Follow us on our journey of volunteering and self discovery somewhere between the chilly mountain wall of the Himalayas and the steamy jungles of the Terrai.
Stick with us and discover snow peaks and Sherpas, monasteries and monks, ashrams and prophets, temples, tigers, rhinos, deer, monkeys, elephants, leopards, sloth bears, wild boar, yaks and yetis, magic and mystery.
On our flight to Kathmandu, we flew over Bangladesh. There was so much water. I think it may have been flooding, but we haven't heard anything.
We arrived in the evening. There were so many people outside. A policeman kept blowing his whistle and hitting people with a big bamboo stick. I didn't really like it.
There was a big crowd around us, they kept bumping me. They wanted more money than mum would pay them. She kept saying no. Finally a man agreed with mum's price for the taxi.
On our ride, we saw three monkeys, two cows and heaps of dogs and people in the streets. Mum said the cows are sacred, that means they are very special. I think Ted (he's in my class) would like Nepal. If you kill one you have to go to jail for two years. No steaks for me!
Our hotel is very nice. We have 4 beds and have lost power twice since we have been here.
Yesterday we flew to Kathmandu. When we came out of the airport it was a bit overwhelming. There were so many people!
I liked the taxi, because it was a van. It was very comfortable and I didn't have to wear a seat belt. The streets were very dark. They don't have street lights like home.
The streets were very busy, I saw cows, monkeys and heaps of dogs!
The place we are staying at is very nice and the people are lovely.
When I look out of our window I can see a roof next door. It is made of grass and there is still some growing.
There is no shortage of food to choose from in Bangkok. My boys love to scour the streets to find their meals each day. It's fresh, it's tasty, and it's downright delicious. They love it!
Each day around 4ish in a street not far from ours, a lady pushes her cart to her usual set up spot obviously reserved just for her. Every evening she painstakingly sets up her stall to make it look as appealing as she possibly can, in the hope that passers by choose to buy from her.
She's never busy and yet she never gives up. We've observed her for a couple of evenings now, and we've come to the helpful conclusion that it's the food she's selling. It's just not that enticing.
The menu consists of cooked, Bombay Locusts, Grass Hoppers, Silk Worms, Bamboo Worms, Mola Crickets, Crickets, Leaf Chaffers, Locusts, Ants and Frogs.
(If you double click on any of the photo's you get a larger view).
Cody and Taiga don't look enticed!
Why is it that we become so conditioned about what we eat? If it's not chicken, fish, lamb, beef or pork, my kids just won't touch it. Are we missing out? Are we the misguided ones, not eating what is so readily available to us in our own backyards?
I think back to when I was a kid; my mother would creep up on grasshoppers that were chowing down on her well manicured rose bushes and slap two thongs around the offenders. I'm wondering if she shouldn't have been slapping two slices of bread around this possibly tasty treat.
In a world where resources are becoming increasingly scarce I decided we should try eating from her stall and I dragged my reluctant sons along with me.
As we stood there staring at her dinner menu, with just the various bugs on offer, I have to say, nothing really appealed. It was going to have to be process of elimination. The things we really couldn't stomach down to the things that we may be able to keep down.
All I can say is I'm sure those Bamboo Worms have taken up residence in my throat.
Today we are going to Nepal. I enjoyed Bangkok very much and I really like our hotel.
Last night Mum had Bamboo Worms for dinner, they looked gross! She drank lots of Yukult after, but said they still felt like they were in her throat. The lady tried to get mum to eat a Grasshopper, but mum said she eaten sufficient thank you.
She tried to bribe me, so I'd try one, but I still wouldn't touch them!
Our arrival to Bangkok was smooth. The weather is still hot and very humid. We caught a bus from the airport to Banglumpoo, a district in Bangkok.
"When you get off the bus, wait with the bags whilst I unload them from the bus. Hold on to them; don't let them out of your sight." The instructions seemed clear enough.
Yet as I disembarked with the last bag, the boys were surrounded by Thai touts offering them accommodation and walking off in various directions with the bags!
The responsibility role still needs a little fine tuning.
Now, we are carrying about 80 kilograms of luggage. 20 kilos of which are actually ours, the other 60 kilos are pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners, clothing, shoes and toys so generously donated by Cody, Taiga, our friends and the T.S.S community.
According to Cody and Taiga I had underestimated the distance of our walk to our hotel by one kilometre. Oops silly me. We walked roughly two kilometres with 80 kilograms of luggage in 33 degree heat and 55% humidity.
As we trudged along the street toward our hotel, red faced, perspiration dripping from the ends of our hair, our muscles aching from the weight of our bags. I am pleased to say, no bag got left behind!
When we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, we saw two very tall people and a very short person, from the taxi. We looked for them every day, but never saw them again.
On our last evening we bumped into them in the street.
We have a photo of Cody and I with them. They were from Pakistan.
We have met lots of people from different countries.
Mum said that they must have a sad life.
We have also learned that Malaysia's number one export is palm oil. You should know that Nestle!
Malaysia was two hours behind Australia, and now we have just adjusted our watches again for Thailand. It is three hours behind Australia.
As we whisked through the streets of Kuala Lumpur on our way to Sunway Lagoon Theme Park for the day, I looked lovingly at my sons. Wondering will they be young men on their return to Australia? Will they have compassion for others? Will the bonds of brotherhood be bound for life?
We arrived early, so we decided to show Cody the ice skating rink that is so popular at Sunway Plaza.
We oohed and aahed at the talented skaters and then as the time drew close to opening hour at the park, made our way toward the doors. As we scurried along the walkway my flatulating son grimaced. Then red faced announced that he'd tried to pass wind yet again. Seriously! As I held back the desire to say "I told you so!" we dashed him to a nearby local toilet.
I often refer to him as number one son, due to the fact that he is slightly older. However due to his new found habit, I now think he should be called son number two.
In the words of Cody and Taiga, "This is a theme park", Sunway Lagoon Theme park is awesome! What a great way to spend a steamy day cooling off and having fun.
We'd made a pact early in the day to stay right up until closing time, 7pm.
It was nearing 3pm when the other son, was advised to settle down as he ran off to roll down a slide.
As we sat in the back of the Sunway Lagoon ambulance, being driven to the accident and emergency room at the local hospital, blood running down his chest and pooling in his belly-button, I held back the desire for the second time that day to say "I told you so!"
To put your mind at ease he is fine and the chin just needed gluing back together.
I held both my boys hands tightly, as we left the theme park two hours early. I looked lovingly to the son on my left with an inability to listen and fart and then lovingly to the son on my right with an inability to listen and roll.
My thoughts from the morning crept back, will they be compassionate? Will their bond be strengthened? Actually, now I'm just wondering if they'll survive!
As part of our journey I have insisted on a blanket ban of multinational food outlets, i.e Mc Donalds, Hungry Jacks (Burger King) etc…
My reasoning is that in order for us to understand the culture of the country we must try to communicate in the local language and eat the local foods.
So, due to Ramadan each evening after 7pm we join the crowds in the street of our local neighbourhood and enjoy the local cuisines. We have discovered an absolute plethora of delicious, albeit spicy foods. Surprisingly the boys have made this transition relatively pain free. Or so I thought.
There are many lessons a mother must teach her children to prepare for life. At 4am this morning one of my sons learned one of these lessons. Never force flatulence in Asia!
As part of our journey for the day, our taxi driver took us past Pudu Prison. He began a barrage of prayers and blessings, and rambled on about seeing ghosts with no heads. The poor man was visibly quite upset, telling us he could see the ghosts. The boys thought it was awesome, despite their inability to have any visuals themselves.
Pudu prison was built by the British colonial government. It is adorned with what was once the longest mural in the world. According to our very nervous, ghost whispering taxi driver, 6000 people have been hung there. [sic]
Many were subjected to caning. This is a form of punishment that is still imposed today. Men and women can still receive a sentence of caning combined with prison time.
Schoolboys still receive caning with a light rattan for being disobedient!
When we arrived in Malaysia, we had a very bad trolley. It kept laying down and all our luggage kept falling off. I suggested we get rid of the trolley and pull our suitcases. Mum thought that was a very good idea.
Today we are going to Chinatown to look at the Chinese version of iPads and WinPads. Mum says we can't buy anything until we are on our way home. The taxi driver said there is a 50/50 chance of getting a good one. Dad says we should wait and see when we get back to Australia. But we heard they are only about $98 here. Taiga and I want to have a look at them.
Mum has been telling us about altitude sickness for when we get to Nepal. Which means your brain swells up so much that it bursts a little bit and you can die.
So we did an experiment with a packet of chips on the plane. I had Twisties and Cody had Cheetos. The packets expanded so much that the Twistie 'brain' actually split and died. The Cheetos expanded, but deflated again when we landed. It was way cool!
It is Ramadan here, so the Muslims can't eat during the day, but can eat after 7pm, so there were lots of food stalls in the streets last night. We had some delicious foods. Mum has taught us some Bhasa Malay, so we can use some of the language now.
We saw a pedestrian get run down by a motor bike. He lived but we think he would be very sore today.
Some granny's threw cake at us. Mum said they were offerings for a god or gods, but I think they were really throwing them at us.
The flight was a very long 8 hours, 10 minutes and 37 seconds. The reason I know this is because there were no movies and no music on the flight. It was just us: two nine year old boys and an ever increasingly doubtful mum. What was I thinking?!
At the planning stage of this trip Steve and I decided that the boys were not to have electronics of any means. The only things we would bring with us were Taiga's computer and a camera to record our adventure. Very bravely I had asked Steve to erase all games and movies.
So you can imagine my horror when I realised there were no movies on the flight. The boys didn't see a problem, after all we had Taiga's computer. It should have movies and games. It was then that I broke the news to them. No Nintendos, no games, no movies. But hey, we all have a sick bag we can colour in. So we did.
Cody studied the emergency evacuation plan, to the point that he asked questions because he felt that the plane we were on didn't match the diagram in the seat pocket in front of him. In all my flying I have never seen anyone ask questions during the air hostesses' demonstration. By the look on their faces I don't think they had either.
We were served a meal almost immediately after take off. The boys had little burgers and some goodies. To their disgust and the hostesses' dismay they had been served a Kit Kat.
For those of you who don't know the boys have been boycotting Nestle products since they discovered Nestle had been buying palm oil through illegal deforestation in Indonesia.
We all survived the flight, to arrive to 31 degree temperature in Malaysia. This is the first leg of our journey. I'm not sure of the humidity, but it's high. One son proclaimed that we are doomed! And the other announced that we should never have left Australia!
With those words ringing in my ears we begin our adventure. x Lisa ( Slightly frazzled mum)
