Building new connections in Kathmandu 🤝
The last two nights of our trip was spent in the hectic and sprawling city of Kathmandu. We made great resource of our time here, and cemented a couple of groundbreaking new links which we cannot wait to start developing as we come closer to our second trip this summer.
In waiting to catch a flight back to London, we spent the last 2 days of our trip in the hectic and sprawling city of Kathmandu. We made great resource of our time here, and cemented a couple of groundbreaking new links which we can’t wait to start developing as we come closer to our second trip this Summer.
Our first night back in the city saw us exhausted but happy to have the western comforts provided by the Kathmandu Guesthouse, which is a modern accommodation mostly catering for Western tourists and foreign government officials. In the past, the Guesthouse has accommodated the likes of US President Jimmy Carter and The Beatles.
Thursday morning saw us visiting the prestigious GEMS Institute of Higher Education, a connection we made through team leader Sanjay, who attended this school in his youth. The school is one of the best performers in the country, and students here have a high chance of getting the opportunity of studying a degree abroad. Professor Mark made a short presentation to the A-Level students, promoting the Business & Economics Department at the University of Sussex, and informing them on the outstanding quality and standards of research that take place in this department.
Chris made a short speech in between Marks presentation, in which he introduced the audience our project and explained its significance. After wrapping up the presentation, we went up to the cafeteria and met up with a group of ambitious college students around a large table. As well as informing them on why Sussex is an excellent place to study, we also gave them more general advice on pursuing their desired careers regardless of where they choose to study a degree. We were blown away by their intellect, experience and ambition, and hope to welcome some of them to the University of Sussex in the near future.
After our chat with the sixth formers, Mr. Barun Khadak took us for a quick tour around the beautiful campus of GEMS, before finishing with a delicious lunch with him and his sister, Pujan Khadka. They are highly successful yet humble who work as the executive directors of the institute. During our lunch we discussed a wide range of relevant and engaging topics, and finished with proposals of a future partnership scheme between our university and GIHE, which was very exciting for us.
Later in the afternoon we made a visit to study abroad agency 'The Chopras'. Mark made a similar pitch similar to the one at GEMS, and rest of us advised some students looking to study either bachelors or masters degrees abroad.
In the evening, we went to Griha Bhojan, an exclusive restaurant accompanied by Nepalese cultural music and dance - a night organised by Agni Niraula. The restaurant was within a beautiful historical building quite tucked away from Kathmandu's normal grid, and the room interiors were vibrant and beautiful. A night of drinking rice vodka, eating amazing food and laughing commenced, and I couldn't think of a better way to finish this extraordinary trip.
The last day saw us visiting Nepal's famous Hindu temple, the Pashupatinath. We witnessed various Hindu rituals during our visit such as 'Lakh Batti Puja' where 100,000 lights are burnt simultaneously in hopes of a better, more fulfilling future.
After getting some photos of the temple and the monkeys which spend most of their downtime climbing across the mess of cables which barely hang from the cities lampposts, we gradually made our way to the airport. We said our final goodbyes to Agni Niraula and his family and thanked them for their incredible hospitality during our stay in Kathmandu.