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Itinerary - Gap-Year-Teaching-Nepal - Africa and Asia Venture
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Itinerary - Gap-Year-Teaching-Nepal - Africa and Asia Venture
Itinerary
You will fly together to Kathmandu, where Gaurav Chhetri, our Nepal representative, will meet you. You will stay in a small hotel in Thamel, Nepal's backpacker HQ. We will go for a drink at the Rum Doodle, frequented by those who have climbed Everest, and inspect the nightlife, which goes on until the small hours (after a long flight, you may not!). The following day you will get to know Kathmandu: the Pashupatinath temple, the Boudanath Stupa and the ancient city of Pathan. That night you will continue your struggles with jet lag (or the nightlife!), aware that you have a hill to climb the next day.
We will climb most of the hill to Shivapuri in a bus, but walk the last couple of hours to Shivapuri Village, in a conservation area where leopards still walk in the gardens. In this incredibly tranquil spot we will discuss:
- Nepali (if you can speak a few words you will be surprised at how pleased people are).
- Nepali History, religion, culture and customs.
- Safety, health, risk assessment and security.
- Teaching techniques for teaching English (and practise on each other!).
We will visit a local village to see how the hill economy really works, and end up learning some Nepali dances and songs. We will even teach you to cook a curry!
After the course is the long and often bumpy ride to your new home. We will go by bus and it will take pretty much all day, by the time we have come down from the Shivapuri hill, got round Kathmandu and wound down the long hill that will take us to the network of river valleys leading to Gorkha and Besisahar.
Once there you will be welcomed to your new home by your landlord. There will usually be a bedroom per 2 or 3, a (cold) shower and a loo, a communal kitchen and living room. You will cook for yourselves (normally on a roster where you take it in turns to cook for everyone) and shop in the market - bargaining hard!
Enjoy the busy evening streets - that is if you haven't found a game of cricket or basketball to join - or help to feed the family goats!
Your Time in School
After the course is the long and often bumpy ride to your new home. We will go by bus and it will take pretty much all day, by the time we have come down from the Shivapuri hill, got round Kathmandu and wound down the long hill that will take us to the network of river valleys leading to Gorkha and Besisahar.
Once there you will be welcomed to your new home by your landlord. There will usually be a bedroom per 2 or 3, a (cold) shower and a loo, a communal kitchen and living room. You will cook for yourselves (normally on a roster where you take it in turns to cook for everyone) and shop in the market - bargaining hard!
Enjoy the busy evening streets - that is if you haven't found a game of cricket or basketball to join - or help to feed the family goats!
- You will be welcomed to your school, usually with a few flowers or garlands.
- You will teach for a term (3 months), and there will be a long weekend break around half term.
- You and your teaching partner will walk from your house to your school each day in time for the start of school (around 9.00am but be advised that, in one or 2 cases, there is a small hill to climb).
- Most schools are secondary schools, but some start at primary or even kindergarten. Schools are a mix of old buildings and more recent construction, though there is not much electricity.
- Some schools have blind or deaf schools attached and you will be welcome to help there in your spare time.
- There are a few sports pitches - the hills are too steep to carve out many football grounds - and a game of volleyball or football is usually happening somehow, somewhere. Towns have pitches for use at weekends and you will be very popular if you arrange inter-school matches.
- In most schools children are taught in Nepali, but you teach English in English. In the ex-Servicemen schools, you may be asked to teach other subjects in English. We aim for you to teach 2 - 4 periods (45 minutes) each day, but you will often be in greater demand.
- Most children return home at the end of school but you will be popular if you can help with some games or music at the end of the day.
- The English teacher will usually look after you, but other members of the staff will also become your friends.
- At weekends you may take part in school activities (picnics are good fun) or go to visit other AV houses or perhaps go to Pokhara (food, dance and a western lifestyle) where you might also get up to see, close up, the sunrise on Annapurna.
The safari has 2 parts:
- Part 1. Two days rafting down one of Nepal's spectacular rivers, camping beside it for one night.
- Part 2. In the Bardiya National Park - by foot, elephant or jeep - you will go into the jungle to look for tiger, rhino, elephant and a host of other animals, some on the verge of extinction. You will be guided by an experienced Nepalese guide, who will point out some of the less well-known wildlife, such as the Gharial fish-eating crocodile.
You will have 3 weeks (unless you change your flight) of independent group travel and there are 2 options:
Trekking in Nepal
A shorter trek - perhaps the ABC (Annapurna Base Camp) trek in Michael Palin's footsteps - lasting around 10 days, then a bunjee jump on the Bhote Khosi or travelling to visit Nepali friends.
A longer trek - say, EBC (yes, Everest!) or round Annapurna lasting some 3 weeks. Travelling in India
Watching the dawn come up on the Ganges at the holy city of Varanasi?
Being an extra in a Bollywood movie?
Basking on a beach in Goa?
And of course visiting the Taj Mahal? You cannot really leave India without having seen this extraordinary monument to love. But remember that Mumtaj died giving birth for the 29th time! She'd have needed the Taj Mahal to keep all those children!
Of course, if you run out of time you can always extend your insurance and change your flight (your ticket will be flexible) to give yourself more time. As long as you keep in touch and travel with someone else we will do what we can to support you.
Your ticket will be booked to fly out from Kathmandu and you will probably want to indulge in some retail therapy in the back streets for one last bargain. Then you will wave goodbye to the white fringe of mountains that is the roof of the world as your flight climbs out of the Kathmandu valley. ‘Maya na Marnu' - "don't forget us" - as the Nepalese say. We bet you never will!
