by Elliot Ash, Senior, Napa High School to katmandu When I got on the plane to Kathmandu this past June, I had no idea what I was getting into. L ast year my Napa High School history teacher, Steve Hatton, mentioned taking students on a backpacking trip through Nepal during a world history class. I was immediately intrigued and wanted to sign up. All my life I have loved to travel and been active outdoors. A trip to Nepal sounded extremely exciting because it would be a combination of both. Mr. Hatton explained that we would be trekking (hiking for many days, where there is no other form of transport), doing charity work, going on an animal safari, and essentially immersing ourselves in the culture of Nepal. I went home and pitched the idea to my parents, and lo and behold. . . they went for it. After reading a couple of magazine articles and watching a few movies I thought I knew everything about Nepal. It seemed that it would be similar to traveling up to Tahoe, where there are a lot of pine trees, and areas that are desolate, like much of Nevada. Our Nepal group consisted of three adults and seven kids. Three of them were incoming freshmen, two had already graduated, and the last two were going to be seniors. The group turned out to be fantastic, and everyone was up for trying new things, no matter how hard or extreme things became. Throughout my life I have traveled abroad to various cities. I have been to London, Paris, Rome, Nice, Florence, etc. None of these cities were like Kathmandu. Kathmandu’s population is a little over a million people, and you feel as if you have seen all of them on the first day because of 58 www. n A PAVA L L E Y L I F Emagaz ine .com the density. The loud noise from honking cars and people yelling made it difficult for me to think. At the same time it is a very beautiful city. My first glimpse of Kathmandu in the daylight was consumed with a scene I was not yet accustomed to. The city is strewn with the remains of a simpler time, and you can see religious temples everywhere you turn. At one point I saw a monkey scurrying along a telephone wire to get into a temple devoted to monkey gods. There is honestly no other place on earth quite like Kathmandu. Nepal also turned out to be very incredibly hot and humid. I suddenly regretted packing all of my jackets and the numerous layers of technical clothing that I brought along with me to wear. By the time I arrived at our little hotel, I had shed all of it and was trying to figure out what I should wear without getting heatstroke. Fortunately, one of our first activities was whitewater rafting on Trisuli, which kept us more comfortable in the heat. One learning opportunity for the group was to participate in giving back to a community that was completely different from my home in Napa. Many of us take our education and the nice buildings we learn in for granted. Our community service in a tiny mountain village of Bhetini had us rebuilding a two-room school. Our a d v e n t u r o u s l i f e The group before leaving Napa The group on an overlook in Nepal
NVLife_SeptOct_2013
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