Farewell Godavari

Sunday morning sees us bidding a fond farewell to Godavari and CWC. The view this morning is spectacular with lots of  snow covered mountains visible. It's also sad to leave the children, but we will see them once more before we leave for home.
After an hour in chaotic Kathmandu traffic we arrive at the airport for our Buddha airlines flight to Pokhara. Pokhara is a 25 minute flight south of Kathmandu. Our hotel is lakeside and we are surrounded by mountains, no snow visible from here though. It's incredibly peaceful and picturesque. Our afternoon is spent exploring the shops and lakeside.

A busy day - movies and lots of presents...

Saturday morning we set off at 8am with 35 very excited children and about 20 adults in 2 mini vans, yes I think there is a joke in there! But it worked.  We went to a large shopping mall with the cinema on the top floor, and after a little confusion with the seating (they still have numbered seats) we settled down to watch the movie. It was a Nepalese movie, fairly easy to follow (maybe the Nepalese subtitles helped), but unfortunately it didn't have a happy ending! The return trip to Godivara was very quiet, children asleep on our laps and all round us! They had had a big two days. And there was more to come....

After a rest for all we returned late afternoon for what could have been described as 'Christmas in September'! 35 excited children sitting patiently at their desks while we handed out presents we had bought. It's amazing how a ball, pack of cards or a small toy can mean so much to someone. For me, that was my Christmas. St Bernard's  at Mt. Gravity donated a parachute which provided lots of fun and laugher. After yet another lovely meal at CWC we returned home ready for our night cap and bed!

Trekking in Godavari!

A little bit behind in updating our blog. Friday morning 10 of us set our for a stroll around the village led by mummy from CWC, two and a half hours later we completed a up hill and down hill trek through some very picturesque and interesting countryside surrounding the village! We found out it was mummy's morning walk - at least 10km! We all felt very pleased with ourselves!

After a well earned rest we headed down to CWC for a special concert put on by the children both past and present.  We were greeted by the younger children looking resplendent in traditional dress. As special guests we were seated on the stage for the official part of the proceedings during which Henry was presented with traditional outfit given to boys when they reach 6 months and start eating solids, he enjoyed being the centre of attention and behaved perfectly! The children entertained us for several hours with songs, dance, poetry and drama skits. This was followed by dinner for all attending.

We are now in the beautiful countryside, not too far outside of Kathmandu. This is where the CWC orphanage is and we have had the pleasure of visiting the children and had the pleasure of getting to know them and we are going there again today. This afternoon they are going to do a presentation for us that they have been practising for a while.
This morning we are doing a village tour with a young man who was at the orphanage as a child and now works there in an administrative role. His name is Birendra but he is usually called 'brother' as they are a great big loving family at the orphanage.

Have now been in the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu for three days now and am getting used to dodging cars, motorbikes, bicycles (brave people), tuktuks and have now established that Nepalese drivers drive on the left side of the road, hard to tell sometimes, especially in the alleyways around our suburb of Thamel. Off to visit the orphanage today out in the countryside, looking forward to that.

Our first visit with the children at CWC

Namaste! 3 hours later and gin and tonic and I've got into the blog! Seriously now, where do I start...so far we have had 5 amazing days in chaotic Kathmandu. We've seen some amazing sites and visited many temples and world heritage sites. The food and company are great, and we have been privileged to share the arrival of young Henry's first tooth! We are now in the countryside which is so peaceful. We had our first visit to CWC orphanage yesterday which was very emotional, the children are wonderful, highly intelligent and their English both reading and writing is excellent. We are looking forward to spending the next two days with them.
Before I order another G&T while sitting with Nene overlooking the picturesque countryside, a funny story...last night after a delightful meal at CWC we decided to have a night-cap.  So 10 ladies ordered 10 different cocktails.....7 willing staff, 1 cocktail instruction book, 1 SOS phone call to the cocktail barman (who was on his day off , and appeared in his pyjamas).......AND one and a half hours later we all enjoyed our drinks! This has put a whole new meaning to a 'cocktail hour'!
Now for my G&T , Cheers!

MT EVEREST FLIGHT

This morning 6 of us (Cassie,  Pam, Moira, Bernadette, Irene and I were up early to do the Everest Flight.  The flight was delay, but that gave us a chance to chat!  The flight was smooth and comfortable and the view spectacular and as clear as a bell.  We went up to the cockpit, plus saw Everest and the other mountains, plus from our window seats.  Everyone had a very good view and enjoyed the experience hughly.  We are waiting for Bev, Ann and Liz to arrive to later today.  I will post a photo later.  Penny

Hi Everyone
I am finally on the blog! Thanks to Ann, who showed me how easy it was. We are at the airport, waiting for our flight to be called and I'm amazed that I am here at all because I just got back from Europe three days ago and all I 've had time for was washing, sleeping and repacking. Glad to be here though and very happy to be on the blog.

First there were 5 lovely ladies & a happy baby relaxing before the 5W Nepal Tour in the beautiful courtyard of the Kathmandu Guesthouse! Welcome to Nepal for the first time Cassie, Irene, Baby Henry, Nene and Penny.

Penny French

Hello my name is Penny French and along with my daughter Renee I will help lead this fabulous tour.

All the preliminary work has been done and now I have the next three days to get myself organised. 

Renee, Henry and I will stop over in Bangkok for a couple of days before landing in Nepal midday on Thursday 19th September.  We will spend the next few days making final preparations and making sure everything is order for the first participants who will arrive from Canada the next day. 

Most of us will do the Everest Scenic Flight just before the tour starts.

Temperatures in Nepal should be very comfortable 25 degrees dropping fairly low at night. 

Anyone following this blog:  welcome, please feel free to add any comments along the way.

Thank you so much to 5W for making this tour possible, we have participants from England, Wales, Canada and from Sydney, Gold Coast and Brisbane - buckle up everyone this is going to be a great journey.

Talk soon,

Penny

Hi Girls!

I've finally made it onto the Blog.....it's only taken a few frustrating hours but let's just say it was a learning curve.

I'm really excited to be included on the tour as I am the "ring in", but it was an opportunity not to be missed (when I mentioned it to my husband he just said "go for it"! and I am). I have always had in the back of my mind that one day I would like to volunteer overseas and this will give me a taste of what it is like. Nepal is also on my bucket list!

This has been another big year of travel for us including the US, a Caribbean cruise continuing across the Atlantic to one of our favourite cities Barcelona, and then a week in Paris where I fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams to visit Monet's Garden in Giverney, it was amazing!

We have only been back about a month from another two cruises an unforgettable Norwegian cruise, which included sailing to the Polar ice reaching 82 degrees north. Then for a complete contract we flew to Istanbul, another favourite city and cruised the Black Sea for 10 days - with very interesting destinations. And now, an adventure of a totally different kind -  it's Nepal here I come.....

When I'm not travelling I work for the Library Service on a casual basis which I enjoy. It's my spending money for travel!

I look forward to getting to know you all and have added a photo of Mike and myself taken in Bergen.

See you soon, Cassie

Hi, I'm Eleri.  I'm from Wales and Welsh speaking.  I worked in a library until I retired last year as I have a few young grandchildren that needed babysitting.  I'm also a grt-grandmother if a baby girl.
I'm looking forward v. much to the tour in Nepal and visiting the Children's home.
This will be my 3rd visit to Nepal and love the country v.much.
 The people there are lovely people.  My last visit was in 1998 so a lot will have changed I 'xpect.

I love travelling and these are photos of a holiday in   Morocco 2009.  Were you on that trip Ann?