Week 4 – Dhulikhel

This week was a normal week at the hospital.  Sumana and I worked mainly on the curriculum for the new batch of BPTs, and planned the 4^th year for the CPT converters.  We made good headway and have identified the bits I can help Sumana with while I am here.  This week we tried a session with the students that put the emphasis on the students doing the thinking, and encouraged them to think about the patient as a whole including social and psychological factors.  It was a really interesting session and at first they really didn’t get the relevance until we started looking at the physiotherapy role and then we could really see the light switch turn on and the realisation down – a really good session and a new concept for the students and Sumana.

Evenings this week were filled with walks home from work across the paddy fields with Jonas – we decided to take the scenic route in the hope that it would get us home and much to the amusement of the local farmers we saw.  We found our way back to the guest house, passing cows, goats and the harvested fields – A pleasant change from the dusty road.
On Wednesday we had the Norwegian girls over for dinner and Min did a great Dal Bhaat dinner and more lassi, he really knows how to cook the traditional dishes.  He learned everything he knows from his mother.

Thursday evening was spent at the KUSMS graduation party.  Here graduation is call convocation, and like in the UK it is a formal event, this year attended by the Prime Minister of Nepal.  The party began at 5.10pm and was due to run until 11pm.  We popped in early and found it to be empty so went off to Dhulikhel Lodge Resort for some dinner.  Unlike other parties we had attended at the hospital this one was outside, with a DJ and a full light rig.  The music they played was all dance music and a mixture of western and Nepali.  There were many UK songs that had been “danced up” which was interesting.  The bar was serving large quantities of alcohol, and by 7pm there were many drunk students falling around.  It was a novelty to ask the western girls to dance and it was a relief to have Jonas and Niv around to cut in when they got a bit “enthusiastic”. It was a great night and a chance to catch up with the other westerners from the hospital as most of us were there.

Friday was spent in bed, I don’t know if it was something I ate or the alcohol I drank but for the second time this trip I was ill and did not make it into work.  Thankfully by the end of the day and a few Imodium later I was feeling better.  Charlotte and I had a bit of dinner cooked in Min’s kitchen while he was in Kathmandu and had an early night.

Saturday morning I was up at 6am to meet some of the girls from the physiotherapy department for a trip to The Last Resort, which is an adventure resort set in a gorge close to the Tibetan Border.  The bus picked up Sumana and myself as it passed through Dhulikhel, and took about 3 hours to get to the Resort, including a tea stop and a stop to repair the bus.  The plan for the day was for us all to do Canyoning and for Deepa and Sumana to do the Canyon Swing.  We crossed the bridge over the gorge passing the platform for the bungee and the canyon swing and it was the first view of the 160m drop that Deepa and Sumana were going to experience later on.



Suniti, Sumana, Me, Deepa (in front), Bimika, Inosha

Bimika

This was the first time that any of us had done Canyoning and everyone was a bit nervous. We donned our fleeces, wetsuits, waterproofs, harnesses, helmets and gloves and set off with our 2 guides.  The scenery was amazing.  We took a 15 minute walk up the side of the valley, and were briefed before stepping into the first part of the river.  We walked and slid to the starting point for the abseil down the first of 7 waterfalls.  Each time we abseiled we had a guide at the top teaching us to hook on, and a guide at the bottom holding the safety rope. 


Inosha and Sumana

The first 2 waterfalls were shorter and easier, and each got progressively more difficult.  Unlike dry abseiling which I had done previously in the UK this was much harder because the rock surface was really slippery and the water was hitting you at the same time making it harder to concentrate.  I was never scared but it was really exhilarating particularly as we first lowered ourselves over the edge.  The last waterfall was 45m and to get to the end felt like a real achievement particularly for the girls who had not done anything like this before.  We took a 25minute walk back the resort, which was a steep stepped uphill climb – quite hard going in all the gear.



Deepa

Me

The end!

A lovely hot shower and a change of clothes and we settled down for a quick lunch before going to watch Sumana and Deepa make the jump.  They were nervous, but surprisingly happy before stepping out onto the bridge.  We sat under the bridge and watched them from the safety of the bank.  Deepa went first.  They are harnessed up and the elastic comes from the centre of the chest.  From the bridge they swing down and away from the bridge in a massive 160m arc. 

The view over the edge of the bridge where Sumana and Deepa jumped from.

The gorge is so deep that she actually disappeared from view very quickly.  The descent gives 7 seconds of free-fall.  We heard the screaming all the way.  Most of the screaming came from us it was nerve-racking to watch so I can’t imagine how it felt to do it.  Next was Sumana, she seemed a little more hesitant at the top to begin with, but then obviously decided that it was time, and off she went.  We heard the screams again and saw the rope swing.  After they had both finished we heard screams from the bottom of the gorge and this was the 2 of them having their moment together after the jump.  Whilst waiting for them to do the ascent back up to the top we saw their videos which really showed the distance they dropped and the speed of the fall.  They were totally hyper when they got to the top, both a bit surprised that they had actually managed it!

Sumana and Deepa after the jump - adrenaline still pumping!

We took the bus back, and slept most of the way.  It was a really good day out and I really enjoyed spending time with the girls away from work.  Inosha commented that they had never had so much fun with a fly-in – this is probably because they have all been much older than me, but it really was a lovely compliment.  There are plans for more trips afoot so watch this space…………………..