Macey Small’s travel blog - A diary of her first trip to Nepal
“Sincerely, the trip was amazing and beautiful and for me exists now as a week outside of life.”
In September 2023, a group of friends of New Futures Nepal visited Nepal, many seeing the country for the first time. During their trip they got to experience the culture and meet the people of this wonderful country. The group got to see first-hand some of the work we do in Nepal, visiting both the Bhaktapur Parents Group and the Hope Centre. Nepal often has a profound and lasting effect on its visitors and many recall their first visit with great fondness and a belief that the experience changed them as a person in some way. Indeed, such experiences were the catalyst in the creation of this very charity.
Over the coming months we will hear from some of the young travellers who were part of this group. Here we hear from Macey Small, as she recounts her experiences during the trip.
Day 1 – Arrival Wednesday
The long flights were immediately forgotten as we were escorted from the airport by Tilak and adorned with fresh flowers! The bus to the Kathmandu Guest House gave me the first sight of the Nepali traffic rules which I came to love. I probably wasn’t the best entertainment on the bus journeys because I just sat and looked out the window at the organised chaos and daring motorcyclists. We had dinner at the hotel with the Mahers and were introduced to Ghorka beer (definitely became a staple) as well as each other. The thali served was my first taste of Nepalese food and it was incredible.
Picture 1: 3 giant gold statues at the Swayambhunath ‘Monkey Temple’ in Kathmandu.
Day 2 - Thursday
Starting the day off strong with a climb of 365 steps to Swayambhunath ‘Monkey Temple’. The stupa at the top was so quiet and calm and sparked a reverence for the whole place. Everywhere was beautifully colourful with amazing views of Kathmandu from being so high. Tilak showed us a picture in the museum of the city before urbanisation with a single house in the valley. Crazy.
We walked down and visited another temple and attempted to bring ourselves good luck by trying to throw coins into a bowl in the middle of a fountain. None achieved. However, this was made up for by the 3 giant gold statues hiding behind the trees (picture 1).
Then we visited the Palace Museum to learn about the history of Nepali Government. Tilak’s sponge of a brain made every place 10x better by having a personal tour guide. You never want to be out of earshot.
We took the bus to Boudhanath stupa (photo 2) and I saw monks walking around with airpods in and a constant parade of people circling the stupa. We took lunch in Boudhanath at Flavour’s Restaurant as a proper friendship developed within the group at sit down meals. “Nepali time” allows for hours of conversation at the table. Tried my first momo! Delicious, omg.
First Hope Centre Visit! We were treated like absolute royalty with the warmest most appreciative welcome – all the children introduced themselves beautifully and we were given hot tea as well as scarves and handmade signs. After a quick trip to the shop to get ice creams for everyone, we played with the games we brought for hours in the courtyard. Any language barrier can be overcome with games.
Picture 2: Boudhanath stupa seen through the streets of tourist shops on the approach.
Day 3 – Friday
We took the bus in the morning to meet with the Bhaktapur Parents Self Help group for cerebral palsy and were greeted with another warm welcome of origami flowers and scarves from the children. We spent time singing and dancing with the children and admiring their beautiful artwork that covered the building wall to wall.
Afterwards, we visited Bhaktapur with Nirmala, a beautiful ancient village, and had another delicious lunch (pattern forming with the food) upstairs in the square. More momos (obviously) and we tried different plates recommended by Nirmala. Climbing the stairs of the ancient temples provided amazing views of the mountains sitting behind the walls of the town and sealed Bhaktapur as one of my favourite places we visited on the trip (picture 3). Lunch was of course followed by more shopping in the maze of streets in Bhaktapur before heading back to Thamel.
We enjoyed another amazing dinner in the Kathmandu Guest House followed by a not-so-brief trip to the Fat Monks Bar in Thamel. All I’ll say is that we proved our British stamina for alcohol. We spent a beautiful few hours on the rooftop bar overlooking the streets of Thamel (picture 4/5) and played cards with the Mahers. Core memories. The youngest of the travellers (Thomas, Hiran, and me) then carried on the night at Lord of the Drinks, which is apparently the 49th best nightclub in the world!? Showed up any British club with the intermission of a trapeze artist performing to Ed Sheeran. Surprising to say the least.
Picture 3: One of the ancient temples scattered around the beautiful village of Bhaktapur, offering amazing views of the surrounding Himalayas.
Picture 4: Thamel offers many bars and restaurants, including those with rooftop bars with beautiful views of the surrounding city.
Picture 5: More R&R in the rooftop bar in Thamel.
Day 4 – Saturday
We took the morning to visit Pashupatinath Temple and saw the beautifully moving cremation ceremonies at the riverbank, where, again, you only want to listen to Tilak who seems to know everything about everything. Amazing man. We were all adorned with blessings from head to toe and spent hours walking around charmed.
Lunch at a viewpoint in Patan (everything is an opportunity for a leg workout) in Durbar Square where we watched a storm roll in and out as we ate sheltered. After lunch we queued outside, and watched seemingly hundreds of people pour out of a tiny courtyard before we were able to be blessed with seeing the Kumari appear at the window. Back into Thamel for dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant where, as a group, we got closer by the minute.
Day 5 – Sunday
Packed up and on our way to Nagarkot in the mountains. The weather was beautiful, and we decided to walk the last 45 minutes into the mountains with a quick stop at a tea house with the most gorgeous views (I’m going to keep reinforcing how amazing the views were. Nepal is beautiful) (Picture 6). The Nagarkot hotel was perfect with all the rooms facing east towards the Himalayas for the best sunrise you’ll ever see. And because we felt we hadn’t done enough walking for the day; Tilak took us on a reccy for the sunrise walk the next morning. We met the most adorable dogs that keep you company as you walk (not as good of a tour guide as Tilak of course) (photo 7) and even stayed with us as we got caught in some end-of-monsoon torrential rain. We ate dinner in the hotel accompanied by the biggest moth I hope to ever see (picture 8).
Picture 6: Dad/trustee Andrew Small taking in the spectacular view from the tea house on the way to Nagarkot.
Picture 7: The group caught in torrential end-of-monsoon during a reccy for the sunrise walk the following morning.
Picture 8: The biggest moth I ever hope to see joined us for dinner.
Day 6 – Monday
4am rise for the climb (I don’t use that word lightly) to the sunrise viewpoint and despite the clouds hiding Everest from us, the sunrise was still stunning, and we got all our exercise out of the way early, right? Wrong. Brief breakfast interlude, then 9am proper trek with Bijak into the mountains. More beautiful views of course (picture 9) and saw the Nepali Army training along with some leeches, which hitched a ride in my walking boots and had a lovely meal. No harm done :) After the trek we deserved a lazy afternoon in the swimming pool (and jacuzzi) and played cards into the evening.
Picture 9: After a 4am trek to a sunrise viewpoint and a hearty breakfast, we took in the views on a mountain trek.
Picture 10: I’ve fallen in love with Nepali paper. Here is a card we made for Tilak.
Day 7 – Tuesday
We said goodbye to Nagarkot and headed back to Kathmandu, and Thomas’ impromptu tattoo gave us time to wander around Thamel and do a bit more shopping. I fell in love with the Nepali paper and bought cards and calendars. (Tilak’s card picture 10). While Dad (Andrew) and I were sitting in the garden at the hotel we were approached by a lady who read us her poetry that she had written in and about Kathmandu. Incredible.
In our final trip to the Hope Centre, the children showed off their amazing dancing skills (all of them can dance!) in solos and group dances with the younger ones. Adorable. In a shameful attempt to match their dancing skills, the Brits performed the only dances we all knew…the Macarena and the Cha Cha Slide. Pathetic in comparison but the children were so keen to join in that our embarrassment was easily forgotten seeing the smiles on all their faces (and ours) as we danced in the rain. Beautiful moment. Diane’s inner PE teacher came out and we played even more games as the sun set behind the mountains.
After a final goodbye from the children (and even more scarves which are all hanging up in my bedroom now) we headed back to Thamel. Back at the hotel, Dad followed Thomas’ lead and got a tattoo to mark the end of our trip.
Dad, Thomas, and I said goodbye to the rest of the group who were staying for a few more days and headed to the airport. An emotional goodbye with Tilak snapped me back into reality that I wouldn’t be able to stay in Nepal forever, though we immediately got to planning our next trip in the queue for bag drop!
Sincerely, the trip was amazing and beautiful and for me exists now as a week outside of life. The Nepali people and their attitude to life was inspiring and the return to the harshness of Heathrow airport was tough. This was definitely the first trip of many, many more (only if Tilak is there <3).
Macey Small.
