At KAT there are 3 types of dogs: the in-house dogs who live there permanently; the rescue and treatment dogs who are released back into the community when they're better; and the ABC (animal birth control dogs) who are spayed / neutered and then released after a few days. 
This photo is of Bharat catching an unsuspecting dog to bring her back for spaying!!
The in-house dogs are absolutely wonderful, have all been rescued from the streets, and just love attention, so I was always rewarded with cuddles and wagging tails!
One of the big problems in Kathmandu is mange, and after I helped Dr Bidur wash a really bad mange dog I was convinced I was going to catch mange, and kept checking myself everyday for it! Luckily though I came out after 2 and a half weeks mange-free!!!
On Friday I met Hannah, a British vet who is volunteering at KAT for a month - this worked out absolutely perfectly as we both live in Thamel so we travelled to and from KAT together (on the crowded but energetic and interesting public minibus), and every night we had dinner together and wandered through town exploring the local sights.
It made things so much more enjoyable having Hannah to hang out with, as we get on really well, and it meant I wasn't sitting alone for dinner and in my hotel room every night while Adam was away!! Plus, she helped me scrub!
After a week or so Hannah and I signed up for Nepali lessons which we had every night after "work". These were heaps of fun, and it's so rewarding when you speak to a local in Nepali and see the happy expression on their faces that we were trying to speak their language!! Here in Thamel you really don't need the language as everyone speaks English, but when a little effort is made, it goes a long way. Even though I loved learning Nepali, my days turned out to be very busy: I'd go into KAT at 8.30am, leave around 4.30pm, get home just in time to rush through terrible Thamel and the traffic for a shower, and then rush to our lesson. By the time I made it home from dinner at about 9pm I was exhausted and pretty much just fell into bed every night - where I'd have to do my homework for the next night's lesson!!!!
Once the rest of the staff arrived back at KAT after Dasain there wasn't as much cleaning for me to do, so I ended up helping Sareena, the amazing Communications Officer, in the office. Much of my time was spent helping put together (well, photocopying and filling envelopes) a great Education pack for teachers and kids to teach them about animal welfare.
Everyday Hannah and I were given lunch as a thank you for volunteering, and at lunch time we got to hang out with the workers and practice our shocking Nepali!!! Lunch was the Nepali staple of Dhal Bhaat - lentils and potatoes with rice and a delicious spicy pickle - mmmm mmmmm!!
After a few days it became common knowledge among the bus drivers and conductors that the 2 western girls caught the bus to KAT and when they saw us coming they would wave us over and hurry us onto the bus - often to the stares of amazement of the passengers! Soon enough Hannah and I had sorted out the best local restaurants, where the staff knew us and greeted us with a cheery "Namaste" when we arrived - on one occasion we treated ourselves to a delicious pizza meal, but most of the time we ate in cheap, small family restaurants. I also managed to accumulate "my guys" around town: dodgy though it might sound, these were merely my fruit guy, juice guy, bread guy, water guy, internet guy and my guy whose shop I waited outside for Hannah in the mornings! The place was slowly becoming home ... and even though the traffic and noise of Thamel really got to me, I like it in a love/hate kind of way!! Plus KAT is about 9km out of town away from the crazy hustle and bustle of Thamel, which was a nice break!
One day Hannah and I finished up early at KAT and made our way out on foot to Patan, the area of Kathmandu south of Thamel. The major draw cards here are the beautiful Buddhist Golden Temple and the phenomenal Patan Durbar Square filled with old traditional Newar temples and palaces. Here we also had dinner at a woh - a little Newar restaurant crammed into a hole in the wall, where we dined on yummy spicy potatoes, chickpeas, and bitten rice!
We also took a day off and went exploring Swayambu (known as the monkey temple) and back to Patan for some more exploring and a visit to the great museum. 
Overall, while I missed Adam an incredible amount, I found that most of the time I was so busy and thoroughly enjoying myself I didn't really have time to think about it!! I managed to send him emails most days, and I was so excited to get a couple back from him - one at 4000m!! My time at KAT was amazing - the staff are incredible and all work so hard for the animals, it was really humbling and inspiring. It was so great to walk around town with my KAT t-shirt on and have locals come up to me to talk about KAT and the comments were always positive - the people know about KAT and really respect it. I'm really going to miss the dogs and the people I worked with, but the adlibing adventure must continue!!
Adlibing it in KAThmandu.
One of the big problems in Kathmandu is mange, and after I helped Dr Bidur wash a really bad mange dog I was convinced I was going to catch mange, and kept checking myself everyday for it! Luckily though I came out after 2 and a half weeks mange-free!!!
On Friday I met Hannah, a British vet who is volunteering at KAT for a month - this worked out absolutely perfectly as we both live in Thamel so we travelled to and from KAT together (on the crowded but energetic and interesting public minibus), and every night we had dinner together and wandered through town exploring the local sights.
It made things so much more enjoyable having Hannah to hang out with, as we get on really well, and it meant I wasn't sitting alone for dinner and in my hotel room every night while Adam was away!! Plus, she helped me scrub!After a week or so Hannah and I signed up for Nepali lessons which we had every night after "work". These were heaps of fun, and it's so rewarding when you speak to a local in Nepali and see the happy expression on their faces that we were trying to speak their language!! Here in Thamel you really don't need the language as everyone speaks English, but when a little effort is made, it goes a long way. Even though I loved learning Nepali, my days turned out to be very busy: I'd go into KAT at 8.30am, leave around 4.30pm, get home just in time to rush through terrible Thamel and the traffic for a shower, and then rush to our lesson. By the time I made it home from dinner at about 9pm I was exhausted and pretty much just fell into bed every night - where I'd have to do my homework for the next night's lesson!!!!Once the rest of the staff arrived back at KAT after Dasain there wasn't as much cleaning for me to do, so I ended up helping Sareena, the amazing Communications Officer, in the office. Much of my time was spent helping put together (well, photocopying and filling envelopes) a great Education pack for teachers and kids to teach them about animal welfare.
Everyday Hannah and I were given lunch as a thank you for volunteering, and at lunch time we got to hang out with the workers and practice our shocking Nepali!!! Lunch was the Nepali staple of Dhal Bhaat - lentils and potatoes with rice and a delicious spicy pickle - mmmm mmmmm!!
After a few days it became common knowledge among the bus drivers and conductors that the 2 western girls caught the bus to KAT and when they saw us coming they would wave us over and hurry us onto the bus - often to the stares of amazement of the passengers! Soon enough Hannah and I had sorted out the best local restaurants, where the staff knew us and greeted us with a cheery "Namaste" when we arrived - on one occasion we treated ourselves to a delicious pizza meal, but most of the time we ate in cheap, small family restaurants. I also managed to accumulate "my guys" around town: dodgy though it might sound, these were merely my fruit guy, juice guy, bread guy, water guy, internet guy and my guy whose shop I waited outside for Hannah in the mornings! The place was slowly becoming home ... and even though the traffic and noise of Thamel really got to me, I like it in a love/hate kind of way!! Plus KAT is about 9km out of town away from the crazy hustle and bustle of Thamel, which was a nice break!
One day Hannah and I finished up early at KAT and made our way out on foot to Patan, the area of Kathmandu south of Thamel. The major draw cards here are the beautiful Buddhist Golden Temple and the phenomenal Patan Durbar Square filled with old traditional Newar temples and palaces. Here we also had dinner at a woh - a little Newar restaurant crammed into a hole in the wall, where we dined on yummy spicy potatoes, chickpeas, and bitten rice!
We also took a day off and went exploring Swayambu (known as the monkey temple) and back to Patan for some more exploring and a visit to the great museum. Overall, while I missed Adam an incredible amount, I found that most of the time I was so busy and thoroughly enjoying myself I didn't really have time to think about it!! I managed to send him emails most days, and I was so excited to get a couple back from him - one at 4000m!! My time at KAT was amazing - the staff are incredible and all work so hard for the animals, it was really humbling and inspiring. It was so great to walk around town with my KAT t-shirt on and have locals come up to me to talk about KAT and the comments were always positive - the people know about KAT and really respect it. I'm really going to miss the dogs and the people I worked with, but the adlibing adventure must continue!!Adlibing it in KAThmandu.
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