At 2 AM on Wednesday morning October 24th I was waking from a short night’s sleep and getting ready to leave to OSC. Today was the day we would be traveling to Lincoln school in Kathmandu, Nepal so we could participate in SAISA Boys Volleyball 2018. by 2.30 AM the whole Gecko Team was at the OSC campus and ready to go to the airport. All of us were optimistic and looking forward to an eventful and fun tournament to make new friends, compete as a team and for me, to get to visit Nepal for the first time.
The flights where quite long, 12 hours in total as we had to take a detour and a stopover in Dubai before continuing on towards Nepal. The flight itself was uneventful, half the team was sleeping, some chatting, others were listening to music whilst Luca and I were working on a Yearbook cover entry for the 2019 Yearbook cover competition. Upon arrival in Nepal we were met with a chilly breeze and it became apparent that we were indeed, high up in the mountains. After going through the whole Nepali Airport we were dropped off at our very hospitable Hosts. After giving our hosts some gifts, exchanging details about our lives and settling in to our rooms, we finally tucked in for a full night’s worth of sleep.
First Arriving in Nepal
The next morning we left to Lincoln school to commence the tournament. As we traveled through the crowded streets of Nepal traffic and bustling commotion I couldn’t help but notice the unapparent beauty of the city. It intrigued me how these people had made a city on top of itself, there were gardens on roofs, makeshift electrical power poles and buildings that look as if they are tethering on one another. It was so different from the organised cities I was used to and truly showed me the power of human ingenuity and how the Nepali were incredibly good at crafting makeshift items with the lowest amount of resources available to them.
Once we were in the school we were greeted by small primary school kids and they would parade us to the main indoor court to introduce the teams and commence the tournament. The opening ceremony was packed with team introductions and cheers. Our first game was against Lahore school which we won but, only won 2 sets to 1 which, is considered a close game thus the team had to get over some of the stress of playing. Unfortunately we had lost the next 3 games, the last game of our pool was against ACS on the second day which, was lost with both sets being won by ACS 25-21. This was honestly, disappointing as we came really close to winning both sets and made a large 8 point comeback in the second game. Luca had mentioned however, that there was a problem with our team mentality. When looking at our games from Lucas point of view it was obvious that indeed, there was an issue with our mindset. After our first win we had let our guard down and were expecting an easy road to the finals as rumour had it we were one of the best teams there.
Our team at Lincoln school
Our last game of the tournament was against ISOI which, we would play against to see who would take 7th place. After fighting a long game and having made an exceptional block myself, we sadly lost and were placed 8th in the whole tournament. However, during the tournament it didn’t matter if we won or lost, but the fact that we all played and played together. Each of us honing our skills and showing what we were each capable of. Josh was an amazing setter, Aman could block amazing shots, Jordan could spike so hard it was painful to hear and Luca could win all the points of the game just by serving alone. All these were incredible skills that were shown on the court over the course of the tournament. We finished up the final tournament day with watching the Licoln-Dhaka match. The match was so close that most people couldn’t look at some point. It showed us what we should aspire to become and Try to achieve next year.
Getting to block the opposition’s spike
We didn’t only play volleyball during our time in Nepal but, we also visited the local monkey temple and shopping district of Nepal. The monkey temple was amazing, seeing the monkeys there was both a fun and new experience to me. Whilst there are many monkeys in Sri Lanka, I got to see monkeys up so close to the point where, there could be one walking right next to you! The monkeys were also much furrier than those in Sri Lanka as a result of the colder climate. I was amazed by the explosion of colour and culture that was woven within the temple. There was a breathtaking view right at the top of the temple and we got to take in our absolute inferior size to the grand scale of the Himalayas. With eagles soaring overhead and bells jingling in the wind, the commotion of the temple in the background and the blue skies, I felt free.
Appreciating the view of the elevated Monkey Temple
On the day we left back for Colombo we bade our hosts goodbye and made a stop at the shopping district of Nepal and some of us bought some souvenirs to take back home (other than our great memories). We made our way down the narrow streets and saw many strange and unusual shops. We passed by a hat shop and decided it would have been fun to take a group picture with some of the winter caps that we had bought as we looked so lively and fun. After snaking our way through the stone tiled streets of the shopping district we returned to Colombo and once again took the extended 12 hour route back home. This time we all slept on the flight, exhausted from our eventful trip and dreaming about next year’s SAISA volleyball.
Our team, shopping in the Nepal shopping district.