Updates from our Pupils in Nepal!

This October, a group of pupils from across the College have embarked on a journey to Nepal with Global Action to make a difference in the lives of others.

Their goal is to improve living standards by building water wells in a small rural community and installing the first piped drinking water system at a local school. This essential poverty-reduction project will provide access to something many take for granted – clean drinking water. During their time in Nepal, they’ll not only be exploring the culture, but learning about various organisations and projects dedicated to poverty reduction and environmental protection, such as WWF and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

The team are sending updates as they complete their journey, which you can read below.

Day One

Day one saw us, a little bleary-eyed from travel, navigating the throng of Kathmandu’s Thamel district on the way to Durbar Square, the site of a nine-storey royal palace in the grounds of a vast Hindu temple complex. We toured the UNESCO heritage site and did a little shopping for essential supplies.

Day Two

Day two saw us exploring Kathmandu’s Buddhist heritage with a visit to the world-famous Boudhanath Stupa where the group  received a blessing from the Tibetan monks of the Boudhanath Monastery before learning more about Buddhism from a lama high up in the hills on the outskirts of Kathmandu at the Kopan Monastery where we were educated about Buddhist monastic training.

Day Three

Today (20 October 2025), we have traversed the country, navigating stunning, lush valleys, eating lunch overlooking a white water river before making it to Pokhara where we marvelled at the staggering views of Annapurna and the surrounding Himalaya while the city pulsed with the celebration of the Hindu new year. All are well and looking forward to the start of our trek in the morning.

Day Four

The group made excellent progress, tackling the gradually increasing gradients of the high Himalayan hills, culminating with the imposing ascent of 4000 steps up to our first tea house. Our heaving lungs were more than worth it  – we rose at 5:30am the next morning to witness an epic sunrise over Machapuchure and Annapurna.

Day Five

Day five saw more trekking, again climbing higher, working our way through the forests, encountering waterfalls and a final climb to Ghorepani where we stayed for the night and where the Lancing group combined with local guides and children for one of the world’s most scenic games of basketball. At nearly 3000 metres in altitude, all those League Runs showed in our students’ fitness.

Day Six

Today saw the literal high point of the trip with a headtorch-lit ascent of Poon Hill to witness sunrise over the stunning vista of the Annapurna range where a sweep of the head took the party from Dhaulagiri (7th highest mountain in the world) via Annapurna to Machapuchure, famed sacred mountain and home to Shiva and Parvati. In all senses, it felt a holy place whatever one’s beliefs.

After a further climb, higher that Poon Hill, we then began our descent, skirting bad weather to enjoy a magical evening in a remarkably remote teahouse in Tadapani where we witnessed a thunderstorm come down the valley and kept warm in a dining hall, witnessing traditional Nepali dance.

Day Seven

We headed downhill the next day through magical forested valleys, past cliffside hives of bees, langurs swinging through the trees and roaring mountain streams to the village of Ghandruk, one of the trailheads to the Annapurna region.  There, we received a presentation from the Annapurna Conservation Area Project and had a lesson in meditation at a Tibetan Buddhist and Bon monastery.

Day Eight

The next day, tired but happy, we descended the final half a kilometre of vertical drop through hours of steps, taking us down paddy field terraces and mountain villages to a glorious celebratory lunch. We collected our completed trekking passes over a sumptuous Nepali dhal bhaat, the national dish. A few blisters aside, all coped remarkably well and came out tired, questionably fragrant and utterly inspired.