GAME 47: KATHMANDU, NEPAL

Greetings from the rooftop of the world !

Whilst Dan was sorting his replacement phone I nipped into the city to see what I could see. Arriving at Durbar Square, famous for its temples , I was told that it was closed til Wednesday .

I carried on walking by the busy main road. Unlike India , there are no horns going every 2 seconds here and people seem to be driving in lanes ! It’s a miracle ...

After around 20 minutes I noticed Tri-Chandra College across the road . It took me a good 10 minutes walking by it’s high perimeter wall to find the entrance . Once inside I saw quite a few students hanging around in groups . I headed past them and onto the basketball court at the far end of the campus . I was greeted with smiles and handshakes from the moment I set foot on the grounds .

I walked on court , plonked the jumpers down and really didn’t need to ask anyone to play .. I looked up and at least 10 lads were there ready for action . In the end we split into 2 teams of 5.

Jay R Dhamala was our star man ..bleached blonde hair and fond of the nutmeg, he drove us forward every chance he got . Suman Kharel was a cool player , very clever at finding space. Prashant Banjara was a languid player who never seemed to lose the ball and Biraj Khadra was ..enthusiastic !

I went in nets . The lads were playing so well that I only had 2 shots to save ..one was blasted past me from close range and the other I turned acrobatically around the post (well it smacked me on my knee and went out ) The game was played in a great but serious spirit.

We finished at 3-1 up and I chatted with the lads for a bit afterwards.

They are all science students , aged between 18-24 years . The college has over 10,000 students and this was their winter break , but many still come down to socialise. They have to pay to attend college and competition for jobs post-graduation is fierce . None of the lads were too keen on their neighbours to the south and all were eager to tell me that the Nepalese were more welcoming .

The vibe throughout the afternoon was brilliant . A couple of the lads gathered my jumpers up for me at the end , many others came over to say hello and all welcomed me to their country .

Being a college , I had walked in expecting a bit of mickey taking but instead I found genuinely kind and considerate people. Another uplifting and inspiring experience and a reminder how daft having expectations can be. ❤️⚽️