Holiday at Home

This past two weeks has been a break for the big Hindu festival of Dashain (think Christmas). School has been closed and we’ve enjoyed our break. We were supposed to go to Pokhara for a week, 200 kilometres west of Kathmandu, however due to the continuing fuel crisis we elected to stay home.

While we probably could have got there and back it wasn’t a guarantee and we didn’t really want to risk it with the uncertainty that continues to surround the situation. While there is some fuel and gas getting through the border now it is still a trickle compared to the normal amount that comes through and the concern is now for a humanitarian crisis in the areas affected by the earthquake.

The riding crew

But apart from our holiday we are still not significantly affected. We can afford the increased food costs, we’ve got enough gas to last us a while and we have been experimenting with all the things you can cook in a rice cooker (turns our quite a bit – this week we’ve had banana cake, biryani, pasta, soda bread amongst other things)

So instead of holiday away, this week we’ve holidayed at home. On Tuesday we went with 3 other families and our BMS Action team (a gap year program) to a forest resort about 10 miles south of us. Due to the fuel crisis finding vehicles to take us there was always going to prove difficult, so about 14 of us, including a number of upper primary aged children, cycled the 10 miles, mostly up hill, to the bottom of the resort before walking the 30 minutes up the steep hill. The 14 others squished into two taxis (plus drivers) which cost about 4 times the normal price, but allowed the young kids and those who didn’t fancy the ride to get out there. Once at the top of the resort we made a fire, had a picnic lunch and enjoyed toasted marshmallows, a wide game and a day outside the city. The return journey on the bikes mainly involved brakes and very little cycling and took less than half the time!

Enjoying Picnic with friends and Action Teamers

Thursday we visited the zoo. We’ve been there many times, but it’s always fun for the kids, especially when we go with friends, and the BMS Action team.

Then Friday we decided to hike out to Chobar, a small town on a hill about 3 miles south west of us. Both kids walked the whole way, with plenty of up and down hills, as we walked there and back with another family and of course the BMS action team! A third family cycled out there and we enjoyed a picnic, games and some cricket before the hike back.

So while we didn’t get to go away, we’ve enjoyed our holiday at home, kept active and managed to get out of the city a little bit. Next week it’s back to school.