31 December 2015 - the sun rose at 0515 slowly at first but finally it broke over the Himalayan range to the north. It was not perfectly clear as the valley was shrouded in mist but the snow covered peaks were just visible in the distance.
After a leisurely breakfast - no porridge unfortunately - we finally made it out for a walk to town. At the bottom of the drive we met Deepak who had a nice line in local hiking knowledge. After some haggling we agreed a hike in the afternoon starting at 1300.
The town of Nagarkot is really a one horse drop and the area did suffer in the 2015 earthquake. The school classrooms are now largely corrugated iron sheds and cracks are visible in many of the buildings. We did but a few knick knacks along the way so something was put back into the local community.
Back at the hotel preparations were in full swing the New Year’s Eve bash and at first sight it seemed that lunch was off. But unperturbed Stuart collared the manager who was passing at the time and magically a cheese sandwich appeared.
Our afternoon hike took us through the pine forests and into the terraces. Sandeep took us to his village which was really just a collection of 3 or 4 houses.
This area had suffered in the earthquake and his traditional wood, stone and mud house originally built by his grandfather some 60 years ago was reduced to one of its former three stories. The government provided those affected with 15,000 Rupees relief which everyone used to buy corrugated sheets. Although the cost of wood, labour etc was more than this. Now Deepak and his family sleep in the ‘tin’ house and store and cook in the remains of their house. Theirs is a typical story of rural Nepal.
After a leisurely breakfast - no porridge unfortunately - we finally made it out for a walk to town. At the bottom of the drive we met Deepak who had a nice line in local hiking knowledge. After some haggling we agreed a hike in the afternoon starting at 1300.
The town of Nagarkot is really a one horse drop and the area did suffer in the 2015 earthquake. The school classrooms are now largely corrugated iron sheds and cracks are visible in many of the buildings. We did but a few knick knacks along the way so something was put back into the local community.
Back at the hotel preparations were in full swing the New Year’s Eve bash and at first sight it seemed that lunch was off. But unperturbed Stuart collared the manager who was passing at the time and magically a cheese sandwich appeared.
Our afternoon hike took us through the pine forests and into the terraces. Sandeep took us to his village which was really just a collection of 3 or 4 houses.
This area had suffered in the earthquake and his traditional wood, stone and mud house originally built by his grandfather some 60 years ago was reduced to one of its former three stories. The government provided those affected with 15,000 Rupees relief which everyone used to buy corrugated sheets. Although the cost of wood, labour etc was more than this. Now Deepak and his family sleep in the ‘tin’ house and store and cook in the remains of their house. Theirs is a typical story of rural Nepal.