Nepalgunj and beyond to Mugu!

We have arrived in Mugu and we have wifi! We are not sure where the bathroom is but we can connect with the rest of the world!

Let me take a few steps backwards. Two days ago we arrived in Nepalgunj. There was a hot wind when we arrived. I was happy to get out of the pollution of Kathmandu but my joy was short lived. The night in our hotel proved very difficult as the power was cut out around 2am. It was very very hot and this Canadian was unable to sleep. The heat was suffocating. In my delirium I just kept reminding myself that the AC would come on at some point. And it did at 6am. I decided to skip breakfast because I was feeling unwell. I thought that I was feeling unwell due to the heat and a bad headache but it turn out that my next 24hrs proved to get progressively worse with diarrhea and vomiting. I will spare you the details but I did not keep anything down for over 24hrs. We spent most of the day at the airport waiting for our flight to go. The way our flight works is that the plane lands and takes people to Simikot. It then returns for us to take to Mugu. We arrived around 9am. Around 1pm our plane finally arrived to take us. We loaded up. It is a Twin Otter plane, I am informed it is made in Canada. The seats are canvas. It is very tight. 3 people across. Then we unloaded. Wind is coming from Southeast instead of the North. The pilot says we need to wait for the wind to change. So we wait. I am sleeping in the terminal because I took gravol and have already removed my stomach contents in one way or another. Then we find out the flight will not go. So we head out. Cathy, bless her, advocates that we go to hotel that has 24 hr AC so that I can sleep and recover. Everyone is happy with that. We get to our hotel. It is nice and clean and I get into bed with AC and sleep all afternoon. In the evening I wake up, just to be sick some more. The gravol obviously had worn off. At this point the nurses all congregated to decided what to do. Pema and Nani thought I should eat. Jill and Cathy could tell there was no way I could keep anything down. So instead I sipped electrolyte beverage very slowly. Eventually I took Cipro and managed to keep it down. Cipro saved me. I was able to keep some breakfast down this am.

First night arrival in Nepalgunj

Some of our porters - it was Saturday so they weren't in school.

And it is a good thing because we got to the airport and we found out our flight was likely to go. We went through security quickly. It was the same woman. We all had to rewrite our names, citizenship and passport info and a quick pat down. Then to the waiting room. I saw our plane land and we were all excited. And it went! And what a ride. I was a little nauseated still but managed on the plane. It was so cool to go over the mountains, we seemed pretty close sometimes but the pilots seemed very competent. One pilot was wearing superman sleeves. :)  I have been on small mountain planes before. Pacific Coastal has prepared me well! Our Nepali friends did not fair so well. There was much vomiting with the turbulence. Poor Pema was pretty scared on the flight but she copes well and she has been such a good companion. Her and I are roommates so she has dealt with me being sick and everything.

Anyways we landed on the little strip and unloaded and then sat on the runway for an hour, while Jill and Nani tried to sort out the taxi. I was happy, my nausea was gone and the fresh mountain breeze was so wonderful! Finally, we found out there would be no ride. So some people who were sitting with us became our porters. We all carried our backpacks but we have all sorts of training materials that needed to be carried. Cathy and I put our hiking boots on and soon we were glad. We walked down the stone and dirt path. We met many people, goats, cows and horses along the way. We even crossed a suspension bridge. The boys that were helping carry our stuff found me amusing. I was walking ahead with them and would ask them which way to go. Down there? And they repeated it back to me!

Nani and Pema on the bridge!

And then at the bridge I asked the word for it. Finally I asked my team and they said pul. So I said to the boys pul! And they said "This is my pul." So smart! And then we all laughed. Almost 3 hours later we arrived in the town of Gamghadi. We met our contact Birbadur and he informed us that the arrangements for us had not been made in advance and because of the many important people in town for VDC meetings there was no space at the hotel. Birbadur had to search very hard to find us accommodations. We are staying in a guesthouse. Our hosts are very kind and we had a nice lunch here. We are on the top floor on the side of the hill. I have taken the bed on the highest side of the house. I feel like I am camping in a tree house! I am also glad that my sickness is over as the bathroom is down 3 ladders and outside the house!

This evening we got all the materials ready for teaching the ANMs for the next 2 days. We will be reviewing things like normal delivery, immediate care postpartum, neonatal resuscitation, hand washing, postpartum hemorrhage. After the teaching we will do interviews with the ANMs on the 2 days. We hope we will get to interview at least 16 ANMs. As the week progresses I will send updates! We think it is so funny that we are in such a remote place and the electricity and wifi is better than in Kathmandu. Who would've thought?!