought, sure why not. About 20 min later, the bag started to move. And I realized that the food I was holding was in fact still alive. After my little screeches, and lots of confusion, I was told it was a fish, and after looking at it, I would say the ugliest, creepiest fish I have ever seen. But at least I am entertainingfor everyone else.

We went to Green Pastures Leprosy Clinic for a few shifts and got quite an eye opener on the impressive abilities everyone has there. Between the nursing staff, doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, kitchen, workshop for prosthesis, and holistic attitude towards care, I learned a great deal about collaboration and client centered care. It was very nice to be there, and we were welcomed with open arms. There will be a post on the nursing blog about our final week there, so I won't bore you with hearing it twice. But I do find the use of honey there in wounds facinating and it's success impressive.

I had to say farewell to most of the group, and will miss them in my last 2 weeks here. Yesterday I had an exciting adventure; I went with a couple of friends I have met here to a local water fall / cave called Devi's fall. I think the one guy has taken a lot of people there and at first felt a little bad for making him return. But this time we ventured deeper into a cave, through some water and found ourselves in quite a neat cave that surfaced a ways down near a river. It was full of bats, and quite refreshing to be somewhere that isn’t a typical tourist place, and fun knowing that our friend had also not been there before. From there we went to the Mountain museum, the hot springs, and the bat cave. However, the bat cave was no longer quite as interesting as the hundreds we had seen previously in the day; but enjoyable none the less.

Unfortunately I had to postpone my trek by a day as I ate something somewhere along the way that I apparently should not have, I sent my two trekking partners and guide on their way, and I plan on flying up to meet them tomorrow when they return to Jomsom. It means I will miss the small hike up to and from Muktinath which sits at 3800m, but probably for the best in the condition I was this morning. I am on the mend now and excited to get up there tomorrow. Will return to Pokhora next Saturday with more to share I am sure.

Until next time- Jodi