Nepal tour page

Nepal tour diary

Tour results

National Stadium: Bhaktupor U/23s 4-1 West Lindsey  att 500

National Stadium: Nepal Football Academy 2-7 West Lindsey att 3500

National Stadium: Nepal /U16 national squad 2-1 West Lindsey att 9800

Local Stadium :NFFC U/19s 0-5 West Lindsey att 150

Saturday 25th August

After 20 months of planning and hard work by a lot of people on two continents the big day finally arrives .Forest Pines hotel and golf club was the venue for a pre trip breakfast party which was filmed by the YTV film crew and after an hour and a half of eating, filming and posing for press photo's we were on our way .

5-00pm  Arrive at Heathrow in plenty of time for check in ,good job really as we have 54 pieces of luggage (not counting hand luggage) to check in .Some of the boys and parents are a bit nervous having not been on an airplane before but the presence of the film crew tends to take people's mind off the flight .Because of the filming Qatar airlines allow our group on board first which saves a lot of queuing and hanging around ,at 9-39 pm we take off just four minutes late .

Sunday 26th August

6-15 am  Arrive at Doha  airport in Qatar to change planes to Nepal ,the heat is incredible 33 degrees centigrade at that time in the morning .A nice little man greets us in the airport with the news that we will be delayed 18 hours and would not fly until midnight ! Within one hour we had been whisked off to the 5 star hotel Raddison with rooms and meals provided for all the group for the day .Not wanting to waste such an opportunity I jumped in a taxi with the film crew and we toured around Doha ,what a place ! the hotels and shopping malls made anything I have seen in Europe or the States look 3rd world .After an hour we found a football stadium as John Helm wanted to film a piece about being in the wrong country .The people at the football club gave us a guided tour ,drinks ,snacks and made us feel very welcome .We filmed a piece on the pitch with the temperature now at 47 degrees centigrade .Back at the hotel some of the boys actually played tennis in the heat .After our taxi trip we decided to take a walk outside around the hotel the locals tended to have more sense than us so the only people around were the mad dogs and Englishmen .Having never been to the middle east before I did not really know what to expect but I certainly did not expect to see giant signs for McDonalds ,KFC and Burger king is all Asia like this ? fortunately not .Now Qatar is a dry state so we had to leave our duty free at the airport BUT some hotels can have a bar for tourist and ours was one of them so after hours in the sun we retired to the bar hidden away on the top floor .The beer was the coldest ever and the cans were being emptied quickly ,out of interest Dave (sippy) Marchant asked the waitress how much the beer was .We all had a quick guess and decided it would be around £2-£2-50 a can WRONG it was £4-00 .Fortunately for us Dave Hall from ISL tours decided he would like to pay the bill and who are we to argue especially as it came to around £128-00 .So after long day and some good experiences we headed back to the airport and actually took off on time . Kathmandu here we come .

Monday 27th August 

6-30 am Arrive at Kathmandu International airport ,the flight into Nepal was amazing the sight of the mountain peaks rising above the clouds had to be seen to be believed .After landing and clearing customs we were met at the baggage pick up by the person responsible for our invite to Nepal Mr Bikesh .It was an emotional time for Bikesh after months of hard work he had done what no Nepali had ever done and got an English team to his country .In the airport reception we were greeted by Nepali TV and radio but more importantly we met Bikesh's helpers China and Ashyut .All our party were given garlands of flowers to wear and Dominic gave a small welcome speech in Nepali which went down a storm .Outside of the airport lots of people had gathered to greet us waving flags and shouting greetings .Then we saw our team bus ,a mercedes coach and only about 40 years old ,welcome to the real Asia .It was eyes wide open on the journey to the hotel ,they drove on the left ( we think ) but it was any ones guess really but what fun .No road rage they just got on with it and did what ever they had to do to get to their destination .Some of the infrastructure was run down but there was plenty of nice buildings and sights including a bloke having his haircut on the road side and guess what there was little or no litter on the roads and pavements .After checking in at our hotel a number of the group decided to stay in and rest with the rest of us going out on the coach to do a spot of sight seeing ,what a great trip around the Kathmandu ring road there was temples around every corner and so many people hurrying along .Eventually we ended up in the court yard of a Tibeten carpet factory refuge .The refuge had been set up for refugees and works as a co-op with the workers and families being housed above the factory .Food ,accommodation ,school and medical fees are paid and the workers are paid a small wage ,its not perfect but the people had shelter ,work and dignity and did not have to live on the streets or in a camp .Some of the carpets were amazing and the skills of the workers even more amazing ,all the carpets are pre-ordered and some of them took up to 6 weeks to make with most of them going to Europe and the USA .After nearly two hours at the refuge we made our way back through the monsoon rain to the hotel for an early night and if you believe that you will believe anything ! Later that evening a few of us ventured into the dark city streets for a walk where we met a couple of guys on a motor bike who took great pleasure in greeting us with "hey bloody pommies" they were actually two very nice blokes who said they were coming to watch our lads play and yes they did turn up for two of the games .

Tuesday 28th August

Quite an early start for the group as we were to meet Bikesh who was to take us on a walk through the old part of the city to Durbar square to meet up with the TV crew who had some more filming planned .What an experience ! it was like stepping into a film set of a Bollywood (no not Hollywood) Indian movie ,the smells ,the noise ,the wonderful old buildings and temples .We stumbled across an amazing square ,hidden down a narrow passage was a wonderful Buddhist shrine which was surrounded by very old Nepali houses ,in the corner was a group of musicians and worshippers playing Buddhist music it was a magical place .Dominic and Hesham had rice diamonds painted on to their foreheads a traditional Buddhist mark .It was on this walk we discovered TIGER BALM as every other person was trying to sell it to us ,we soon found out the more you refused to buy the cheaper it got (from 100 rupees for 2 to 100 rupees for 6 ) in the space of about 20 yards .Durbar square is another must see place ,full of magnificent temples and Tiger balm sellers .After the filming we made our way back to the hotel to prepare for our first game and to look for Jane Chadwick who had disappeared en route to the square but she made it back before us .Another hair raising bus ride through Kathmandu found us at the Dasrath  National stadium ,Nepals version of Wembley .After about an hour hanging around waiting to get into the changing rooms a nice groundsman opened them up by smashing the lock off with a brick .It was hot the boys were still jet lagged and the pitch was terrible not the best preparation for a big game and better still Bhaktapur turned up with an U/23 team apart from a midfielder who was actually 24,I am sure it was an honest mistake on their part ! We started well and tired very quickly Danny Butterworth opened the scoring with a fine free kick from 40 yards but we trailed 1-2 at halftime and faded again to finish 1-4 losers .We had heavy legs and sore lungs but still managed to give them 3 gift goals nothing strange there then .But things could only get better and they did ! .A good night was had by all some of us ventured into Thamel an area full of bars shops and restaurants where we stumbled across a great steakhouse ,a large steak and trimmings for around £2-50 and that was one of the more expensive places  .Our liaison man Deep also discovered how to drink beer and after a little coaching was soon into the swing of things and ended up with a good old fashioned Englishman on tour hangover .

Dominic ,Deep and TV commentator John Helm 

Wednesday 29th August

A bit of a rest day and shopping for most people although some of us went along to watch the game between the Nepal national squad and Bikesh's Nepal football academy ,it turned out to be a good game and we picked up some good pointers for our game on Thursday against the Nepal academy .The poor TV crew had to get up at 4-00 am to travel into the mountains to get some footage of the sun rise over the Himalayas and guess what ,it was foggy so they didn't see the mountains never mind the sun .They also nearly managed to get arrested for not paying a bribe in Bhaktupur and  bumped into a bloke who had a holy tortoise (and they believed him) .Tonight the whole group had an invite to visit the British embassy ,we were greeted by Jon Goddard a senior official at the embassy who introduced us to a number of ex pats who lived in Nepal including the famous BBC TV and newspaper journalist Daniel Lakk .Mr Goddard then gave us a guided tour around the embassy which turned out to be very interesting .Another strange thing happened at the embassy all the boys turned out in their best clothes and actually looked smart ,this was definitely a first for our lads .We met quite a few interesting people and managed to borrow a couple of players from the British school for our next game as we had a few lads injured and ill .We even managed to get an invite to the Australian embassy bar  for the following night and boy was that different to the British embassy .So after a night of hospitality we retired to the hotel bar and some of us made it until 3-30 am .

Thursday 30th August 

Today was always going to be a busy day but we did not expect to have a roller coaster ride on an antique Indian bus .It was an early start as we had arranged a visit to the Monkey temple on the out skirts of Kathmandu ,our usual bus was not available so we ended up with a highly decorated TATA Indian bus which was built like a tank (fortunately for us ) .It was supposed to be a 20 minute journey so 1 hour and fifteen minutes later we arrived .It was well worth the journey and what a truly amazing place it turned out to ,monkeys every where and the temples had to be seen to be believed .The views over Kathmandu and the valley were incredible ,we could have stopped all day but we had the game against Bikesh's Nepal academy at the stadium and another long journey back or so we thought .After looking at the map we realized the driver had gone from A to B via Z so after a quiet word in his ear he took us back the quick way which took us 15 minutes ,it must have been quick because our lives kept flashing in front of our eyes as we narrowly avoided head on collisions with other buses and at least one petrol tanker. After an hours rest at the hotel we made our way to the national stadium for the game ,it was essential that we put up a good display after the disappointing first game .It all started well as we went 3 goals up in the first 20 minutes , a change of formation by us to 4-3-3 threw our opponents and before they could change things at halftime we had gone 5-0 in front .All credit to the Nepali boys in the second half they never gave up and pulled a couple of goals back but the game finished 7-2 to us .Our accompanying referee Dennis Hewis became the first Englishman to referee a game at the National stadium and what a great job he did despite being told that he was very old to be a referee by the other FIFA officials (watch and learn boys). After a hard day most of the party went to the Australian embassy in the evening and had a drink and barbie at the side of the pool ,very laid back and even the ambassador wore T shirt and jeans .Me ,Amanda ,Danielle and Dom went for a meal at the home of Bikesh ,it was a nice experience to visit my friend in his home and to meet his family and relations ,he is a truly dedicated man and works tirelessly to develop football in Nepal and it was a great honour for us us to be able to help him by bringing the equipment from England .

Friday 31st August 

A free day so most people did their own thing ,some went shopping and sightseeing ,the TV crew ,Dom and a few more of the party took the trip of a lifetime and took a plane ride around mount Everest .They all agreed it was an absolutely awesome flight and something never to be forgotten .In the evening we all walked to Durbar square to watch the Indrajatra festival ,another amazing scene .Thousands of people in the square watching various groups performing traditional music /dances and a huge model elephant carried by about twenty people which just charged through the crowds .As well as that the lights kept going out but we found our way out of the square and back to the K2 restaurant thanks to the path finding skills of Den the ref !

Saturday 1st September

The big match against the Nepali U/16 National squad was now upon us ,almost 10,000 people waiting for us in the stadium and thousands more watching on Nepali TV .Were the boys nervous ? well I certainly was ! .Before the game we met our guest's of honour ,a group of youngsters from the Nepali child welfare foundation .These children are all ex prison kids who had spent most of their lives in prison with their parents ,unfortunately the Nepali government deem it correct to jail the kids as well when their parents commit a crime .The people at the welfare foundation have worked miracles and created a refuge for these kids where they are looked after until their parents are released and because of their pressure the Nepali government are now changing their stance on this barbaric practice .We walked onto the pitch with the foundation kids along side each player and Dominic held high a Nepali flag ,the reception we received was unbelievable 10,000 people cheering us on ,it was a moment no one will ever forget .The game started at a great pace with the Nepali boys showing off their great fitness and technical skills .We were second best for most of the first half and on 45 minutes conceded a sloppy goal to go in at halftime 0-2 down .The second half however was a different matter ,we began to keep possession and pass the ball around with ease .Midway through the game Daley Snell pulled a goal back and we hit the post in the final minutes .Although beaten 1-2 we put in a great performance and I was immensely proud of the boys. A village team against a National team played on the roof of the world ,there was only one winner US ! 

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