Time to start travelling...

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- Bye for now Kathy...

We jumped on the bus to Pokhara yesterday morning. Kathmandu looks at its best in the early hours. It's certainly cooler, the streets are free of the heavy traffic that epitomises the capital and you can enjoy curious sights like an elephant out for his morning jog, or perhaps it was more of a lollop! The army, not to be outdone by old Nelly, was also pounding the pavement too.

Several hours after riding in our 'deluxe' bus (the air con we were promised is simply to open a window) past padi fields, over rickety bridges and through small towns where the locals offer you their fruit and snacks, we arrived in the 'resort' of Pokhara - the adventure capital of Nepal. We'll be going on a trek lasting 5 or 6 days to get into the hills around the Himalayas.

Getting into the travelling spirit now: we've got a clean and airy room for a staggering 500 rupees (that's less than four pounds for those not fully conversant in third world exchange rates) and I enjoyed an 80 pence haircut and Stace a 40 pence shave with a cut-throat razor. Blood was shed folks. I had to wave a hanky in front of his face to stop the poor lad from feinting. We've also noticed how we've become something of trend-setters: we arrive at an empty restuarant, pull up a chair and within a few minutes the place fills up - word has spread of our gastronomic sophistication!

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