Plane crash. Again...

Our thoughts and prayers go to the families who have lost their loved ones in today's plane crash.
You think about the two children who didn't get a chance to live a full life here on earth, the pilot who only had six months left to retirement and everyone in between who was in the middle of ... living.
It is always a huge tragedy when these accidents happen, but there is no other way to reach these remote areas, unless you want to spend weeks walking up and down the mountains.
The weather conditions are often hard and there is not enough space for emergency landings in the Himalayas.
The pilots have enough experience to fly these extraordinary routes, but I'm not so sure about the safety routines, as the EU has mentioned when they put Nepalese flights on the black list.
Read more about the crash here.
Only STOL, short takeoff and landing, aircrafts, like the Dornier 228 and Twin Otter, can land on airports like Jomsom.
These aircrafts are used all over the world and considered safe according to the number of flights in relatively to accidents.
Watch a landing at Jomsom airport here and you'll get an idea of why this airport is one of the most dangerous in the world.

Spring and the border

Spring is here since a few days and we can feel the life spirits come to life yet again.
In Sweden we have a saying that it would be seven set backs before the winter ends, but here you can almost pinpoint the date in the calendar.
Mid February is the time to defrost and in just a few weeks we will switch the heater for the fan.
Spring blossoms always give you new hope!

Latest news about the border is that all border points are open, but so far there are still long lines waiting for petrol.
Maya says it's still difficult to find Indian products to sell in her shop, so everything is not back to normal just yet.
The new Nepalese prime minister KP Sharma Oli is in India shaking hands with important politics, but when you talk to the locals they don't give a rupee for these politicians.
KP Sharma Oli and his counterpart Narendra Modi a few days ago.

KP Sharma Oli and the External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj who says that India is not Nepal's Big brother, but it's Elder brother.
The reader is free to interpret this statement as you like.
Read the article here.

Happy Democracy day!

Today we are celebrating the public holiday Democracy day and it makes me think about how important this day is.
We take democracy for granted, especially after growing up in Sweden, but to be able to speak freely, love who you want, wear what you like, believe in any god and vote, is not everyone's right in this world.
People have been killed for us to be free and that is something we should be grateful about when we kiss our husband or wife, walk in the street in a sleeveless top or shorts, listen to music of any kind, pray to Buddha, Shiva, Jesus or Allah, as a women drive a car or walk alone in the city, go to school without fear of being raped or killed, or update Facebook with criticism about the government.
All this can result in prison, whipping or even death in some countries.
Here you can read how the democracy in Nepal came about.
Embrace the democracy and love each other! Peace!

Losar and Saraswati puja

Last week we celebrated the Buddhist new year, Losar, at Boudhanath.
It was a lot of people enjoying the festival.

Finally they have some sort of plan how to repair the stupa.
They have installed this snail speed wagon to bring bricks to the top.
I guess it only works when it's electricity, so it will take a long time before the stupa is back to it's usual glory.

Saturday we celebrated the Hindu Goddess Saraswati at Leya's school.
Watch a video of the puja here.

News from the border

Since we came back from Thailand we wish we were bears so we could sleep through the winter and wake up when spring is here for real.
Read these news. Of course we all want the border to reopen, but any kind of violence is wrong.

Thailand and 18 hours power breaks

I'm back! I know I just vanished, but we've been to Thailand for a month just enjoying the warm weather, lazy days by the pool and fresh seafood.
Guilty! Leya and I love McDonald's and since we don't have it Nepal, yet, our visits were frequent.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Nicholas' brother and his family and friends who came from Sweden to spend a few weeks in the sun.

Most of the time we spent in a small town called Cha-am, about 20 km from Hua Hin, and we found a price worthy resort with a pool, bungalows and a 10 minutes walk to the beach.
Leya finally got the hang on swimming and we both enjoyed to snorkel. You are never too old to find new passions!

This is paradise!

We hired bikes at the hotel. Tandem is super fun!

Before we went home we stayed a few days in Bangkok and visited the amusement park Dream World and Leya had the opportunity to feel snow and go down the hill on a sledge.
I know we are from Sweden, but Leya was only 3 years old when we moved to India, so she doesn't remember what a Swedish winter is all about.

We were so lucky to have the possibility to get away from Nepal for a while.
2015 was really, really tough with the earthquakes and the Indian blockade of the border.
When we came home from Thailand it was freezing cold, it was, and still is, more than 18 hours power breaks every day and the cooking gas in our home was finished.
But we have to be hopeful! Spring is just around the corner and some border points are now open, so slowly, slowly life will go back to normal.