“On a Mish” #421(GUEST POST) Changing Lives – Mine Most of All. The 2023 Ganesh Himal Charity Trek (Part One). Aotearoa New Zealand to Nepal. 28.10.2023. We arrived at the airport with seven check-in bags mostly filled with clothes for the Nepali villagers. So grateful to all the people who have given us really good quality warm clothing to donate. We just made it – had 90kg between us and weighed in at 88! After a long flight via Singapore and a lot of noise and fuss at the airport trying to get visas, we were greeted with beautiful smells of spice in the air and strangely quiet streets.
After a couple of days enjoying the assault on the senses (in a good way) that is Kathmandu we headed off on our big adventure. So exciting to see the beautiful countryside and magnificent mountains as we wove our way out of the city. We were quite the novelty when we stopped for coffee – and my first attempt at a traditional squatting toilet! From here the road got very ‘interesting’ as we made our way to Gogane in Nuwakot for the opening of the new Gogane Primary School library sponsored by Active Hearts Foundation. Here we were treated like royalty, given many garlands of marigolds and sat up the front where we had to listen to numerous speeches – most of which we couldn’t understand!
Later we drove for about an hour on even rougher roads before starting our first walk, which was short but very steep. We ended up in Gogane which is the home of our main guide Arjun Adhikari. Our tents were already set up for us, including the very welcome toilet tent. There were about a dozen people working in the kitchen which is basically just a hot plate in a veranda. Dinner was mushroom soup plus beautiful fresh vegetables from the garden and goat curry.
We stayed two nights in Gogane so the first morning we walked up the hill to see the pipeline Active Hearts has installed. This has been a life changer for the many small villages below.
Then back to the village for some amazing vege burgers and chips. How they get such fabulous food out of such primitive facilities beats me! This afternoon we went back down the hill to Sababato School where we got to visit the very first Active Hearts Foundation library. Starting to see a pattern emerge – each village is grateful for what the charity has done but also has other things they would like money for. The meeting at this school was easier as most of the key people spoke English. Then back to Gogane for a dahl bhat feast which is traditionally eaten with the right hand. All finished with some delicious apple fritters and chocolate sauce. This trip was not going to be the weight loss program I was hoping for!
Last morning in Gogane we were up for a hot drink at six then had a yoga session before breakfast – today it was the best porridge with pomegranates, watermelon and rock melon plus heaps of other food. We had a tour of the village including Arjun’s childhood home where his Amma (mother) still lives. The place is tiny and it’s hard to imagine all nine siblings also sleeping there. Arjun’s dad always slept outside. Amma gave us all a blessing and we were off on a mish into the remote Himalayan Foothills…
