Fours Days of R&R
We're back from our R&R. It's important to point out the past 4 days have been on our
own time spending our own money - taking nothing from the project. Being here for 2
weeks, this was basically our weekend away from the work. We had to adjust our plans
due to bad weather. Monsoon season is beginning in Nepal. They track the annual
weather system as it builds in the Bay of Bengal and then marches across the country
from the southeast. They receive an average of 62 inches of rain each year. The daily
rainstorms clean the air and convert the dry landscape into a lush green one. Anyways,
we had to change our plans to due to the rainstorms. We were going to do a 3 day hike
in the Everest region but instead we went on a one hour mountain flight from
Kathmandu along the Himalayan mountain range. It was a wonderful experience. The
plane only sat 20 people, everyone gets a window seat. We take off to the east and then
circle back so everyone gets a stunning view. We took 100's of pictures and video we
will share when we get back.
After the mountain flight we drove up into the mountains closest to Kathmandu to an
elevation of about 7,000 feet. We took a cable car up to one of the peaks where there
was a Buddhist temple but the view was mostly fogged in. We then drove a few hours to
a mountain top hotel that usually has a stunning view but it was also fogged in until
sunset when we caught a few glimpses of the highest snow covered peaks. We then
drove to a tea plantation where we thought we might spend the night but the conditions
were just a bit too "rustic" for us, so instead we went back to Kathmandu and stayed in
what used to be a royal game preserve for the King of Nepal but is now a resort and golf
course. The animals still roam the grounds. We didn't see any tigers but we did see
100's of monkeys and Rick hit a bucket of golf balls at the driving range.
All the time we were on the road, Madhav was making phone calls for the project. We
were arranging for the wi-fi to be fixed at the school in Kabilash so Rick could install the
weather station. We were also lining up cement rings to build a water collection well,
sources for water pipe, electrical hookup and construction of the water storage tank.
Needless to say we enjoyed ourselves but we were still getting things done.