nepal Archives - Maia Travels

View of base campe with Everest in the background

Everest Base Camp – Part 3

Day 6 – Acclimatisation in Dingboche
I think this was the windiest day I have ever experienced. Our acclimatisation hike from Dingboche (4410m) to Chukung (4730m) for lunch was a gentle but constant ascent, coupled with similarly constant buffeting from the wind. There were many frozen puddles and streams we had to cross and one actual frozen river that was somewhat stressful to cross but a thrilling experience regardless. Unfortunately I didn’t take many photos because it was so cold I didn’t want to take my gloves off.

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Prayer flags, mountain path, huge mountains looming in the background

Everest Base Camp – Part 2

Day 3 – Acclimatisation in Namche Bazaar

Best breakfast ever: rice pudding. A great start to the day. Now a few people were confused and thought this was supposed to be a rest day. Sorry but no. The point of acclimatisation days are to hike to a higher altitude during the day and then go back down lower again to sleep.

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Socks hanging with a view of the Himalayas

A Day in the Life of a Volunteer

A typical morning for the volunteers in Batase began with an 8am (Nepali time) breakfast made by the lovely chef Norbu who specialises in all things delicious. Pancakes, porridge, beans, rice pudding or Tibetan bread were just some of the things we could look forward to each morning. Often accompanied by multitudes of jam or honey, or chilli sauce if you lean more in that direction. And a cup of tea. Sometimes people woke up early to watch the sun rise over the Himalayas. Would recommend.

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Monash University goes to Nepal

After arriving in Batase on Sunday afternoon we were straight into teaching on Monday morning. The first day of teaching for any volunteer is a daunting experience, especially when the local teachers take the period off when you’re teaching their class because they assume you have it covered. With so many volunteers teaching at any one time, the Take On Nepal staff had their work cut out for them getting around to all the classes and translating for us to help our lessons run more smoothly. They did a wonderful job, and the disruptive younger kids really respond to their authority.

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Hiking To Batase Village

After returning to Kathmandu from Pokhara, Mum and I met up with the 16 Monash University Education students who were coming to Batase with us to volunteer in the school, and the one Monash Coordinator accompanying us for just the first week. After a couple of days sightseeing in Kathmandu, including Boudhanath stupa and Swayambhunath the monkey temple, we set out for our two day hike to the village.

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View of Kathmandu buildings from my room window

Arrival in Kathmandu

Leaving Melbourne on a 12:30am flight was a bit of a drag, wasn’t until 4am that they’d finally fed us, cleared the trays, and allowed us to sleep. Before we knew it everyone on the plane was fighting for a view out the windows to get the astounding first sight of the Himalayas. They never fail to impress, those looming ice-giants. And soon enough it was “welcome to Kathmandu”.

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Off-Peak in Pokhara

I’ve heard great things about Pokhara over the last few years and when planning my return trip to Nepal there was no way I was going without a trip to Pokhara. It had it’s ups and downs, that’s for sure, but Pokhara has definitely lived up to its reputation.

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