Nepal!

As many of you may know, I haven't been living in Sandnes this past year, but in a small town in Telemark, about seven hours from Sandnes. I go to a Folk High School. Folk High Schools are a typically Scandinavian type of schools. You go there for only one year, and you take a course in something you enjoy. There's no exams, and it doesn't give you any degree. It's basically a year of fun, finding out what you like to do, it's a free place where you can pursue whatever you like, a bit of a break before embarking on a hard university education. Everyone lives together and the students become very close friends. I'm taking a music course, which means that when normal people have school, I play music. The rest of the day I'm trying to savior the few weeks I have left up there before the year ends and I have to get back to reality. I absolutely love it, it's been a wonderful year, and it's very sad that it's coming to an end.

Anyhow, in the beginning of March the whole folk high school embarked on a school trip. To Nepal! It was an amazing trip, with surprises around every corner. It was a very strong experience, and I'd like to show you a couple of the things we did.



During the whole trip we worked a lot with a child rights organization, CWIN, who helped child workers, street kids, orphans, kids with no education, etc. Nepal is the poorest country in Asia and there was a lot of poverty to see everywhere. Walking on the streets we were constantly being tugged at by beggars, little children living on the streets. You could walk on the sidewalk and almost step over a baby. So amidst all the sadness it was very uplifting to see all the good work CWIN was doing, all the projects they were running, and the good results they were getting. We spent a night at a CWIN oprhanage just outside Kathmandu. The picture is the music students performing a Norwegian folk tune for the children at the orphanage in the evening, I'm in the middle, in orange. It was a very fun stay, we played games and sang and danced with the children, had a bonfire, and got to know them a little. It was a sad farewell, but very nice to see how they had it at the orphanage.



Another memorable experience was a trip we had to a Buddhist monestary up on a hill. On the picture you can see it in the distance, it's the buildings with the golden roofs. It was a beautiful monastery, with enormous sculptures and colorful artwork everywhere. The colored flags are prayer flags, they were all over the place at holy sites. We were allowed in during a lecture with the monks, which was very interesting. It was a strange situation, I think it's quite rare to come inside during their lessons. Way in the background you can make out some Himalayan mountain tops. The pollution over Kathmandu was always thick, so the Himalayas would look like they were floating in mid-air.


We have two outdoor-lines at our school, "multisport" and "outdoor adventure". These groups went down to Nepal a week before the rest of us, to go trekking in the Himalayas. I was green with envy. What a waste for us, going all the way to Nepal and not getting to see Himalaya! Well, we got an offer down there that I couldn't resist, those who wanted could get up early one morning and go for a plane trip to see Mount Everest. Back before breakfast, just catching the sunrise over Himalaya. Yup, that's it, right there on the picture, highest point on the planet, just outside the window. Well, it was an incredible trip, although obviously nothing like being there on foot. If nothing else, it's convinced me that I have to come back and hike in Himalaya. What a place. I don't necessarily have to climb one of the dangerous mountains, just... walk there. Read some ancient Buddhist wisdom first then hike up there for a couple days. Yup, that should do it.



Here's me and some of my best friends, Håkon, Anne and Simon, outside the hotel we stayed at. It's the Yak&Yeti, allegedly the nicest hotel in Nepal. A bit unnecessary, you might say, but actually the standard was near-western at best, and it was kind of nice to have a bit of a safe haven amidst all the chaos of Kathmandu.


One of the days the music line visited Nepal Music Center. We rehearsed some songs together with a Nepali band during the day, and had a concert in the evening. I now know five verses, in Nepali, of the catchy and highly addictive Nepali folk tune, Resham Firiri. We also performed a few songs at a cultural gathering we had one night at the norwegian embassy. We also had a full day of sightseeing around the Kathmandu valley. While it is now basically one huge urban area, it was earlier split in to three different kingdoms, each with its historical center and points of interest. The rivalry between these kingdoms was strong, and resulted in some spectacular buildings. As it was an extremely isolated place (the Kathmandu valley didn't have road connection with the outside world until the 1930's) they put all there time in to competing amongst themselves. We saw many palaces and temples. And yes, animals lying around in the streets was common.

So there you have it - I've come back from a fantastic trip, filled with fun, excitement, and plenty of awesomeness. But there's a lot more than that, which will stick with me for a long time. I'm so glad I got to go, it's been the definitive high point of my Folk High School year, and that's certainly saying something.