A group of 28 Senior School students will be travelling to Nepal in the April school holidays. The students will be visiting the Khumbu region (Everest side) of Nepal and performing community service projects while they are there. They will be doing works of service with an orphanage, a medical facility as well as tree-planting in areas of deforestation. Committed to aiding an area of great beauty, this trip is a wonderful example of the way our students want to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
Kristin have a progressive educational philosophy which allows students to interact with the world and experience many activities like this Nepal trip.
Ann Mair, teacher of Geography will be leading the group along with Andrew Churches and Roger Lewis. The objective of the trip – to be fulfilling in both mental and emotional ways for every participant. Click here to view itinerary.
International Trip Blog
Sunday 4 April
We leave this evening on a flight from Auckland to Singapore. Meeting at the Auckland International Airport at 9.00pm sharp. We suspect that despite the flight being an overnight departure, there will be very little sleep amongst the excitement.
Monday 5 April Everyone arrived at Hotel Manaslu in Kathmandu right on time, all be it a bit weary from the long journey (Singapore to Bangkok, then Bangkok to Kathmandu), but the bus ride through the kaleidoscope (and chaotic traffic) of Kathmandu, a nice meal in the hotel restaurant and a promise of a late wake-up call tomorrow put everyone right.
All is good and the only 'problem' we have can be easily fixed with 10 hours of sleep in the cool and easy temperatures we're enjoying in Nepal. From us here in Kathmandu it could not have been a better first day.
Tuesday 6 April
The staff and students slept exceedingly well after the exertions of the 30-hour journey to get here.
We've got an easy morning planned that includes a visit out to the Umbrella Sanctuary - Mr Churches and Mr Lewis have taken some students over to Umbrella to see what needs to be done and to plan for the full immersion community service projects on 16 and 17 April when everyone returns from our trek.
Part of the morning will also be spent organizing the dental supplies and the impressive amount of woollen beanies and other clothing that will be distributed while in the Everest region. Another, equally large amount will be left behind at the hotel in Kathmandu so that it can be donated to the Umbrella Orphanage when we return from the trek.
Ms Mair has the rest of the group sorting out the gear and will take them up the road shopping in the main tourist area known as Thamel. A good place to pick up any last minute equipment for the trek as the prices are much cheaper than in New Zealand.
We are going to have lunch together with another large IB school group visiting from Singapore, The United World College. They have just come down from the same Everest trek which we will depart on tomorrow, so there will be a lot of of anticipation and experiences exchanged.
In the afternoon we'll take everyone on a walking exploration of Kathmandu to Durbar square - the Durbar square is surrounded by spectacular architecture and vividly showcases the skills of the Newari artists and craftsmen over several centuries, in the centre of town. It will be a great first impression of Nepal. Then it's back to the hotel for final packing and prep for the trek.
Wednesday 7 April A 4.00am start this morning for the 31 members of the team who went to the small, domestic airport in Kathmandu and took off in three, small, twin otter aircraft for Lukla. We travelled with four big duffel bags of invaluable dental supplies that will be donated to the Namche Dental Clinic. The rest of the luggage was loaded on yaks and would travel with a porter. Upon a safe (and spectacular) landing, we were met by our trekking team, had a second breakfast/early lunch at the North Face Lodge and then walked to the first stop on the trekking phase to our lodge in the village of Phakding. Everyone was looking forward to the unforgettable experience of hiking in the high Himalayas.
It was a three and a half hour walk and the trail was wide and dusty, and the weather quite hot, once we got started. We covered about 7.8km today, but the short distance should not be confused with effort, it was at times, quite hard. We are up at about 2800m so oxygen levels are down to about 70-80%. Tomorrow is the hard climb up to Namche Bazaar, six or seven hours of walking and a substantial height gain.
We have one sprained ankle (from running in the hotel in Kathmandu!) and a couple of us have headaches but all is well and good here and it's so nice being in the mountains.
Thursday 8 April Have arrive at Namache Bazaar – it took our fast group six hours to trek here and the slower group, seven hours. A height gain of 3000ft - that's a huge haul in one day, really tough, but the students did so well. The climb included three hours of uphill ranging from Nepali flat (moderate uphill) to Nepali steep (almost a rope and ladder).
Namache is the unofficial capital of the Khumbu region of Nepal and is a major stop-off point for trekkers and climbers heading for Mount Everest base camp. It is cool and we have been out shopping this afternoon in the Bazaar. Tomorrow is a rest day in Namche - it is possible to suffer altitude sickness here, therefore we have been advised to spend at least two nights in the village to acclimatize. We will have a side trip tomorrow to the Everest View Hotel for a great view of the roof of the world (we caught a snap shot today which was exciting). During the afternoon, we'll be doing community service at the local dental clinic.
All the students are happy and working well.
Friday 9 April Today was our free day to explore the marketplace, the National Park Museum and to climb to the neighbouring village of Khumjum. The Edmond Hillary Museum located there gave a comprehensive history of mountaineering. The day hike today was also for altitude acclimatization, it was a 1000ft vertical climb and took one and a half hours walk, but it was so worth it. Sagamantha (Mt Everest) was clear in the morning air - very moving.
This afternoon we visited the Namche Bazaar Dental Clinic which is sponsored by American group, The American Himalayan Foundation. In 1981 Dr Brian Hollander, who worked at the American Dental Clinic in Kathmandu, found that Sherpa children on the Everest trail had four times the degree of dental decay than children off the trekking trail. His dream of a modern dental clinic became a practical possibility when Namche Bazaar eventually received electricity from the hydro plant at Thamo and the clinic opened in February 1991 after a young Sherpa girl called Nawong Doka had been sent to Canada to train at a dental school, Nawong still works here today. She is a passionate, enthusiastic and generally amazing woman.
Prior to our trip, the students had collected toothbrushes and dental equipment. This was donated to the clinic. Being the only dental facility in Khumbu region, people walk for four to five days for very low cost dental care (100-150 rupee's which is NZ$2-3). The next closest surgery is in Kathmandu which is a one hour plane flight away. This is impossible for almost all here. We are pleased we could help, even a little. Nawong took us on a short tour of the clinic and thanked us with traditional silk scarves called Kathas.
Tomorrow we trek to Tangboche, this is a five to six hour walk with approximately 1000ft height gain.
Saturday 10 April Today's trek was one of the most beautiful in the world. We travelled from Namche to Tengboche. After climbing out of Namache, the Himalayan panorama of mounts Ama Dablam, Lhotse, Nuptse and Mt Everest itself unfolded into an unforgettable view. Surrounded by snow capped mountains and towering peaks, the trail was through rhododendron bushes in glorious pink and red flower. The scenery was described by the students as being “out of this world” and was a real geographer's delight in every direction.
We trekked for three hours along a level trail before dropping down to a suspension bridge across the Dudh Kola River before a difficult two hour climb to Tengboche where we arrived for a late lunch. The group did very well on yet another hard climb but arriving here to the monasteries and the mountain vistas through the prayer flags was well worth their efforts.
This afternoon the plateau echoed to the boys' (led by Lewis) practising the Haka (for later on at Umbrella Orphanage) and the girls (led by Georgia) doing their song.
It's going to be a cold night as soon as the sun sets and there is a distinct possibility of us waking up to frosts tomorrow. Our happy group are now settling into our comfortable Gompa Lodge (3870m) to watch the sunset.
Sunday 11 April Waking up this morning to a beautiful sunrise was superb, surrounded by these majestic mountains all gradually glistening under the sun. Blake videoed the whole sunrise! Unfortunately no frosts but still very cold at 6.00am.
After breakfast, we went on a four-hour walk up to Pangboche at 4000m, enjoying beautiful vistas, glaciers and an amazing river gorge. Pangboche is one of the first Sherpa settlements and the location of the highest public school in the world! Pangboche School. The air is definitely thinner and the walking harder, for some of us. We went back to Tengboche for a late lunch and then the group attended puja (prayers) in the monastery. Asked about their 40-minute experience, the students came up with words like: "mesmerising", "haunting", "entrancing" and "totally soothing".
Monday 12 April Today we enjoyed the most stunning walk from Tengboche to the little village of Phortse, a much more traditional village located at the entrance to to the Gokyo Valley, which is at the same altitude as Tengboche. Off the beaten track, it was a walk on NZ tramping-type trails and meant we were not avoiding yaks and porters and other people for the three-hour walk.
Lunch in Phortse was a big hit - toasted cheese sandwiches! It was an afternoon of camaraderie with hilarious charades and other games, before some energetic students climbed up through the village to the little monastery and up to 4100m (just to say they had done so). The rest of the afternoon and whole evening was spent with many card games (somewhat noisy!) and poker dice being played.
The views of the peaks are spectacular from our comfortable lodge. This trip is going too quickly!
Tuesday 13 April Back in Namche Bazaar and the students are all out helping to boost the Nepalese economy! Poor porters and yaks which have to carry the increased loads!
We woke today to SNOW! (finally). The mountains were absolutely beautiful and everything so picturesque, covered in a white layer. We set off before the sun had reached our side of the valley and dropped down to the river to cross before climbing steeply for about three hours. Layers of clothing were being peeled off at every stop. The top of the pass at Mong La (3960m) afforded breathtaking scenery in all directions, including back to Tengboche, the Everest View Hotel and Phortse, as well as those fabulous mountains. It was then an 'easy' trail back to Namche, arriving here for lunch.
Feels very familiar to be back here (where we spent two nights on the way up) and the students were asking for “their rooms”.
This evening we celebrate Claire's 18th birthday and we have a cake and candles. What a place to celebrate turning 18! We had a similar celebration on the way through on the 9th for Tim's 17th birthday.
Wednesday 14 April Today we head back to Lukla, a long, downward tramp followed by a nasty 350m climb to finish off the day (could take us as much as seven hours to complete).
We'll overnight in Lukla before flying back to Kathmandu on the early flight. Lukla Airport has one of the steepest runways in the world, at the end of which is a drop to the valley below. The aircraft fly out through the valley with towering peaks on either side.
Thursday 15 April All are back at the Manasulu Hotel in Kathmandu after a 4.00am start to catch the first flights out of Lukla. We flew out on three aircraft from this amazing airport. The previous two nights had seen thunderstorms and the morning greeted us with a fresh layer of snow on the slopes.
This morning, on our return from Lukla to Kathmandu we went to the huge Buddhist Stupa at Boudhanath (the largest Stupa in Nepal) and the Tibetan markets that surround this cultural and religious icon. This afternoon will see the students cleaning up and resting before two days of community service at Umbrella Orphanage.
The students are also playing a international three-way Football tournament against the students from the local international school and the children at the Umbrella. We are hoping that our ample Football skills and eight days of altitude training will stand us in good stead.
Friday 16 April We have just got back to the hotel after the big dinner out at the restaurant at Bodenath Stupa. This was the culmination of a huge day, starting with the visit to the Monkey Temple, high on its vantage point over-looking Kathmandu. The students climbed up the hill to see the huge stupa and stunning views, frequently punctuated by choruses of “how cute” as they saw monkeys wandering through the crowds to select their favourite delicacies from the offerings.
From there, we walked down the hill to the Umbrella Orphanage to start the next stage of the service aspect of the trip. Umbrella was started by two compassionate ex pat teachers at the local international school and it has grown into one of the most successful and progressive NGO efforts, working to offer sanctuary, education and hope to the thousands of young orphans, street kids and refugees of poverty.
The lead team of Fran, Kate, Keegan, Kristy and Lewis had visited the orphanage earlier and toured the houses. They had identified the houses that we would be able to work on. The students were asked to help decorate and paint the outside areas, and after a full morning's work the walls and floors sported world maps, animals, time pieces, alphabets, numbers and much more. The students had transformed bare, concrete walls and paths into interactive play areas. Two artistic works stood out; the six metre long landscape of the Himalayas, complete with names (Hugo, Nikita and Lisa) and the stunning Umbrella logo (Lisa). The landscape was especially significant as the houses are named after the local peaks.
After lunch, the students presented to the children of Umbrella and their guardians; the clothing that had been collected, the donations from the Junior and Senior School mufti days, as well as 318 hand knitted beanies - one per child - that Fran had organised in her service component of the CAS programme. The other 400 + beanies are now proudly worn by children up and down the trekking route to Pangboche and back.
The presentations ended with a stunning singing performance by the Kristin students and a Haka from the boys. The video of the song and Haka will be well worth watching and we'll try to upload it here when we get back.
It was hugely satisfying for us to hand the entire organisation of the day over to these capable young people and watch the excellent developments they made.
Saturday 17 April Today presents a different style of community service as we are playing in a three-way Football tournament between Lincoln International School, Umbrella Orphanage and ourselves. These matches will help to strengthen and support the importance and value of the work done at Umbrella while providing a enjoyable sporting occasion and outing for most of the children who live here.
We'll have our final dinner in Nepal tonight.
Sunday 18 April
Instead of an over-night stop in Bangkok, we ventured straight home on Silk Air from Kathmandu to Singapore and then flight SQ285 to Auckland.
Due the current air traffic disruptions, it was deemed wise to go to the airport early in order to avoid all the European travellers clamouring for Lufthansa flights etc. to Europe. We got to the airport at 9.15am and it still took over an hour to get everyone sorted and through to the departure lounge.
We therefore, unfortunately, missed our last itinerary activity and did not go to Pashupatinath Temple en route to the airport. One of the most important pilgrimage destinations for Hindus is Pashupatinath Temple. The temple can only be entered by Hindus, but views of its huge golden Nani Bull statue, massive embossed silver doors and impressive roof can be had from the terraces and hills across the Bagmati River from the temple. Apparently you can see the funeral ghats where Hindu bring their loved ones for ritual cremation after their death. The Bagmati is a tributary of the Holy Ganges River and so to pass from the physical world at this location is an auspicious blessing to Hindus. It was a shame we missed our last chance to learn more about this wonderful place but we will all be taking home some amazing memories.
Our flight left earlier than scheduled so we got into Changi (like a ghost airport!) half an hour early. The students had a chance to stretch their legs and go to Burger King (after 15 days of being vegetarian in Nepal) before boarding for Auckland.
Monday 19 April
We arrived in Auckland, safe but tired, on flight SQ285 at 10.50am. We are all very pleased to be home and reunited with family.
Click below to view a gallery of images from our trip to Nepal.
Senior School 
Learn about the Kristin brand and our fundraising campaigns
A group of 28 Senior School students will be travelling to Nepal in the April school holidays. The students will be visiting the Khumbu region (Everest side) of Nepal and performing community service projects while they are there. They will be doing works of service with an orphanage, a medical facility as well as tree-planting in areas of deforestation. Committed to aiding an area of great beauty, this trip is a wonderful example of the way our students want to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
Everyone arrived at Hotel Manaslu in Kathmandu right on time, all be it a bit weary from the long journey (Singapore to Bangkok, then Bangkok to Kathmandu), but the bus ride through the kaleidoscope (and chaotic traffic) of Kathmandu, a nice meal in the hotel restaurant and a promise of a late wake-up call tomorrow put everyone right. 
We've got an easy morning planned that includes a visit out to the Umbrella Sanctuary - Mr Churches and Mr Lewis have taken some students over to Umbrella to see what needs to be done and to plan for the full immersion community service projects on 16 and 17 April when everyone returns from our trek. 
We are going to have lunch together with another large IB school group visiting from Singapore, The United World College. They have just come down from the same Everest trek which we will depart on tomorrow, so there will be a lot of of anticipation and experiences exchanged.
A 4.00am start this morning for the 31 members of the team who went to the small, domestic airport in Kathmandu and took off in three, small, twin otter aircraft for Lukla. We travelled with four big duffel bags of invaluable dental supplies that will be donated to the Namche Dental Clinic. The rest of the luggage was loaded on yaks and would travel with a porter. Upon a safe (and spectacular) landing, we were met by our trekking team, had a second breakfast/early lunch at the North Face Lodge and then walked to the first stop on the trekking phase to our lodge in the village of Phakding. Everyone was looking forward to the unforgettable experience of hiking in the high Himalayas. 
Have arrive at Namache Bazaar – it took our fast group six hours to trek here and the slower group, seven hours. A height gain of 3000ft - that's a huge haul in one day, really tough, but the students did so well. The climb included three hours of uphill ranging from Nepali flat (moderate uphill) to Nepali steep (almost a rope and ladder).
Today was our free day to explore the marketplace, the National Park Museum and to climb to the neighbouring village of Khumjum. The Edmond Hillary Museum located there gave a comprehensive history of mountaineering. The day hike today was also for altitude acclimatization, it was a 1000ft vertical climb and took one and a half hours walk, but it was so worth it. Sagamantha (Mt Everest) was clear in the morning air - very moving.
Today's trek was one of the most beautiful in the world. We travelled from Namche to Tengboche. After climbing out of Namache, the Himalayan panorama of mounts Ama Dablam, Lhotse, Nuptse and Mt Everest itself unfolded into an unforgettable view. Surrounded by snow capped mountains and towering peaks, the trail was through rhododendron bushes in glorious pink and red flower. The scenery was described by the students as being “out of this world” and was a real geographer's delight in every direction. 
Waking up this morning to a beautiful sunrise was superb, surrounded by these majestic mountains all gradually glistening under the sun. Blake videoed the whole sunrise! Unfortunately no frosts but still very cold at 6.00am.
Today we enjoyed the most stunning walk from Tengboche to the little village of Phortse, a much more traditional village located at the entrance to to the Gokyo Valley, which is at the same altitude as Tengboche. Off the beaten track, it was a walk on NZ tramping-type trails and meant we were not avoiding yaks and porters and other people for the three-hour walk. 
Back in Namche Bazaar and the students are all out helping to boost the Nepalese economy! Poor porters and yaks which have to carry the increased loads!
Today we head back to Lukla, a long, downward tramp followed by a nasty 350m climb to finish off the day (could take us as much as seven hours to complete). 
All are back at the Manasulu Hotel in Kathmandu after a 4.00am start to catch the first flights out of Lukla. We flew out on three aircraft from this amazing airport. The previous two nights had seen thunderstorms and the morning greeted us with a fresh layer of snow on the slopes. 
We have just got back to the hotel after the big dinner out at the restaurant at Bodenath Stupa. This was the culmination of a huge day, starting with the visit to the Monkey Temple, high on its vantage point over-looking Kathmandu. The students climbed up the hill to see the huge stupa and stunning views, frequently punctuated by choruses of “how cute” as they saw monkeys wandering through the crowds to select their favourite delicacies from the offerings.
After lunch, the students presented to the children of Umbrella and their guardians; the clothing that had been collected, the donations from the Junior and Senior School mufti days, as well as 318 hand knitted beanies - one per child - that Fran had organised in her service component of the CAS programme. The other 400 + beanies are now proudly worn by children up and down the trekking route to Pangboche and back.
Today presents a different style of community service as we are playing in a three-way Football tournament between Lincoln International School, Umbrella Orphanage and ourselves. These matches will help to strengthen and support the importance and value of the work done at Umbrella while providing a enjoyable sporting occasion and outing for most of the children who live here.
We therefore, unfortunately, missed our last itinerary activity and did not go to Pashupatinath Temple en route to the airport. One of the most important pilgrimage destinations for Hindus is Pashupatinath Temple. The temple can only be entered by Hindus, but views of its huge golden Nani Bull statue, massive embossed silver doors and impressive roof can be had from the terraces and hills across the Bagmati River from the temple. Apparently you can see the funeral ghats where Hindu bring their loved ones for ritual cremation after their death. The Bagmati is a tributary of the Holy Ganges River and so to pass from the physical world at this location is an auspicious blessing to Hindus. It was a shame we missed our last chance to learn more about this wonderful place but we will all be taking home some amazing memories.
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