Tag Archives: kathmandu

Arriving in Kathmandu

Posted on March 31, 2017 | 10 comments

As I mentioned before, I was excited and scared going to Nepal. Not for anything else but just for Chhori as she is so young and I wasn’t sure if she would be OK or not. But on the flight from KL to Kathmandu, I didn’t feel any anxiety or confusion. I was just happy to go to Nepal and meet our friends and family.

The flight was a short one, only 4 hours and Chhori handled it well. It was a really nice feeling to see the Himalayan range and the beautiful landscape from the plane window as we got closer to Kathmandu.

I knew Chhori wouldn’t understand much but I was happily explaining to her that we were going to birth place of her parents.

As we landed, cleared immigration and took a lift to ground level of airport, we were welcomed by a chaotic scene with so many people that it was hard to walk around.

Apparently, 10 different flights had landed at that time in Kathmandu and as they were only 3 luggage carousel everyone was confused and running around looking for their luggage. I was so thankful that AS and my dad were with us and looking for our luggage while I had to look after a very curious toddler trying to touch everything and anything.

Finally we found our luggage and made our way outside. AS’s brothers were there to pick us up and we were happy to be away from all the chaos.

Every time I return to Kathmandu I see so many changes and it was the same this time too. All the roads and buildings bring back so many memories.

Chhori was having the time of her life in the car as there was no car seat and she could move around. She was meeting with her Kaka (uncle) and kaki (aunt) and cousins for the first time.

My FIL and MIL were very happy to see Chhori after a year. It was so nice to see the grandparents – grandkids relationship.

In next few days, we went and met other relatives including AS’s grandma and my grandma who are great grandmas for Chhori. I am so happy that she got to meet them.

The sad thing to see was that they have aged so much in the last 3 years and that their health had deteriorated a lot.

We did have a great time with all our relatives and I was happy Chhori was having an amazing time with them.

I am going to write more about our Nepal trip soon in another post. Till then, take care everyone.

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

10 Comments

Posted in Nepal 2017, Travel

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Travelling with toddler

Posted on March 8, 2017 | 8 comments

First of all sorry for disappearing for so long, I think I have never not blogged for this long since I started blogging.

We went on a holiday to Malaysia and Nepal and somehow I was so busy that even though I drafted a few posts, didn’t have time to publish them. But now that I am back, I will write all about our trip and Chhori’s special birthday celebration in Nepal.

But let me first share my experience in general about our travel with Chhori. As I have mentioned in my posts before, I was bit nervous about such a long flight with Chhori. Even though Chhori has been on a plane before, the longest she has travelled is around 4 hours and she was great on that but it is a different story when it came to travelling to Nepal. First of all, we had to be on two different planes with a total time of 14+ hours and on top of that as she was under 2 years old and we didn’t have a separate seat for her.

We flew from Sydney to Malaysia during the day and that 9 hour flight was the worst of the entire trip. As it was day time, Chhori slept for only an hour and the rest of the time we had to entertain her. We had a tablet full of movies and rhymes for her and also a lot of snacks but it was a very hard job. She was OK for the first few hours and then she started getting bored. She would move from my seat to AS’s and we had to try our best to make sure she was busy so she wouldn’t cry.

At one stage, she wanted the whole seat to herself so she evicted me from my seat and I ended up on the floor in from of the seat.

AS couldn’t stop laughing and luckily as we were allocated seats with good leg room I had room to sit on the floor.

Chhori also played peekaboo with a couple behind our seat. She would stand up and say “boo” and sit down again. I hope they were amused and not annoyed.

In Malaysia, she was great as we went to different tourist spots every day and she enjoyed the new environment. She loved the fact that she didn’t have to sit on a baby seat in the car anymore and she enjoyed the freedom. Above all she enjoyed the fact that mummy and daddy were with her 24/7.

The flight from KL to Kathmandu was better as it was only 4 hours and she was OK most of the way. The worst part was when we landed and we had to wait for immigration and customs and the airport was bit chaotic.

Chhori is only 2 years old but I know for sure that she loved Nepal. In Kathmandu, we spent most of our time in AS’s home and she loved it there as she had her grandparents, uncles and aunt and cousin to play with her.

Every morning when she woke up, she wanted to go to the living area straight away because she knew there will be someone to play with her. She really enjoyed the company of her relatives and was really happy to play with her cousin.

We took Chhori to visit many of our relatives and she did really well. She was social and affectionate and very well behaved most of the time. She really made us very proud.

I am sure she would have been very happy to stay longer in Kathmandu but our holiday ended shortly after we celebrated her birthday and it was time for us to come back.

I was a bit worried about our flight back but luckily for us, it was better than the journey to Nepal.

On our flight from Kathmandu to Malaysia, we had an empty seat next to us so Chhori was happy to have her own seat. It did make our journey less stressful. From Malaysia to Sydney, we got a bassinet for her and she slept most of the flight even though she was a bit big for it. I was happy to have a peacefully sleeping baby which allowed me to rest and eat my meal without worrying too much.

I was so happy when we landed in Sydney because even though I loved our trip, the flight there and back was bit tough. I think if a child is over a year old and it is a long flight, it is a good idea to buy an extra seat for the child as it will be really helpful and gives you a bit more flexibility.

Take care everyone.

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

8 Comments

Posted in Being Mum, Holidays, Nepal, Nepal 2017, Our daughter, Travel

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Chhori’s first Tihar

Posted on November 2, 2016 | 4 comments

Tihar, the second biggest festival for Hindus after Dashain, was from 28th Oct to 1st Nov this year. Please click here to know more about the festival.

This year was Chhori’s first Tihar celebration so I wanted to make sure she had a great memory of the celebration.

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Tihar is celebrated for five days and here are some photos from our celebration this year.

  • Kaag / Kag (crow) Puja

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  • Kukur (dog) Puja

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  • Laxmi Puja and Gai (cow) Puja

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  • Goru Puja,Gobhardan Puja , Mha Puja and Nepal Sambat

As my parents are here this year, it was great to have a whole family celebrating Mha puja.

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  • Bhai Tika

Chhori does Bhai tika to my nephew. It was so cute to see these little ones performing the ritual.

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Hope everyone celebrating had great Tihar too.

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

4 Comments

Posted in Celebrations, Kathmandu, Nepal, Nepali Culture, Nepali Festivals, Newari Culture, Newari Food

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Bollywood fundraiser concert in Ashburn, Virginia for Nepal earthquake victims

Posted on May 25, 2015 | 3 comments

First of all a big thank you to Deepa, one of my regular readers, and all the organisers for organizing a fund raiser concert in Ashburn, Virginia for Nepal Earth Quake Victims.

If you are anywhere near Ashburn, VA on 5th June 2015, please go and support the event. It will be a fun night with lots of songs and dances by local artists.

Admission is free but please be generous and donate for a good cause. Rajdhani Mandir will make a one to one match for the first $10,000 raised. All proceeds will go to earthquake victims of Nepal and believe me every penny counts.

Details of the event

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Date: 5th June 2015

Time: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Venue: Clubhouse Lawn at Loudoun Valley

              43100 Barnstead Drive

               Ashburn, VA 20148

Thank you everyone once again.

3 Comments

Posted in Kathmandu, Nepal

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A heartfelt plea from my friend

Posted on May 18, 2015 | 2 comments

As most of you are aware a major earthquake struck eastern Nepal, the second one in two weeks. Over a hundred people were killed and more than 2,500 injured.

AS and I are lucky that all our close relatives survived the quake but not every family was so lucky. Here I am sharing the story the family of my friend’s first cousin. The family lost everything in the earthquake, their house, their business which was their only source of income, and above all their father.

“The earthquake that struck Nepal on 25th April claimed my father’s life. I still regret that I wasn’t home that day. My sisters were able to pull my mother out of the house and all my sisters managed to get out alive but my dad couldn’t.” – Sujan Malla (My friend’s cousin)

I know most of you have already donated to one cause or another to help Nepal but today I am requesting you to donate $5 if not more to this family and help my friend build a house for a family who have lost everything. I know skipping coffee for a day is not a lot to ask for.

I promise I will keep you posted how we go with the fundraising and once the house is built; I will definitely share the good news.

Here are some words from my friend.

My uncle’s family was a normal and simple Nepali family with a father, mother and kids. They were leading a simple joyous life running a family business “Newa Bamboo Kitchen”. Despite the mother’s poor health, the family was happy and always there for each other.

Suddenly the earthquake changed everything. The family lost the father, their only house and their business in one day. Now they are living in a tent with no source of income and an uncertain future.

When I saw the posting about the quake in the social media, I was worried about my uncle as he was already old and sick too. I tried to get in touch with the family but had no luck. After three days, I got in touch with my cousin and the news devastated me. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to lose a family member and to lose the house and the property that generated the only income to sustain the family.

There isn’t much I could do other than being sad and feeling sorry. I had few sleepless nights wondering how they must be bearing the pain. I couldn’t really be at ease and determined to try and raise some fund to give them a little relief from their burden.

So here I am requesting all of you to help this family. I know, you must have donated some way or another but I still request you to kindly spare 5 dollars for this family. Maybe we can cut back on some of the stuff that we don’t need right away. Monsoon is coming to Nepal soon and it is heart wrenching to even imagine how they will survive without help. Government help is slow to arrive and hard to get so we are the only hope they have.

Please click here and donate whatever you can.

I would like to thank you for reading this plea. Please help me share this link to spread the word amongst your friends and family.

Thank you,

Sunanda Dongol

2 Comments

Posted in Kathmandu, Nepal

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