Had been holing myself up for the last few months trying very hard to study for my exam ( MRCP PACES), which proved really really challenging....stress levels were all time high....and even my study partner was getting on my nerves....din help that I din think I had enough practice....and all the while trying to be 'nice' to other people......and what do I get in return? Them passing and me not.....life's unfair....what can I do?
Nothing about it actually....I was in the midst of my medical mission trip at Nepal when I received my results at the end of the trip ( on the last day before we fly off from Kathmandu).......was I disappointed? of course! was it unexpected? probably not! anyway....There wasn't anything I could do about it.......
On the other hand, the medical mission trip was an eye-opener....we flew in to Kathmandu on the 18th of July...and then took an internal flight to nepalganj on Buddha air ( which was a bigger plan than the last one I took there!)....we drove a short distance and stayed at Candy's Place at the Travelling Village....
The hotel here was pretty good...each room had mosquito nettings and an attached bathroom. There was even air-conditioning!!! Which is a luxury in this part of the world!!! Dinner and breakfast was pretty good! I liked the waffles and the local food there very much!!! We learnt 3 different ways to cut a mango..... which is pretty interesting...you can either peel the skin and slice VS score the sides ( my usual way) VS cut in through the middle and twist VS squashing the mango and cut off the top and suck the juice....interesting!!!!
Ms R was a life saver with all her munchies and drinks to select from - milo, espresscino, the tarik and horlicks......plus her chocolates, biscuits, bak kwa and fish flosses!!! Plus all the munchies that we bought in Bangkok Airport!! ( The tomyam crisps were a hit!).
Anyhow, we then had to drive approx 2.5 hrs to Chhinchu ( which is in the Surhet District). I was actually rather appalled at the 'hotel' that we arrived at... I was thinking - You mean this is it?!? Its was rather small and rundown hotel owned by a couple from the Dhaulagiri region.....which only had cement floors and walls...basic beds with very thin mattresses and very basic showers and toilets.....It was pretty bad as the electricity and water got cut off on our 2nd day there...
We saw many many patients ( total of 2240 patients!) over 3 days worth of camp...mainly women's health and PID/UTI....UV prolapses topped the list.....we also saw quite varied congenital conditions due to poor antenatal care...that said, some patients were well off enough to be seen in a large hospital and brought their ultrasounds/ CT scans and MRI scans for us to review....
It was the monsoon season and it rained for 2 days and 2 nights that we were there.....thank God we din get caught in a mudslide/ landslide ( we did past by a few areas that had a mudslide on our way back)!!! So really really thank God for keeping us safe!
Finally was so happy to pack up on the last day of the camp and drove back to Candy's place where we stayed 1 night before flying back to kathmandu. Back at Kathmandu, we just chilled out and ate lots of food ( Northfield Cafe, Fire and Ice and Roadhouse Cafe) and visited the House of Dreams ( a.k.a Garden of Dreams) which was next to the palace......plus the rest bought lots of book from the Nepal Book Depot........
And yes, whilst we were tired, all of us were just thankful to be back in Singapore.....
There's another story to tell after this article....stay tuned
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