Departure Day 7th Jan 2010

So the train and tube weren't too bad at all - much better due to the kind gentleman at Euston who volunteered to carry my suitcase down two flights of stairs at the underground.
I was surprised to find that the underground also goes overground!! Never knew that!
Arrived at the Airport around 4pm and met up with some of the other volunteers - our flights was delayed by about an hr & 1/2 but this meant i had more time to shop for a hairdyer and adaptor! Also got a quick beer in at the airport (well i say beer - everyone else was knocking them back but i managed to stick to my plan not to drink for the next 10 weeks and had my faithful pint of lime and soda).
the flight to Deli wasn't too bad - we had unlimited films and games which were on screens on the chair in front which on take off seemed pretty cool but we didn't take off till after 11pm and the novelty soon wore off when i got tired!! Tried to sleep but with no luck due to the combination of the people in front who decided to lie their seats all the way back for the full seven hours of the flights, also lots of screaming babies (approx 6 in our cabin alone) and some crazy 'traveller type people' who got really drunk, had a domestic which latest around 3 hours then one of them decided it would be a good idea to pass out in the isle in a drunken stupor! As annoying as all this was it also made good conversation for all the volunteers and helped us bond.....
Arrived at Deli at around 1pm (Deli time) - the airport rep met with our group to let us know that they had decided to book us onto a different flights to Kathmandu which meant we had to go through another FULL security check before we could board....this didn't work out to well for me as the guards seemed to take a dislike to me and not only was i 'frisked' but also had my hand luggage thoroughly inspected. They tried to confiscate my camera (just because they liked the look of it) but i managed to strike a bargain and they took all 60 of my batteries instead!
The flight into Kathmandu was had some pretty amazing views of the Himalayas, i didn't get to see much of it myself because i fell asleep, but one of my fellow volunteers kindly took some photos on my camera for me.....
Arrived at Kathmandu and met with our in country project leaders Bal and Barat (they had been waiting for us for over 3 hrs because of all the delays). We went out to our bus - it was defiantly a shock is all i will say (The pictures will explain better than words, it will make sense when you see them - promise). Our bags were loaded onto the top of the bus and not secured!
We drove into Kathmandu and amazingly manage to avoid any casualties - the drivers here are 'crazeeeeee' - the sights were all lot to take it, more so due to the lack of sleep, especially the people burning bodies at the road side! (i didn't take any pictures of that understandably).
We were dropped off walking distance from our 'basic hotel' and i discovered that the expendable handle on my suitcase was broken - which was a bummer - as theres no chance i could lift it luckily someone from the hotel offered to put my 27kg case in their van and drive it to the hotel.
On arrival at the hotel we checked into our rooms and then had to go for our first induction - no good as i'd i was literally 'tripping' from lack of sleep.
We had 'tiffin' (dinner) on the roof of the hotel (Dal soup and bolied rice) then were permitted to go to bed. It was freezing cold in the room as i forgot to close the windows (der)- had my sleeping bag, thermal clothes and two quilts - guess i'm just ultra soft. The noise her is also pretty insane, stay dogs fighting, cars beeping and nepalese people breaking into song in the middle of the night! Had some cool crazy dreams too that the sun rose in the middle of the night and then set again and then rose again in the morning!
Woke up though and the sun had rose just as it would in the uk which was a relief!! I wasn't relieved to find that it was spicy potato curry for breakfast! The Chai was wicked though - packed with sugar and Cinnamon......delicious!