My Home Away From Home: Kocanna

Outer Kocanna is a town (about 2 miles long) located about a 45 minute drive south of central Kathmandu, this is where I have been for the last month or so. It is a very peaceful and calm town, it is built along either side of a straight road that runs from Kathmandu going to Central Kocanna (which is much bigger but still as quiet) and Bugmati (a very old town further south)
There are shops of all kinds along this road from bed makers to building suppliers as well as a good few local shops selling fruit, veg and almost anything else you may want (like a very mini supermarket) None of these shops (other than one or two) can you actually walk into. Most are just extensions of peoples houses with a counter at the front of the shop. You often have to peer over the counter and yell 'Namasta!' to wake the sleepy shop owner that is napping in the back.
Although there is a good variety of shops there is little variety in goods- all the shops sell the same things.
People seem to use the shops as a meeting place and the road is always busy with locals playing games (the local game cannon board is popular- a mix between air hokey and pool), talking, laughing, arguing! (usually over who won the game!), drinking tea and children flying kites whatever the time of day as the shops open at about 7am and close at about 8pm. Dogs, (mostly strays) chickens, ducks, cows and goats fill the streets and all seem to get along with one another. The animals are all very fit and healthy as they do nothing but run around and eat all day! The dogs are another story, there are simply too many. They often fight and have huge cuts on their ears. They have fleas and mange so bad that some almost look like stone. This is the most upsetting thing being here and is not pleasant to witness but when there are starving people it makes you a little heartless towards these unfortunate animals. Having said that it is great to see (and be part of) a local community of a different world. I walk up and down the road quite a bit, for lots of reasons but mainly just out of curiosity! I get stares of curiosity back wherever I go but I think that people are getting used to me being here. If I see another westerner I find myself becoming very protective of this little town and wonder what they are doing here- they look so clumsy and lost, and that is maybe why I don't like them intruding, it reminds me that I am one of those clumsy fools walking aimlessly around! I always thought that I would enjoy seeing a familiar face (even though I had never seen it before) but I find it no comfort.
The traffic is comparatively quiet out here and mostly consists of local buses going two and fro from Kathmandu to central Kocanna, motor bikes (hundreds of them- Honda must make most of their money here as 95% of the motor bikes are Honda Hero's) and the odd car every now and again.
Walking south along the road the atmosphere changes completely. As you walk along towards Bugmati, shops and houses get fewer and the land to the right of the road dips into a great valley and slopes up again on the other side where there is a view of some fantastic mountains. (although Nepali people insist on calling these hills as they are not big enough to be mountains) A huge tree that looks nothing like I have seen in England sits on the edge of the slope down to the valley and you often find locals sleeping or playing here. Two small, but beautiful restaurants to the left and the local school make this a very tranquil area and almost a different world although it is only 10 minutes from the busyness of the shops and houses. By night the valley comes alive with lights and you can see Kalanki, (where ICYE's office is) and hundreds of lights dotted about all over the hill. A small restaurant sits at the top of the hill on the other side and looks virtually impossible to get to, and indeed it is. If you want to have a meal there you have an extremely steep climb up and if you are lucky enough to get there before dark there is the daunting task of getting back down in the pitch black with, no doubt, a few drinks in you! The stars here are also the greatest I have or probably ever will see. You can really see that the earth is round from this point and a dome of stars fills the sky- a million more than ever I have seen, each crystal clear and so bright.

My orphanage is right in the middle of all of this and a little way back from the road....................